I managed to drop my iPhone XS Max on a hike in October. The Apple leather case probably prevented the display glass and rear glass from shattering. It fell from roughly 8’ hitting a few rocks before sitting slightly submerged in a stream of water (the water resistance held up well for a 2 year old device). The OLED display cracked. I’ve bought parts and tools from iFixit before so I ordered a new display and didn’t think anything of it.
Turns out there’s a few things to be aware of. They didn’t mention except in small print on the bottom of the page that it’s an aftermarket LCD. I missed that part, but that’s on me. So for $180 you get a poor quality Chinese sweatshop made LCD. It was so washed out and terrible that I ended up going back to my old iPhone 6S Plus until I found a used iPhone 11 Pro Max for a reasonable price. This display is actually slightly thicker than the genuine OLED Apple part. iFixit failed to mention this. Shame on them. This is an issue because with a screen protector and the Apple leather case, the display sits proud of the lip of the case so thee case doesn’t protect the front. This might be a bigger issue with tighter fitting cases as well. Knowing what I know now, it would have been easier just to suck it up and pay Apple the $320 to replace it for me with the real deal (installing the display adhesive gasket is difficult.) On top of that the replacement LCD developed a dead pixel a week later so I had to replace it again (customer service sent me another one and a label to send the dead pixel one back)
It’s also worth pointing out is that iFixit sells replacement screens for iPhone 11 Pro Max BUT charge $199 for an LCD or $399 for an OLED. BOTH ARE AFTERMARKET. Why would you buy an aftermarket OLED for $400 and install it yourself when Apple will do it with genuine parts (aftermarket displays don’t have True Tone) for $320 (parts and labor)?
I’ve never had any issues with iFixit displays for iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5. I can’t remember if they were aftermarket or genuine ones though. But considering that they sell aftermarket batteries, I’d probably shy away from them as well. For example, does it really make any sense to spend $25 for an aftermarket battery for an iPad Pro 10.5 when Apple will just swap it out for $99? For just $75 more you get a genuine Apple battery, a new outer shell and new display since they Apple refurbishes them rather than pry them apart in the store. Taking apart a modern iPad is difficult and it’s easy to crack the digitizer (which is laminated to the display)
I’ve attached some photos of the broken display and photos showing the substantial difference in thickness between the genuine original display and the crappy overpriced aftermarket. I guess I’ll stick with iFixit for certain tools and parts but not displays or batteries. I’m curious to know if anyone else has bought displays or batteries from iFixit.![449E9BBA-B4ED-4C52-9C28-5BB6984534EA.jpeg]( "449E9BBA-B4ED-4C52-9C28-5BB6984534EA.jpeg")
![72062D66-B5B1-47C6-AE48-7FC4DA2D91CB.jpeg]( "72062D66-B5B1-47C6-AE48-7FC4DA2D91CB.jpeg")
![91C46AD1-68B6-4597-933C-AF8525CDF140.jpeg]( "91C46AD1-68B6-4597-933C-AF8525CDF140.jpeg")
![4D0F479B-057A-4599-8DE1-1702993E1DB5.jpeg]( "4D0F479B-057A-4599-8DE1-1702993E1DB5.jpeg")
![4C97D4A5-33DF-4A71-AAE1-26606AC64F2A.jpeg]( "4C97D4A5-33DF-4A71-AAE1-26606AC64F2A.jpeg")
![CD1728CE-46BE-452E-8D63-8640DD37AC9E.jpeg]( "CD1728CE-46BE-452E-8D63-8640DD37AC9E.jpeg")
![53951063-BA77-4FE0-9539-5924D8586634.jpeg]( "53951063-BA77-4FE0-9539-5924D8586634.jpeg")
Turns out there’s a few things to be aware of. They didn’t mention except in small print on the bottom of the page that it’s an aftermarket LCD. I missed that part, but that’s on me. So for $180 you get a poor quality Chinese sweatshop made LCD. It was so washed out and terrible that I ended up going back to my old iPhone 6S Plus until I found a used iPhone 11 Pro Max for a reasonable price. This display is actually slightly thicker than the genuine OLED Apple part. iFixit failed to mention this. Shame on them. This is an issue because with a screen protector and the Apple leather case, the display sits proud of the lip of the case so thee case doesn’t protect the front. This might be a bigger issue with tighter fitting cases as well. Knowing what I know now, it would have been easier just to suck it up and pay Apple the $320 to replace it for me with the real deal (installing the display adhesive gasket is difficult.) On top of that the replacement LCD developed a dead pixel a week later so I had to replace it again (customer service sent me another one and a label to send the dead pixel one back)
It’s also worth pointing out is that iFixit sells replacement screens for iPhone 11 Pro Max BUT charge $199 for an LCD or $399 for an OLED. BOTH ARE AFTERMARKET. Why would you buy an aftermarket OLED for $400 and install it yourself when Apple will do it with genuine parts (aftermarket displays don’t have True Tone) for $320 (parts and labor)?
I’ve never had any issues with iFixit displays for iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5. I can’t remember if they were aftermarket or genuine ones though. But considering that they sell aftermarket batteries, I’d probably shy away from them as well. For example, does it really make any sense to spend $25 for an aftermarket battery for an iPad Pro 10.5 when Apple will just swap it out for $99? For just $75 more you get a genuine Apple battery, a new outer shell and new display since they Apple refurbishes them rather than pry them apart in the store. Taking apart a modern iPad is difficult and it’s easy to crack the digitizer (which is laminated to the display)
I’ve attached some photos of the broken display and photos showing the substantial difference in thickness between the genuine original display and the crappy overpriced aftermarket. I guess I’ll stick with iFixit for certain tools and parts but not displays or batteries. I’m curious to know if anyone else has bought displays or batteries from iFixit.
