How to Replace or Repair Your Broken iPhone Screen

We’ve all dropped our iPhone at one point or another, and sometimes your luck runs dry and you end up with a cracked or broken screen! At this point, your options really depend on what version of iPhone you have and what protection plan you have, if any.

Obviously, you want to spend as little money as possible fixing your iPhone without compromising on quality. For example, you can take it to your local repair shop and pay $ 60 less than what Apple would pay, but the local store might do substandard work that will cost you more in the future.

In this post, I will try to list all the possible ways to replace the iPhone screen and the different prices for each option. I will start with the safest and most reliable method, which will obviously be more expensive, and then list several cheaper options.

Apple repair centers

By far, the best option is to have your iPhone repaired by Apple itself. You can take it to any Apple retail store and submit a service request. So what’s the price?

Depends. If you have AppleCare + for your phone, which I highly recommend, then it’s cheaper. If not, then the price for installing the screen is slightly higher. Here is a breakdown table for iPhone screen repairs with or without AppleCare +.

As you can see, you will save a decent amount of money if you have AppleCare for your iPhone. AppleCare isn’t free, but it’s definitely worth it as it protects your phone for up to 2 years. In addition, if you have AppleCare, you can request a replacement phone for free using our express replacement service. Without AppleCare, the replacement is $ 29.

You will also notice that Apple’s website only lists the iPhone 5 and nothing before. This is because iPhone 3G, iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S are not covered under warranty and will depend on whether they have parts for those phones.

While writing this article, I called Apple Support and asked them prices for screen replacement on older phones and this is what they gave me:

iPhone 4S – $ 199

 iPhone 4 - $ 149   iPhone 3GS - $ 149  

These are quite high prices for older phones, but that's because they have fewer parts as they are no longer mass-produced. However, if your carrier has unlocked these older phones, they are significantly more expensive and can be used in other countries while traveling as well, so the price may pay off.

Authorized third-party service providers

The next best option is to go to an authorized third party repair center. To be an Authorized Service Provider, a company must meet some fairly strict requirements and all parts are genuine and manufactured by Apple.

You will pay more than a local repair shop using an authorized service provider, but you can rest assured that the parts are legitimate and not cheap knockoffs.

You can find all authorized service providers on the Apple website itself. Follow the link below and click "Service".

https://locate.apple.com/

Enter your address or zip code, select iPhone, and then select your carrier. After that, just click the Go button.

Most listings just show Apple Stores in your area, but anything that is not an Apple Store is an Authorized Service Provider.

Local and online repair shops

If both of these options are too expensive, your best bet without having to do it yourself is to go to your local or online workshop. You will almost always find someone willing to renovate at a very low cost, but I highly recommend that you resist the temptation to choose the cheapest option.

I went to a local repair shop in Dallas to replace my iPad 2's screen and it cost about $ 80, which was cheaper than all the other places I was looking for. Anyway, it worked fine for a few months, but then the glass started popping out of the metal case, and eventually the screen broke down and registered taps all over the place, even when no one was touching the screen.

So when it comes to repair shops, you have many options too. I recommend contacting some nationwide iPhone repair companies first because they have the best warranties, and if something goes wrong with your device after being repaired, you can fix it anywhere in the country.

One of the best sites in this category is iCrackedcom They mainly work with local technicians who are hired as trading partners. The nice thing is that you have a lifetime warranty on any repairs, so if any problem occurs after the repair, you can get it repaired again for free.

They use certified parts and perform background checks on all technicians, so you don't have to worry about these issues at all. Plus, you decide where the renovation will take place: at home, in the office, or even at your local coffee shop if you like.

Another site that I love is Mission: Repair because they have a one-year warranty on most repairs and they also have something called Got Repair. They are based in Kansas, but you can send them your phone from anywhere.

The prices are reasonable, but what really sets them apart is the Got Repair guarantee. Basically, if you are doing a repair that is covered by the Got Repair warranty (see image below), then you can do the same repair again as many times as you want for a fixed fee each time.

As an example, they cite the iPhone 3GS, which costs $ 29 to repair the front screen. If you break it again, you only need $ 20 to fix it again. You can break it as many times as you want, you just pay one flat fee. For some reason, they don't list a flat fee for other devices, so I called them and bought them myself. This is a flat repair fee:

iPhone 6S - $ 320 iPhone 6 Plus - $ 170 iPhone 6 - $ 120 iPhone 5S, 5C, 5 - $ 90 iPhone 4S - $ 45 iPhone 4 - $ 45

So is this site worth using? Depends. Let's say you have an iPhone 5S that is covered by Apple Care. It will cost you $ 79 with Apple and $ 119 with Mission: Repair, so Apple wins. If you break it again, it will cost you $ 79 with Apple, but you only get two accidents with Apple Care.

However, if you don't have a guarantee, it will cost $ 129 with Apple and $ 119 with Mission: Repair. If you break it again, it will still be $ 129 with Apple, but only $ 90 with Mission: Repair. So, in this case, "Mission: Repair" is the best choice.

The last option you might look at is UBREAKIFIX.com, which also has good prices on most iPhone repairs. They also have repair centers all over the country, so if it's more convenient for you to walk into a store and talk to a technician, then these guys are a good choice.

The only downside is that they have a short 90 day warranty, which is pretty flimsy. In my opinion, such repairs should be guaranteed for at least 1 year.

Finally, if these larger companies are too expensive, you can contact your local repair shops. Just go to Google Maps and type iPhone Repair and you get a list of locals.

The main problem here is that most ads have no ratings and it's hard to tell good from bad. For local classifieds, it is important that the company has at least a website and that it looks professional. Someone out of the house iPhone repairs can do it for a very low cost, but you will probably have an ultra short warranty or none at all.

At this point, this is essentially a judgment. I also recommend classifieds that have the physical location of the store, because at least there is a place you can go if you're unhappy with the renovation. Residential businesses are definitely more risky for obvious reasons.

Do it yourself kits

Finally, if you have some technical know-how and don't mind messing around on your own, DIY kits are available and are probably the cheapest option of all. Parts you can pretty much get for the price, and each DIY website listed below also has guides and videos to walk you through the entire process.

There are actually only three places where you have to buy parts when going to do it yourself: iFixit, iCracked, or iMore iMore doesn't sell any parts, but has iPhone repair guides.

As you can see, the iPhone 5S screen repair kit costs only $ 85. That's just $ 6 more than if Apple replaced it with Apple Care. If you only get the parts without the kit, it's $ 79, but I highly recommend this kit because it has all the tools you need to get the job done.

I've used the kits from iFixit myself and they're pretty good. The guides are very detailed and many of them usually include videos as well. If you have the patience and time, anyone can replace the screen on their own.

Hopefully this article has given you a detailed overview of all your options when it comes to replacing your iPhone screen. If you have any suggestions of your own, feel free to comment. Enjoy!

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