iPod Touch 7th Generation Rear-Facing Camera Replacement

Written By: Tarun Thiruma

Comments: 2

iPod Touch 7th Generation Rear-Facing Camera Replacement

Difficulty

Difficult

Steps

Time Required

No estimate

Introduction

Use this guide to remove the rear-facing camera from your iPod Touch. This can be done without disconnecting the display from the logic board.

Note: The pictures in this guide show a 5th generation iPod Touch. The 7th generation has some superficial differences, but follows the same repair procedure.

This procedure involves removing the battery, which may be damaged during the removal process. Replacing it is quite difficult and requires soldering, so take care and heed all warnings during battery removal.

Tools

Step 1

If your display glass is cracked, keep further breakage contained and prevent bodily harm during your repair by taping the glass.
Lay overlapping strips of clear packing tape over the iPod's display until the whole face is covered.
This will keep glass shards contained and provide structural integrity when prying and lifting the display.
Wear safety glasses to protect your eyes from any glass shaken free during the repair.

Step 2

Use a hairdryer or prepare an iOpener and apply it to the lower edge of the iPod for about a minute in order to soften up the adhesive underneath.
The bottom of the screen (near the home button) is held in place with strong adhesive.
As you start prying the screen off in the next stages, you may need to apply more heat to keep the glue warm and flexible.

Step 3

Center the suction cup on the lower section of the glass, with its edge centered over the home button.
Press in firmly and make sure the cup has a strong seal.

Step 4

Hold the iPod firmly against a table or bench.
Place your thumb and index finger over the lower corners of the display to stop the display from opening too far when the adhesive breaks.
Lift the suction cup up and back toward the top of the iPod. Be patient, and pull with firm, constant force until the adhesive breaks and the display comes up from the rear case.
It may be necessary to use a heat gun to soften the adhesive (especially in cooler climates). If you can pry the screen apart, and the adhesive is still sticking and pulling apart like cheese topping on a pizza, you can slide a thin razor blade in and gently cut the adhesive.
After the display begins to lift from the rear case, be careful not to lift more than about an inch—a fragile plastic frame still connects the display assembly to the rear case.

Step 5

In the following steps, you will be loosening and freeing the plastic frame that surrounds the screen. It is connected to the rear case with several clips.
Starting at the top right of the device, insert a plastic opening tool into the gap between the plastic frame and the aluminum rear case.
Slide the tool down this crack, loosening the frame from the case.

Step 6

Insert the plastic opening tool between the frame and the rear case behind the first clip.
Rock the tool sideways, to spread the gap behind the clip and separate it from the rear case.
This may not free the clip initially, but repeating the procedure for each clip will begin to loosen the piece.

Step 7

Repeat the procedure with the next two clips on this side.
You may have to go back and forth between the clips to free all of them. Take your time and be careful and patient, as the plastic frame is quite fragile.

Step 8

Moving on to the left side of the device, insert a plastic opening tool into the gap between the plastic frame and the aluminum rear case near the top.
Slide the tool down this crack, loosening the frame from the case.

Step 9

Insert the plastic opening tool between the frame and the rear case behind the first clip on the left side.
Rock the tool sideways, to spread the gap behind the clip and separate it from the rear case.

Step 10

Repeat the procedure with the next two clips on this side.
Insert the plastic opening tool between the plastic frame and aluminum rear case behind the second clip.
Rock the tool sideways, loosening the clip from the case.

Step 11

Using the same procedure, loosen the last clip securing the plastic frame to the rear case.

Step 12

Insert the plastic opening tool between the display assembly and the rear case near the top of the iPod.
Slightly twist the opening tool to pry the front panel up from the rear case.
Separate the display assembly from the iPod.
Do not try to completely remove the front panel, as it is still connected by several cables.

Step 13

Gently fold the display over away from the rest of the iPod, taking care not to disconnect or break any of the ribbon cables. Set the two halves flat on a table or bench.
If your iPod has a black home button assembly rather than the orange one shown here, you can skip this step. The button is not attached to the LCD plate and does not need to be removed to complete the repair.
Use a plastic opening tool to pry the home button switch up from the LCD plate.
It may be necessary to use a heat gun or hair dryer to soften the adhesive on the back of the home button. Always use a low heat setting.
Do not attempt to remove the home button switch, as it is connected to components below the LCD plate.

Step 14

Remove the following screws securing the LCD plate to the rear case:
Two 1.2 mm #000 Phillips screws
Nine 1.6 mm #000 Phillips screws
One 2.3 mm #000 Phillips screw

Step 15

Lift up and remove the LCD plate from the iPod.

Step 16

Remove three 1.6 mm #000 Phillips screws securing the logic board to the rear case.

Step 17

There are two strips of adhesive keeping the battery in place.
Turn the iPod over and heat the BACK of the aluminium iPod case. Do not heat the battery.
The aluminium case does not have to be hot; you should always be able to touch heated parts with your fingers at all times without it being uncomfortable.

Step 18

There are three notches on either side of the battery. In the next few steps, you will be using these notches to gradually pry the battery up from the rear case.
The battery is secured with large amounts of adhesive, so you'll need to go slowly and carefully to avoid puncturing or creasing the battery.
Insert a plastic opening tool into the top right notch and gently pry up on the battery.
Do not attempt to pry up the entire battery at this point; you just want to start to loosen the adhesive at each of the prying points, in turn.

Step 19

Continue with the lower right notch. Insert the plastic opening tool into the notch, and gently pry up on the side of the battery.

Step 20

Continue prying the battery up from the bottom.
When prying along the bottom, be careful not to press down too hard against the speaker or headphone jack.

Step 21

Pry along the left side as well.
You may need to move back and forth between the sides and bottom of the battery, prying a small amount at a time until the battery is entirely free from the adhesive.

Step 22

Once all of the adhesive is loosened, lift the battery up from the bottom and swing it out over the left side of the rear case.
Be sure not to yank it out, as it is soldered to the logic board.
Flip the battery over to straighten its cable and set it down.

Step 23

Use the flat end of a spudger to flip the front-facing camera out of its socket in the display assembly.
There is a small amount of adhesive securing the camera module to its socket, but this should not take very much force. Use the spudger to get in between the black plastic of the camera module and the black plastic of the camera socket and separate them.

Step 24

Use the tip of a spudger to peel back a small piece of tape covering a screw on the left side of the headphone jack.

Step 25

Remove the following screws securing the headphone jack, Lightning connector, and speaker.
Three 2.6 mm #000 Phillips screws
Two 2.0 mm #000 Phillips screws
One 1.85 mm #000 Phillips screw

Step 26

Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the speaker up from the rear case.
Do not try to remove the speaker, as it is soldered to the Lightning connector assembly.

Step 27

Grasping the large ribbon cable, gently pull the Lightning connector assembly out of the bottom of the case.

Step 28

Use the edge of a plastic opening tool to disconnect the rear-facing camera ribbon cable from the back of the logic board.

Step 29

Use the tip of a spudger to gently pull the rear-facing camera ribbon cable out from underneath the logic board.

Step 30

Insert the flat end of a spudger between the rear-facing camera and its frame.
Gently twist the spudger to free the camera.

Step 31

Lift the rear-facing camera up out of its socket and remove it from the iPod Touch.

Conclusion

Compare your new replacement part to the original part—you may need to transfer remaining components or remove adhesive backings from the new part before installing.

To reassemble your device, follow the above steps in reverse order.

Take your e-waste to an R2 or e-Stewards certified recycler.

Repair didn’t go as planned? Try some basic troubleshooting, or ask our iPod Touch 7th Generation Answers Community for help.

Author

Tarun Thiruma

Member since: 20/11/19

35226 Reputation

2 comments

This is not a iPod touch 7 but iPod touch 5

João Sá - 18/08/20

Correct. As stated in the introduction, while there are some superficial differences between the two devices, the repair procedure is the same.

Tarun Thiruma - 18/08/20