iPhone SE Teardown

iPhone SE Teardown and Reassemble Guide

Find high quality, affordable iPhone SE replacement parts here.

Recommended Tools: 

Plastic Triangle Opening Tool
Suction Cup
Nylon Spudger
SIM Card Ejection Tool
Fine Tip Curved Tweezers
Precision Knife Set
2mm Premium Red Adhesive
Professional Phillips Screwdriver
Professional Flathead Screwdriver
Professional iPhone Pentalobe Screwdriver

Step 1
 
Power down your Apple iPhone SE smartphone. 

Step 2 (iPhone SE Display Assembly)
 
Remove the two bottom 3.4 mm Pentalobe screws located next to the lightning connector.
 
Step 3
 
Place a suction cup near the home button.
 
While applying firm, constant force, use the plastic triangle opening tool to work around the display assembly and separate it from the iPhone SE rear case.
 
Just like the iPhone 5s, lurking beneath the iPhone SE display is the touch ID cable. Do not pull the display up too far without first removing the bracket and disconnecting the cable.
 
The display assembly is still connected to the iPhone by several cables, so don’t try to remove it entirely just yet.
 
Step 4
 
Remove the following 4 Phillips screws securing the metal bracket to the motherboard. These screws are different sizes, so be sure to remember where they go.
 
Use the fine tip curved tweezers to remove the metal bracket and disconnect the LCD, digitizer, and front camera and proximity sensor cables.
 
Step 5
 
Remove the following 3 Phillips screws securing the home button cable and the metal bracket in place.
 
Remove the metal bracket and then with the tweezers peel the iPhone SE home button away from the display assembly.
 
Step 6
 
Remove the following 7 Phillips screws.
 
With the tweezers remove the metal clip and then the iPhone SE earpiece speaker.
 
Step 7
 
Gently pry the front camera and proximity sensor ribbon cable away from the display assembly.
 
Now, separate the iPhone SE front-facing camera and proximity sensor cable from the LCD shield plate.
 
Step 8 (iPhone SE Battery)
 
Remove the following 2 Phillips screws and then the metal bracket.
 
With the spudger, detach the iPhone SE 3.8-volt battery from the logic board.
 
Use the fine tip curved tweezers to peel up the adhesive tabs at the bottom of the battery.
 
Grab the tabs and try to keep the adhesive flat and wide.
 
Slowly pull the adhesive away from the iPhone SE. The adhesive will stretch to many times the length of the battery, keep pulling until they come out from between the battery and the iPhone’s rear case.
 
Remove the iPhone SE battery.
 
Step 9 (iPhone SE Loudspeaker and Lightning Port Assembly)
 
Detach the signal cable and then the iPhone SE lightning port and headphone jack assembly cable from the logic board.
 
Remove the following 7 Phillips screws and then the small bracket.
 
The iPhone SE loudspeaker assembly is now free and can be taken out.
 
Step 10
 
With a little spudgering the lightning connector and headphone jack assembly can be removed from the iPhone SE.
 
Step 11 (iPhone SE Rear-Facing Camera and Motherboard)
 
Use the tweezers to remove the piece of tape and then detach the rear-facing camera from the iPhone SE logic board.
 
The 12-megapixel iPhone SE rear-facing camera can now be removed.
 
Step 12
 
With the tweezers detach the iPhone SE power and volume buttons ribbon cable.
 
Use the flathead screwdriver to remove the following 4 screws.
 
Now, remove the following 4 Phillips screws.
 
Carefully lift the iPhone’s logic board up and detach the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi antenna connector before removing it from the iPhone SE.
 
Step 13 (iPhone SE Vibrator and Power and Volume Buttons Cable)
 
Remove the following 5 Phillips screws and then the metal bracket over the vibrator.
 
Remove the following Phillips screw and then with the tweezers take out the vibrator.
 
Step 14
 
Remove the following 2 Phillips screws and then the metal bracket.
 
Now, remove the last Phillips screw.
 
Use a combination of the spudger and tweezers to remove the iPhone SE power and volume buttons cable. The cable also includes a contact for grounding.
 
With the cable out of the way you can remove the physical power and lock button, volume buttons and the vibrate switch.
 
Step 15
 
Carefully use the tweezers and spudger to remove the iPhone SE Bluetooth and Wi-Fi antenna from the rear case.

* To reassemble your device, follow the steps in reverse order.