iPhone 12 Pro Loudspeaker Replacement
Duration: 45 minutes
Steps: 28 Steps
Follow this guide to take out and swap the loudspeaker on your iPhone 12 Pro. The loudspeaker is the little guy at the bottom of your iPhone that pumps out all those sounds.
Step 1
Heads up: Before diving in, make sure your iPhone battery is below 25%. A fully charged lithium-ion battery can get pretty feisty if poked the wrong way—think fire or explosion. Stay safe and keep it chill!
Opening up your iPhone’s display means you’re breaking those trusty waterproof seals. Make sure you’ve got replacements on hand before diving in, or be extra careful to keep things dry if you’re putting it back together without replacing them. Water damage is no joke!
- Before you dive in, make sure to power off your iPhone completely.
- Next, grab your pentalobe P2 screwdriver and remove the two 6.75 mm screws located at the bottom edge of the iPhone.
Step 2
Be careful not to push the opening pick in too deep—it could harm your device. Mark your pick to keep things safe and sound.
Feel free to mark other corners of your pick with different lengths for extra precision.
Or, stick a coin to your pick about 3 mm from the tip to create a handy depth guide.
- Grab your opening pick and use a permanent marker to make a line exactly 3 mm from the tip. You'll thank yourself later for this little life hack!
Step 3
Pop on some safety glasses to keep your peepers protected from any sneaky shards that might try to escape during the repair.
Got a cracked iPhone screen? Keep those shards in check and avoid any ouch moments by taping over the glass before you dive into the repair.
If the suction cup won’t stick, a dab of superglue can help it cling tight to the screen.
- Place some clear packing tape over the iPhone's screen in strips, layering them until the entire surface is covered.
- If the suction cup isn’t sticking in the next steps, take a sturdy piece of tape (like duct tape), fold it into a handle, and use that to lift the screen instead.
Step 4
In the next few steps, we'll show you how to use the Anti-Clamp – a tool we created to make opening your device a breeze. If you're not using the Anti-Clamp, just skip ahead three steps to see an alternative method.
Need a little more help with the Anti-Clamp? Check out this guide for the full rundown.
If your iPhone's surface is a little too slippery for the Anti-Clamp to grab, don’t worry! A bit of tape will give it a much better grip.
- Give that blue handle a good tug backwards to spring the Anti-Clamp's arms into action.
- Gently slide those arms over the left or right edge of your iPhone like you're tucking it in for a nap.
- Now, place the suction cups snugly near the bottom edge of your iPhone—one on the front and one on the back, like best buddies.
- Squeeze those cups together to create a solid bond with your device. You've got this!
Step 5
- Grab the blue handle and pull it forward to lock the arms in place.
- Give the handle a solid twist clockwise for a full 360 degrees (or until you see the cups start to stretch).
- Keep an eye on the suction cups to make sure they stay aligned. If they start to shift out of place, just loosen them up a little and realign the arms.
Step 6
Give the Anti-Clamp a quarter turn, then chill for a minute before the next move. Patience is key—let the tool do its thing!
For detailed steps on how to use a hair dryer, check out this guide.
If the Anti-Clamp isn't creating enough of a gap, just heat it up a little more and rotate the handle a quarter turn. Keep going, you’ve got this!
- Prop your iPhone up on a solid surface, like a trusty hardcover book, so it can chill hands-free and stay parallel to the ground. This makes the next steps a breeze!
- Grab a hair dryer and warm up the bottom edge of your iPhone. It should feel just a tad too hot to the touch – that’s the sweet spot!
- Give it a moment – about a minute should do – to let the adhesive loosen up and create a little gap for you.
- Slip an opening pick under the plastic screen bezel when the Anti-Clamp has created a gap big enough for some action.
- Feel free to skip the next three steps!
Tools Used
Step 7
Keep your hair dryer on the move! Don't let it chill in one spot for too long.
- Grab your trusty hair dryer or heat gun and warm up the bottom edge of your iPhone for about 90 seconds, or until the screen feels a bit too spicy to touch. This helps loosen things up so you can get inside without a struggle.
Tools Used
Step 8
- When using a single suction handle, stick it to the bottom edge of your phone, making sure to stay clear of the very edge of the glass. You've got this!
Tools Used
Step 9
Be sure to slide that opening pick under the chunky plastic bezel with care to keep your screen safe and sound! Look for a little visual gap—if it’s not there, just gently lift the screen a bit more until you spot it. The pick should glide right in without any fuss.
The adhesive keeping that screen snug as a bug is no joke; it takes a good amount of elbow grease to pry it open. If you're struggling to create a gap, crank up the heat a bit and give the screen a gentle rock up and down. This will help loosen that stubborn glue until you can slip your tool in. Keep at it, you've got this!
- Grab the suction cup and gently pull up with steady pressure—just enough to give a little space between the screen and the frame.
- Now, slide an opening pick in at a sharp angle to widen that gap and get ready for the next step.
Step 10
- Crank up your hair dryer and warm up the right edge of your iPhone (yep, the one with the power button) for about 90 seconds. Stop when the screen feels almost too warm for comfort—think summer sidewalk, not molten lava.
Tools Used
Step 11
Keep your pick within 3 mm to avoid any accidental damage to the delicate internals. A little goes a long way!
- Gently slide your opening pick around the bottom right corner of the iPhone to loosen that pesky adhesive.
- Keep sliding the pick up along the right edge until you reach the top right corner—smooth and steady wins the race.
- Leave the pick resting in the top right corner before moving on to the next step.
Step 12
- Grab a hair dryer and heat up the top edge of your iPhone for about 90 seconds, or until it’s warm enough that you can feel it’s just a tad too hot to touch. We’re just loosening things up a bit here, nothing too intense.
Tools Used
Step 13
Keep your pick shallow—no deeper than 3 mm—or the top sensors might catch a case of the ouchies.
- Gently slide the opening pick around the top right corner of your iPhone to loosen the adhesive up there.
- Keep the pick tucked into the top left corner while you move on to the next step.
Step 14
- Grab a hair dryer and warm up the left edge of your iPhone for about 90 seconds, or until it feels just a bit too toasty to keep your finger on it.
Tools Used
Step 15
Careful! There are some sensitive cables running along the left side of your iPhone. Avoid inserting your pick here – we wouldn't want to accidentally snip any of those cables!
Step 16
Gently twist with steady force—no need to rush here. Let the adhesive slowly give way.
If the left edge is being stubborn, give it a little heat and try again. It’ll loosen up!
- Pop a second opening pick into the bottom left corner of your iPhone.
- Gently twist both picks at the same time until you hear or feel the left edge pop free.
Step 17
Hold off on yanking the display—there are some delicate ribbon cables still connecting it to the iPhone's logic board, and we want those to stay happy!
- Turn your iPhone so the right side is facing you.
- Open up the iPhone by lifting the display from the right side, like you’re flipping open a book cover.
- Prop the display up against something sturdy to keep it steady while you work on your phone.
- When putting it back together, place the display in position, line up the clips along the top edge, and gently press the top edge down before snapping the rest of the display into place. If it doesn’t click easily, double-check that the clips around the edges aren’t bent or out of place.
Step 18
Keep a close eye on every screw during this repair and be sure to put each one back exactly where it came from—your iPhone will thank you!
- Unscrew those two 1.1 mm long Y000 screws that are holding down the battery and display connector cover. You got this!
- Now, while you’ve got everything open, it's a fantastic time to power on your iPhone and give it a quick test run to check that everything's working like a charm. Just remember to completely power it off again before diving back in to finish the job!
Step 19
- Take off the cover to get started.
Step 20
Keep the black silicone seal around this and other board connections looking sharp—these little barriers are the phone’s secret weapon against water and dust sneaking in.
- Grab a spudger or your trusty fingernail and gently nudge that battery connector up from its cozy spot on the logic board. It's like giving it a little lift-off!
- Once it's up, give that connector a slight bend away from the logic board. This little move will ensure it doesn't sneak back into the socket and power up your device while you're in the middle of your repair adventure.
Tools Used
Step 21
- Gently pry up the display cable connector using a spudger or your fingernail to disconnect it.
- When reconnecting a connector like this, line it up carefully and press down on one side until you hear a click, then do the same on the other side. Avoid pressing in the middle because if the connector is off, the pins might bend and cause permanent damage.
Tools Used
Step 22
- Grab a spudger or your trusty fingernail and gently pop that digitizer cable connector free. You've got this!
- Now, if your screen is feeling a little shy and doesn't respond to your touch after the repair, no worries! Just disconnect the battery, give that connector a little re-seat, and listen for that satisfying click. Make sure there's no dust or other sneaky obstructions hanging out in the socket. You're doing great!
Tools Used
Step 23
- Grab your trusty Y000 driver and take out the four screws keeping the front sensor connector cover in place.
- Three of these are 1.1 mm long—short and sweet.
- The last one stretches to 1.4 mm—just a tad longer!
Step 24
- Flip the cover up from the left—like opening a tiny book—until the little clip on the right lets go.
- Lift the cover off. Easy does it!
- When putting it back together, start by sliding that right-side clip into its slot first, then swing the rest of the cover down. Nailed it!
Step 25
- Gently lift up the front sensor assembly cable connector using a spudger or your fingernail—no need to wrestle with it, just a smooth pop and you’re good to go!
Tools Used
Step 26
- Gently lift off the display assembly—like opening a treasure chest, but with fewer pirates.
- If you're feeling extra, now's the perfect moment to swap out the waterproof adhesive around the display edges for a fresh seal.
Step 27
- Grab your trusty Phillips screwdriver and get ready to unscrew! Carefully take out the four 1.6 mm screws holding the loudspeaker in place. You've got this!
Step 28
- Match up your new replacement part with the original one—you might need to move a few bits around or peel off some sticky backing before popping it in place.
- To put your device back together, just follow the steps above in reverse order.
- Don’t forget to recycle your old electronic parts responsibly at an R2 or e-Stewards certified recycler.
- If things didn’t go exactly as planned, try some basic troubleshooting or schedule a repair for expert help.
