One of the most frequent problems we encounter is cracked back glass on iPhones. Sometimes the back of the phone is smashed so bad there is a hole, and you can see the battery, charge port, and other components inside the phone.
For cracked back glass that doesn’t have a hole or any exposure on the back, some customers on a budget opt to simply cover that with a case. Often times a surface fracture of the glass is just cosmetic.
Certainly though if there is any hole or exposure, that should be remedied to protect the internal components from heat, liquid, dust and other contaminants that can affect the life of the device. Let’s be honest, cracked back glass is not a good look. Many people do not like the look of smashed glass, reminding them of an event they’d rather forget.
In terms of how the iPhone is made, for iPhone 8 series to 13 series, and the 14 Pro and Pro Max, the back glass is basically one with the frame. It takes an incredible amount of heat, power, precision, time and patience to remove the back glass without damaging any other component, like the power flex, camera, the flash, a microphone, charge port or battery.
Beware any person or place telling you they’re turnaround time is about an hour for a back glass replacement. Sure, it can be done, but there are consequences and usually these customers arrive on our doorstep for additional repairs such as no power, restarting, microphone not working, charge port not working, power button not working, damaged battery (we’ve seen batteries poked with knives!), no flashlight, bad camera, broken motherboard, and more.
Whenever adhesive is required for a repair, keep in mind it takes time to properly clean away old adhesive, and to reset the new adhesive properly. Some chop shops use peel and stick adhesive. This does not hold up over time. The best adhesive does require a proper cure time of a few hours. And, if bad or wrong adhesive is used, the phone smells of terrible adhesive, like a nail polish remover type of smell. Do you want that near your face on a call?
We started noticing as well, for shops that were doing glass only repairs, lots of tiny shards of glass and laser dust was left inside the phone. The laser dust could contribute to overheating in the future (plus it is nasty!), and as for the shards of glass, well, glass is conductive and it is really bad if it hits the wrong component on the motherboard or the battery.
What’s the alternative? Frame replacements! These are much more difficult for a repair shop and involve more risk and often times less profit, but this is the best option for back glass replacements, especially if the repair shop can source a great OEM (original) frame. The drawback of this method to the customer is that the screen needs to be carefully lifted so as not to break it, and it does break the factory seal of the screen to the frame. That seal can be replaced but of course it will never be the same as brand new from the factory.
The good news is, beginning with the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus, extended to the iPhone 15 and 16 series (and probably beyond!), Apple changed the way the phone is made, so the back glass can be more easily replaced. The back glass on these models is more like a modular plate, harkening back to their iPhone 4 design. The more things change, the more they stay the same, right?