iPad Mini 4 Teardown
How to iPad Mini 4 Teardown Guide
Find brand new, fully tested iPad Mini 4 replacement screens and parts here.
Recommended Tools:
Plastic Triangle Opening Tool
Suction Cup
Nylon Spudger
Fine Tip Curved Tweezers
Precision Knife Set
2mm Premium Red Adhesive
Multi-Purpose Heat Gun
Professional Phillips Screwdriver
Step 1
Power down your 4th generation iPad Mini tablet.
Step 2
Apply heat to the top corner of the iPad Mini 4 to soften the adhesive.
Use the suction cup and precision knife to create separation between the display assembly and rear case. Insert a plastic triangle opening tool and start slicing through the adhesive.
Take your time and apply firm, constant force and additional heat. The iPad Mini 4 display assembly is a much tighter fit than most devices and is held down with a good amount of adhesive. With the adhesive softened, our tried-and-true method of suction cup and triangle opening tools will prevail.
The iPad Mini 4 screen is still connected to the iPad by several cables, so don’t try to remove it entirely just yet.
Step 3
Remove the following 4 Phillips screws securing the metal bracket to the iPad Mini 4 motherboard.
Remove the metal bracket and disconnect the battery, LCD and digitizer ribbon cables.
Step 4
Release the ZIF connector and carefully slide out the home button assembly cable.
The home button bracket is held in place with two gobs of adhesive. Apply heat to soften the adhesive.
Use a combination of the spudger and tweezers to pry up the iPad Mini 4 home button cable and remove the home button assembly and bracket from the front panel.
Step 5
Remove the following 3 Phillips screws securing the “right” antenna in place.
With the fine tip curved tweezers carefully pry up the right antenna.
Peel up the piece of black tape and remove the following two Phillips screws securing the metal bracket in place. The bracket protects the headphone jack, front-facing camera, rear-facing camera and power button connectors.
With the bracket out of the way, remove the last Phillips screw securing the “right” antenna in place.
Peel up the “right” antenna cable and disconnect it from the iPad Mini 4 motherboard.
Step 6
Remove the 1.2 MP iPad Mini 4 FaceTime camera.
Step 7
Remove the 8 MP iPad Mini 4 iSight rear-facing camera.
Step 8
Remove the following 2 Phillips screws securing the protective metal bracket over the headphone jack.
Remove the Phillips screw that secures the headphone jack to the rear case.
Use the spudger to disconnect the headphone jack cable from the motherboard and remove it from the 4th generation iPad Mini.
Step 9
Disconnect the power button, microphone and ambient light cable from the motherboard. Use the tweezers to separate it from the adhesive holding it in place.
Remove the following two Phillips screws securing the cable to the top of the iPad Mini 4 rear case.
With the fine tip curved tweezers carefully remove the cable, and then the physical power button.
Step 10
Remove the following 4 Phillips screws securing the “bottom” antenna in place.
Use the fine tip curved tweezers to peel up the “bottom” antenna cable and disconnect it from the iPad Mini 4 motherboard.
Step 11
Remove the black tape covering the 2 loudspeaker ZIF connectors.
Release the ZIF connectors and carefully slide out the cables.
Remove the following 3 Phillips screws securing the loudspeakers to the bottom of the iPad Mini 4 rear case.
Remove the black tape and then use the spudger to assist in removing each loudspeaker from the 4th generation iPad Mini.
Step 12
Remove the following 4 Phillips screws securing the Lightning Connector in place.
Use the spudger to carefully pry up the Lightning Connector cable. The Lightning Connector is soldered to the motherboard, so do not bend its pins.
Remove the following Phillips screw, it secures the protective metal bracket over the volume buttons cable.
Remove the bracket and use the spudger to disconnect the volume buttons cable from the motherboard.
With some patience, and a good amount of spudgering, the motherboard can be removed from the iPad Mini 4.
* To reassemble your device, follow the steps in reverse order.