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All depends on the cost of parts. Part cost is very low right now...I advise people to get it fixed ASAP if they have the money! You never know what it will do-

All depends on the cost of parts. Part cost is very low right now...I advise people to get it fixed ASAP if they have the money! You never know what it will do--part cost bounces around like the stock market. Last year it bounced really high there for a bit, and now it's come back down. The backlight, LCD, digitizer (touch "web"), and top glass are all one piece. They come bonded from the factory. I never recommend glass-only repairs, and they're nearly impossible to do yourself. Some shops will do them, but realistically, with the 5 series screen cost so low right now, there's no reason to risk digitizer issues with a glass-only repair. (It's very difficult to replace only the glass without breaking the delicate digitizer "web" right below it.) From what we can tell, there is very little difference between an OEM display and the ones repair shops sell. The 6 model is slightly thicker. On a 5, you probably won't notice it. It is all about the warranty if you choose to get it replaced from a shop--some percentage of the screens are just going to have issues, and you want a shop that stands behind their work. (No repair shop warranty will cover if you drop or break the screen, though!)

revelation 10y ago
Where do you source parts from? Does Apple sell these like a car manufacturer would? The whole electronics repair business seems rather immature and shady compared to something like car repair. For a car make, you can easily get the software manufacturers give to repair shops which has all sorts of exploded assembly views, instructions and part lists.
- ericabiz 10y ago
  No, Apple doesn't sell parts, though it would be nice if they did. The main way screens appear in the repair business is from companies in China that buy back screens with broken glass but functional LCD. They then replace the glass with new glass. Most of the screen is OEM, but not the top glass. They then ship these to repair shops and distributors, who use them to replace screens. That's why I mentioned in a previous comment that it's all about the warranty with a repair shop. No shop will warranty a cracked or broken screen, but most decent shops will warranty digitizer (touch) issues as long as there's no physical damage to the screen. That type of warranty is a must-have--there are only a small percentage of screens that go bad after a few days or weeks of use, but it really sucks if you get one and the shop refuses to replace it. > The whole electronics repair business seems rather immature and shady compared to something like car repair. Well, both are shady (plenty of YouTube exposes on oil change places that upsell services, charge for them, and don't perform them.) Honestly, one of the reasons I came into this industry was I was aware of the huge need for a non-shady repair shop in Austin, TX (where I live.) We're the highest-rated independent repair shop in Austin, and we take that pretty seriously, since there are so many horror stories of bad computer/game console/phone repair shops out there. We do our best to do right by our customers.
  - TorKlingberg 10y ago
    Thank you for all the information. This explains the volatile prices: it depends on the supply of broken screens. I assume when you replace a display assembly, you sell the old one?
    - ericabiz 10y ago
      Yes, many places will buy them. They pay more if the LCD is still intact because they're easier to refurbish.
  - dave_sullivan 10y ago
    > The main way screens appear in the repair business is from companies in China that buy back screens with broken glass but functional LCD. That's really interesting. I had assumed these were being manufactured somewhere to fit into apple devices, but instead there're huge operations that are buying tons of broken screens and essentially refurbishing them? Is that for legal reasons or cost reasons or other? I'm curious: what does the supply chain look like? A) Person breaks their screen, how much do they get from one of those shops that buy broken phones? Does that firm then break it down and sell the parts? Like a smart phone chop shop? B) If so, who are they selling to? Surely not the refurb factories themselves, the factories wouldn't want to deal with that many individual people. So are people aggregating these and then selling in bulk to manufacturers? Any idea on the pricing around that? Does there seem to be a dominant player in the market or are there many people doing this? C) After refurb, how much does the new screen then go for? You mentioned it's like a market--what's the range been in the last few years vs today? And what about Android?
bluesign 10y ago
"there is very little difference between an OEM display and the ones repair shops sell." I burned by this, all was looking good till I try to used with my polarized sunglasses, it was probably cheap screen, with wrong polarization, which you see nothing with glasses.
lttlrck 10y ago
Do you calibrate the screen because I have seen uncalibrated repairs and the image quality is terrible. Though that could also be caused by bum screens.
- ericabiz 10y ago
  Heh, whenever I hear "calibrate the screen" I assume you either work at an Apple Store or have been to one recently, as that seems to be their favorite line. Calibration is only necessary on a glass-only repair; it realigns the digitizer "touch web" with the top glass that you're actually touching. That's why we don't perform nor recommend glass-only repairs. When we repair a screen, we test every part of the digitizer before giving it back to the customer. We type on the keyboard, open apps, etc. If we find a dead spot, we replace it on-site. If by chance there's something we missed on our test, that's why our warranty exists. If a customer finds a dead spot or the digitizer starts glitching, that's covered under our warranty. And that's why I recommend you find a shop with a good warranty. Most of them don't test as thoroughly as we do, but even with testing, a small percentage of digitizers will still have issues a few days to a few weeks after the repair. A warranty will get you a no-hassle replacement as long as you haven't cracked the screen.
  - lttlrck 10y ago
    I meant color calibration. I don't work for Apple. I had a non-Apple iPhone 4 screen replacement and the colors were washed out, lacking saturation - it's impossible for me to say whether that is due to display quality or lack of calibration. However it makes sense to me that color calibration is required for consistent display performance especially when displays are sourced from different manufacturers.

revelation 10y ago

Where do you source parts from? Does Apple sell these like a car manufacturer would? The whole electronics repair business seems rather immature and shady compared to something like car repair. For a car make, you can easily get the software manufacturers give to repair shops which has all sorts of exploded assembly views, instructions and part lists.

ericabiz 10y ago
No, Apple doesn't sell parts, though it would be nice if they did. The main way screens appear in the repair business is from companies in China that buy back screens with broken glass but functional LCD. They then replace the glass with new glass. Most of the screen is OEM, but not the top glass. They then ship these to repair shops and distributors, who use them to replace screens. That's why I mentioned in a previous comment that it's all about the warranty with a repair shop. No shop will warranty a cracked or broken screen, but most decent shops will warranty digitizer (touch) issues as long as there's no physical damage to the screen. That type of warranty is a must-have--there are only a small percentage of screens that go bad after a few days or weeks of use, but it really sucks if you get one and the shop refuses to replace it. > The whole electronics repair business seems rather immature and shady compared to something like car repair. Well, both are shady (plenty of YouTube exposes on oil change places that upsell services, charge for them, and don't perform them.) Honestly, one of the reasons I came into this industry was I was aware of the huge need for a non-shady repair shop in Austin, TX (where I live.) We're the highest-rated independent repair shop in Austin, and we take that pretty seriously, since there are so many horror stories of bad computer/game console/phone repair shops out there. We do our best to do right by our customers.
- TorKlingberg 10y ago
  Thank you for all the information. This explains the volatile prices: it depends on the supply of broken screens. I assume when you replace a display assembly, you sell the old one?
  - ericabiz 10y ago
    Yes, many places will buy them. They pay more if the LCD is still intact because they're easier to refurbish.
- dave_sullivan 10y ago
  > The main way screens appear in the repair business is from companies in China that buy back screens with broken glass but functional LCD. That's really interesting. I had assumed these were being manufactured somewhere to fit into apple devices, but instead there're huge operations that are buying tons of broken screens and essentially refurbishing them? Is that for legal reasons or cost reasons or other? I'm curious: what does the supply chain look like? A) Person breaks their screen, how much do they get from one of those shops that buy broken phones? Does that firm then break it down and sell the parts? Like a smart phone chop shop? B) If so, who are they selling to? Surely not the refurb factories themselves, the factories wouldn't want to deal with that many individual people. So are people aggregating these and then selling in bulk to manufacturers? Any idea on the pricing around that? Does there seem to be a dominant player in the market or are there many people doing this? C) After refurb, how much does the new screen then go for? You mentioned it's like a market--what's the range been in the last few years vs today? And what about Android?

bluesign 10y ago

"there is very little difference between an OEM display and the ones repair shops sell." I burned by this, all was looking good till I try to used with my polarized sunglasses, it was probably cheap screen, with wrong polarization, which you see nothing with glasses.

lttlrck 10y ago

Do you calibrate the screen because I have seen uncalibrated repairs and the image quality is terrible. Though that could also be caused by bum screens.

ericabiz 10y ago
Heh, whenever I hear "calibrate the screen" I assume you either work at an Apple Store or have been to one recently, as that seems to be their favorite line. Calibration is only necessary on a glass-only repair; it realigns the digitizer "touch web" with the top glass that you're actually touching. That's why we don't perform nor recommend glass-only repairs. When we repair a screen, we test every part of the digitizer before giving it back to the customer. We type on the keyboard, open apps, etc. If we find a dead spot, we replace it on-site. If by chance there's something we missed on our test, that's why our warranty exists. If a customer finds a dead spot or the digitizer starts glitching, that's covered under our warranty. And that's why I recommend you find a shop with a good warranty. Most of them don't test as thoroughly as we do, but even with testing, a small percentage of digitizers will still have issues a few days to a few weeks after the repair. A warranty will get you a no-hassle replacement as long as you haven't cracked the screen.
- lttlrck 10y ago
  I meant color calibration. I don't work for Apple. I had a non-Apple iPhone 4 screen replacement and the colors were washed out, lacking saturation - it's impossible for me to say whether that is due to display quality or lack of calibration. However it makes sense to me that color calibration is required for consistent display performance especially when displays are sourced from different manufacturers.