iPhone 3G cracked screen parts and repair replacement guide

So you just dropped your iPhone 3G and the glass shattered / cracked / broke? Take a deep breath, it’s fixable. I created this site after dropping my iPhone 3G in a restaurant and having the glass shatter. I will walk you through how to get it fixed and how much it will cost.

If your glass display is cracked / broken but your iPhone 3G still functions properly and your LCD still works, then what you need is a new glass display and digitizer. You can either repair the glass display yourself or send it in for repair.



Is my broken iPhone 3G covered under warranty?

No, a broken glass display on the iPhone 3G is not covered under the limited 1 year Apple warranty. Neither are you covered if bought the Apple Care Protection Plan for you iPhone 3G.

“Apple's Limited Warranty for iPhone excludes coverage for damage resulting from accident, disassembly, unauthorized service and unauthorized modifications. Please review the warranty for further details. An iPhone that has failed due to damage resulting from accident, disassembly, unauthorized service, or unauthorized modifications is not eligible for warranty service, however, your iPhone may be eligible for Out-of-Warranty (OOW) Service if the damage is repairable.” – iPhone Service FAQ

How much will it cost to fix my iPhone 3G?

Repairing your iPhone 3G’s broken glass is going to cost you between $60 to $299 dollars to fix, depending on how you go about it. Your options are:

$199 - $299: Have Apple fix it

$120 - $150: Have it fixed by a repair company

$60 - $99: Repair the iPhone 3G yourself

Have Apple fix your iPhone 3G ($199 - $299):

Since the glass is cracked, you will only qualify for Apple’s iPhone 3G Out-of-Warranty Service. This will cost you $199 to fix an 8GB iPhone, and $299 to fix a 16GB iPhone 3G. You may go into an Apple Store or call Apple Customer Support to initiate this service.

Have a repair company repair your iPhone 3G ($120 - $150):

There are a lot of companies that let you mail in your iPhone 3G for them to fix. You may even find someone in your area on Craigslist that will fix it while you wait. These services generally cost between $120 and $150. This is before shipping costs, which generally range from $10 to $30 depending on your desired turnaround time. If you don't feel confident in your ability to repair the phone yourself, I recommend having a third party repair it. Some familiar names in iPhone 3G repair are: Mission Repair, Rapid Repair, Milliamp LTD, Dropped My iPhone, iPodParts, PDA Smart, and iResQ.

Repair your iPhone 3G yourself ($60 - $99):

You can purchase a new glass display with digitizer online to do the repair yourself. Keep in mind, you need the glass display AND digitizer. You may see a glass display for sale for under $30, these do not come with digitizers and will be of no help to you. This repair is fairly advanced and should only be done by those who are confident in their techy, fix-it abilities.

You can buy the parts you need online. I bought my glass display with digitizer from Mission Repair. They include the adhesive strips you will need to attach the display to the frame. This is very important. Otherwise you would need to glue the piece to the frame yourself and risk damaging the LCD.

You can use a razor blade or guitar pick to pry the phone apart, but I would recommend getting a pry tool for iPhone repair. They go for pretty cheap (under $4) online. I picked mine up from PDA Parts.