Today I received 6 cracked iPhone 4S LCD screens from eBay. The seller claimed they were all removed from functional iPhones. (Sure probably functional "AFTER" the LCD was replaced)

In either case I didn't necessarily purchase them expecting them to work. No what I need right now is practice, and an accurate CAD model. I am also pretty sure that not one of these are actually authentic OEM displays. But if I get lucky and some work, then great.

After watching a few videos on YouTube, on how to separate the glass from the LCD. I took two of the LCDs which looked the worst off. One LCD had the ribbon cable separated, and the other had visible cracks in the LCD as well as the top glass. I am sure neither of these displays are functional. Before trying to separate the glass I put on leather gloves and eye protection.

On the first display I tried a method where you heat the display, and draw a cheese cutting wire behind it.

This first display separated a bit too easily. I think that it was a low quality fake, as the backlight basically fell off with very little effort, and the polarizer was plastic.

For the second display I tried a more careful, but tedious method. I first heated the surface of the display to about 60C. Then using a razor I gently lifted the cracked glass away from the LCD. Gently heating up one section at a time and then removing a small area of top glass.

After about thirty minutes I was able to remove all the top glass. I did manage to chip two of the corners, and next time I will take more care with those. Hence, purchasing these for practice.

In the case of this display, the underlying polarizer was actually glass. This allowed me to scrape most of the adhesive off with the razor, and then clean it up with a scotch pad and denatured alcohol.

This display will be used to develop a CAD model of the actual LCD.

I have found at least one Hong Kong supplier who lists the raw LCD without digitizer or top glass. But they haven't replied to e-mail for two days now, and as usually simply list the display in hopes I will accept a different in-stock model.