iPhone 6 - Teardown

All the individual parts of the iPhone 6

Taking apart the new iPhone 6 down to the last detail. We show you all the important components and find out how difficult future repairs will be.

Required tools

For storing screws

For storing screws

We recommend storing your screws so you don’t mix up the various screws and small parts.
€10.00 at the iDoc store
Tweezers

Tweezers

We recommend using tweezers to remove screws and various small parts from your device.
€11.00 at the iDoc store
Pick Set

Pick Set

You need a flat but stable tool such as a pick to pry out parts that are glued in place.
€2.00 at the iDoc store
Plastic prying tool

Plastic prying tool

You need a flat plastic prying tool to disconnect the various plugs and connectors.
€2.00 at the iDoc store
Steel Laboratory Spatula

Steel Laboratory Spatula

You need a flat and sturdy prying tool to disconnect glued parts.
€4.00 at the iDoc store
Pentalobe PL1 screwdriver

Pentalobe PL1 screwdriver

You need the right screwdriver for removing pentalobe PL1 screws.
€12.00 at the iDoc store
Phillips PH00 screwdriver

Phillips PH00 screwdriver

You need the right screwdriver for removing PH00 screws.
€12.00 at the iDoc store
Phillips screwdriver with centering pin

Phillips screwdriver with centering pin

Phillips screwdriver with practical centering pin for logic board screws.
€12.00 at the iDoc store

Show all replacement parts for the iPhone 6

Passendes Werkzeug

Mit unserem Werkzeug gelingt dir die Reparatur.

iPhone Tool Kit, 14 pieces

for €55.00

Steps

15 Steps

iPhone 6 teardown

Step 1

Removing the enclosure screws

Step 2

Disconnecting the display

Step 3

iSight camera

Step 4

Battery

Step 5

Standby button

Step 6

Vibration motor

Step 7

Speaker

Step 8

Lightning connector

Step 9

Home button

Step 10

Earpiece and FaceTime camera

Step 11

Rear panel

Step 12

Logic board

Step 13

Volume button

Step 14

Summary

Step 15

Getting started with the repair of your iPhone 6

If you get stuck or have questions, you can post a comment. We’d be happy to help.

15 steps

iPhone 6 teardown
Here’s how your sleek, elegant iPhone 6 looks when you open the box. The front and back feature the same simple design we’ve come to expect from Apple.
Removing the enclosure screws
No changes here: Just like in previous models, you have to remove the two pentalobe screws on the Lightning connector first.
Disconnecting the display
We’re especially excited to see what’s waiting for us when we take off the display. You had to be particularly careful when opening the previous model because of the Touch ID in the Home button Apple introduced with the iPhone 5s.
Using a suction cup and pick, we carefully lift the screen. It’s surprisingly easy. We take a look inside. Looks like Apple made some improvements: none of that old cabling in sight. That’s one less thing for us to worry about.
As we expected, the display connections are hidden under a cover. You can’t disconnect the display until you’ve unscrewed this cover.
iSight camera
The camera is also easy to remove. It’s under a cover and only attached to the logic board by a connector.
Apple had already made this change for the iPhone 5s. For the iPhone 5, you still had to remove the logic board if you wanted to replace the camera.
Battery
Once again, the battery is stuck securely in place in the iPhone. In theory, you can easily pull off the adhesive strips to remove the battery. It’s also a lot easier in practice than it was with the iPhone 5s.
If you want to install the battery properly again, you’ll have to use new adhesive strips.
Standby button
It’s also nice that removing the standby switch has gotten easier. Because of its new position on the iPhone’s side panel, you now have enough space to unscrew and screw it in on both sides. In all the previous models, removing it took a lot of patience because the standby button was in the upper corner. This change has made things a lot simpler.
Both the ambient microphone and the flash are on the standby button cable set.
Vibration motor
The most noticeable change so far: Not only is the vibration motor installed in a different place, but its shape is also very different from all the vibration motors installed in earlier iPhones.
At the same time, the vibration motor is very easy to replace. It’s just under a metal cover that’s screwed in place.

Speaker
The speaker is just screwed in place so it’s very easy to remove. You don’t even have to remove the logic board.
The shape of the speaker is a little different from the ones in previous models.
Lightning connector
Not much has changed for the Lightning connector: You have to remove several screws, and the cable set is glued in place pretty securely. Be careful if you detach it.
As previously, the headphone input, microphone, Lightning connector and an antenna cable are attached to a cable harness. For the reasons explained above, there’s no socket for the Home button connector like there was in the iPhone 5s.
Home button
Let’s go ahead and remove the Home button. You can’t miss the similarities to the iPhone 5, 5c and 5s.
First, we remove the metal cover over the Home button, and that’s when we see the next surprise: The Home button connection is connected to the back of the display. As a result, the cable set is pretty short.
Earpiece and FaceTime camera
There’s also a cover over the earpiece, which is located under the cable set for the FaceTime camera. Because both parts are only lightly glued in place, it’s pretty easy to lift them out.
As usual, the proximity sensor is also on the cable set.
Rear panel
It’s very easy to unscrew the rear panel and lift it out.
With the new cabling, you can now clearly see how the Home button is connected to the logic board. The new ribbon cable is routed completely below the rear panel.
Logic board
Now we can remove the heart of the iPhone. The shape and structure of the logic board are very similar to those of the three previous models.
The logic board is screwed in place at several points. Before you can lift it out, you have to remove the SIM card tray, and disconnect the Lightning connector and the antenna cable.
Volume button
Another great detail: You don’t have to remove the logic board to remove the cable for the volume controller. That saves time during repairs, but you do have to remove a little antenna cable.
Like in previous devices, the cable set is glued to the aluminum enclosure, but relatively easy to detach.
Summary
Once again, this iPhone version is easier to repair than the previous models. Some repairs now take fewer steps. We were especially pleased about the following:

You don’t need as much force to open the phone and remove the display

The cable for the Home button/Touch ID is protected better than in previous models so it’s less likely to get damaged when you open the phone

The flexible flat cables for the standby switch and audio jack are now separate and easy to replace

You no longer have to remove the logic board to replace the volume cable set. You still have to for the speaker, Lightning connector and iSight camera

The new adhesive system makes it much easier to remove the battery

It’s also even easier to replace the standby button now that it’s no longer so hard to get at

From a user’s point of view, the new curved front glass could turn out to be a step backward. Because of its exposed position, the display is even more likely to be damaged if dropped than it was on previous models.