If you are new to iPhone repair and have damaged your iPhone 11 or perhaps you are a technician looking to repair a customer’s device, you might want to know some issues that other experienced repair technicians have come across. Below we’ve answered some of the most common questions that we come across regarding iPhone 11 repairs.
iPhone 11 LCD Screen repair – can it be done?
In short, the answer is Yes! However, as it currently stands, after a screen replacement, you will get a notification that appears on your device which says “Important Display Message. Unable to verify if this iPhone has a genuine display.”, which is an obvious inconvenience to repair technicians and home repairers alike.
What is the reason for this display message?
The iPhone 11 screen range has a secure EEPROM, which holds a unique serial number that links to the phone’s logic board. When the serial number for the screen does not match that of what is coded to the iPhone’s mainboard, then you will get a serial number mismatch, which results in this message. This doesn’t only affect aftermarket screens, though. Even if you were to take a genuine screen from one iPhone 11 and put it on another, it would still display this message. Should Apple be allowed to display a message like this when you know the screen is genuine? Maybe not, but this is how the phone is set to detect a screen repair.
Is there a fix for this error?
Yes, there is. However, it is above most repair technician’s level of skill due to the complexity of the repair. The way to fix this issue is to unsolder the screen’s IC chip and reflow it onto a new LCD screen. why does this work? Because the IC chip on the flex contains the EEPROM chip, which includes the screen serial information. Once this chip has been transferred over, the new screen will not display this message. That said, this repair will require an experienced board repairer.
Some extra information for you: the iPhone 11 screen is an LCD and not an OLED screen like the iPhone X and XS. This means the price of the screen in the future will be cheaper than some OLED displays.
One thing we noticed when we opened an iPhone 11 is that the shield plate which covers the battery connection is in an inconvenient place. This means many customers may damage the LCD flex cables in the process of removing the shield to disconnect the battery. This is because the plate screws are located directly under the LCD flex cables.
Why are plates screws under LCD cables an issue?
Easily put, it is essential on any electronic device to isolate the power source before disconnecting any flex cables; this is to avoid damage to the board itself.
Will I keep True Tone after replacing a screen?
Yes, True Tone can be kept as long as you use an EEPROM programmer to take the True Tone data from the original display to the new LCD, if you do not have one of these then you will lose this function.
Replacement Of Batteries On the 11 Model
We are often asked if a battery replacement is possible on the iPhone 11.
iPhone 11 Battery repair – can this be done?
Yes, you can replace the battery on the iPhone 11, and it will work with no issue. However, you should know that if you buy a replacement battery and fit it, you will get a notification which reads “Important Battery Message. Unable to verify, this iPhone has a genuine Apple battery. Health Information not available for this battery.”
Apple then goes on to report this information against the phone on their servers, so they know the battery has been replaced.
How can you overcome this issue?
Well, you could take the flex from the original battery unsolder this and resolder on to a new battery. This will avoid this error message; however, doing any soldering work on a Lithium ION battery is not recommend and is considered dangerous. This may be a repair which is limited to Apple only unless you can put up with the error message and lack of battery health.
I took my iPhone 11 apart and the face ID function has stopped working. What is the cause of this issue?
This is most likely to do with Ambient Light sensor as the Face ID on this device is linked to the logic board. If this cable is replaced or damaged whilst repairing then you will lose the face ID function. Specialist micro-soldering repairers can repair the cable; however, this will not be a cheap option.
The ambient light sensor is also linked to True Tone. If the sensor flex is damaged, you may also lose the True Tone function on your display. Due to this, the part is quite important, so always take the upmost care to avoid damaging this cable.
iPhone 11 Charge Port Repairs
Charging issues can be found with many iPhone models and the 11 is no exception.
I have a charging issue. What is the best part to replace to solve this issue?
Charging issues can be many things but the most common issue is dust in the charge port. For this, we would recommend using a non-conductive tool such as a toothpick to help remove any stubborn dust or debris within the port. Please be careful not to damage any pins in the process. You can also use compressed air to remove dust; however, it may need a gentle clean with something harder.
If the above technique doesn’t fix the issue then the next thing we would recommend is to replace the charge port flex assembly. This is a tricky repair but can be done and this should restore the charging function without any error messages from Apple. However, they could change this at a later date.
We will continue to update this information as and when we uncover new repair issues on the iPhone 11 range.
In the meantime, feel free to check out our range of iPhone 11 screen parts.
