IPhone 7 Lightning connector assembly replacement

 Before you begin, discharge your iPhone battery below 25%. A charged battery can catch fire and/or explode if punctured.

• turn off your iPhone 

 Opening the iPhone's display will compromise its waterproof seals. If you don't replace it, your device will work, but it won't be waterproof anymore. 

• remove the two 3,4 mm Pentalobe screws from the bottom of your iPhone
   

 Heating the lower edge of the iPhone will help soften the adhesive by which the display is secured, which will make it easier to open. 

• heat the bottom edge of the device using a hairdryer for approximately 1 minute 
• this will soften the adhesive located underneath
• place the suction cup on the bottom half of the display, just above the home button

 Make sure, that the suction cup does not cover the home button, which could cause formation of an air bubble. 

• pull the suction cup and create a small gap between the display and rare case
• insert the flat side of the spudger into the gap
• the watertight adhesive securing the display in place is very strong and creating this gap requires a significant amount of force. If necessary, use an upwards-downwards movement to loosen the display, and create enough space for the spudger
• pull the suction cap and create a small gap between the display and rare case

• move the spudger all the way to the left side of the iPhone, by moving it up and down towards the volume control buttons

 Do not move it all the way towards the top edge of the phone, as this could damage the plastic clips which secure the display.

• repeat the same movement on the right side of the device to separate the display from the rare case
• pull the suction cup to lift the display and open the iPhone

 Do not lift the display more than 10° angle as this part is still attached to the rare case by thin ribbon cables, which it could damage. 

• remove the suction cup
   

• insert the pick into the gap on the top edge of the iPhone to break up the remaining adhesive

 Be careful not to damage the plastic clips on the top edge of the phone. 

• carefully pull the opened display downwards, to disengage it from the clips on the top of the device
• open the iPhone by tilting it to the right, as when opening a book

 Do not attempt to fully separate the display part yet, as it is still connected by fragile ribbon cables. 

• remove the four Y000 screws, which secure the lower connector bracket 
  • three 1,2 mm screws
  • one 2,4 mm screw
• during reassembling, make sure that you return the same screws to the exact place where they came from. This is the only way to avoid damaging the device
• remove the lower connector bracket
   

• use the tip of the spudger tool to lift the battery connector from its place on the motherboard

 Tilt the connector cable away from the device, to avoid electrical contact with other parts.

• use the tip of a spudger and lift the battery connector from its place on the motherboard
• tilt the connector cable away from the device, to avoid electrical contact with other parts
• before you continue, make sure the battery is disconnected 
• use a spudger or a fingernail and disconnect lower display connectors by prying them straight up from the motherboard
• when re-connecting the cables, press down on ends until you hear them click back into place
• do not press them down in the middle, as this could permanently damage them
• if you have white lines running through the display, or lack of complete lack of touch response, make sure that this cable is re-connected correctly
   

• remove the two 1,3 mm Philips screws, which secure the front panel sensor assembly connector bracket
• remove the bracket
• disconnect the panel from its place on the motherboard and remove from the phone
• separate the display assembly from the rest of the phone
   

• remove the two 1,9 mm Philips screws, which secure the barometric vent to the rear case. Remove the barometric vent

• use the flat end of the spudger and disconnect the Taptic Engine from the motherboard
• remove the three 1,6 mm Philips screws, which secure the Taptic Engine to its place
• remove the Taptic Engine from the device
   

• remove the one 3,2 mm Philips screw, which secure the Wi-Fi diversity antenna to its place
• remove these three Philips screws, which secure the speaker assembly
  • two 1,4 mm screws
  • one 2,0 mm screw

• use the tip of a spudger to lift the two antenna cables from the motherboard
• use tweezers to move off the antenna cables from their bracket on the motherboardu
• use tweezers to remove the antenna cables from the clip on the speaker
• be careful, not to damage the cables by the clip
   

• use the tip of a spudger to slide out the speaker assembly from its place and take it out from the device

• use the standard device and way to eject the SIM Card tray

• use the flat end of a spudger to disconnect the rear-facing camera connector

• remove these two Philips screws to loosen the rare-facing camera bracket
  • one 1,3 mm screw
  • one 2,5 mm screw
• remove the bracket from the device
   

• use the tip of a spudger to disconnect the camera flash connector

• remove the two 1,2 mm three-point crews, which secure the upper cable bracket
• remove the upper cable bracket from the device
   

• use the flat end of a spudger to disconnect the upper cable

• remove these Philips screws, which secure the Wi-Fi antenna 
  • three 1,2 mm screws
  • one 1,7 mm screw
• remove the antenna from the device
   

• remove these Philips screws
  • (red) one 1,3 mm screw
  • (orange) one 2,2 mm screw
• remove the bracket from the device

• remove the 2,2 mm flat crew from the grounding bracket. Use tweezers to gently lift the grounding bracket from its place

• use the tip of a spudger to disconnect the lower cable connector

• remove these screws
  • one 1,4 mm Philips screw
  • three 2,2 mm flat screws 
• use the tip of a spudger to move away the SIM card tray eject mechanism out of the motherboard

• use the flat end of a spudger to gently lift the bottom end of the motherboard
• once lifted, remove it from the device
• during this process you should not feel any resistance
• if you do feel any resistance, check if all the cables are disconnected, all the screws are removed and if these isn’t anything obstructing the motherboard
• if this is the case, it may damage the device
   

• remove the 2,9 mm Philips screw from the Lightning connector
• remove the spring contact from the Lightning connector

• remove the two 1,6 mm Philips screws, which secure the Lightening connector in place

• remove the two stickers, which cover the screws, that secure the connector in place

• remove the two 1,3 mm Philips screws located on the bottom edge of the device

use the tip of a spudger to eject the microphones from its place in the case of the device

• use a hairdryer to heat up the bottom of the device, to soften the glue which secures the lightening connector cable
• use a pick to separate the flat lightning cable connector from the case
• continue by moving from the top to the bottom all the way down to the end of the battery
• continue repeating the movement from right to left all the way to the Lightning connector

• gently eject the connector from its place in rare case of the phone

• use a pick to glue off the remaining remaining of the lightning connector module from the rare caser
• remove the module from the device
• make sure, that no glue is left on the rare case
• you may notice thin rubber strips on the selected part, which serve to ensure that your device is water-resistant
• if you wish to preserve it, you need to use tweezers to move them onto your new replacement part

 You may install the new module by reversed process.