Chosen Solution
Hey All, Firstly, I am a user of ifixit going back a long way when I was keeping all of my old powerpc gear alive. It democratizes and demystifies which is really cool. But I can’t find anything on this problem I am having. So ifixit sells the home button flex cable in two versions. One with the button and one without. All I needed was the one without, since all that was wrong was that I tore the flex cable taking the phone apart. It was water damaged and I figured I would try to revive it, which I think I have with a battery from ifixit. So, how does the home button detach from the flex cable? Does it need a bit of heat?
Yeah, you can separate the button from the flex cable, it basically just needs some heat. However, it’s a finicky process. Also, your Touch ID will never work again, and if you update, you’ll get error 53 and brick your phone. Tried to find a video or guide to get the button off, but can’t seem to find one. Here’s a Jessa jones video about it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Enkyc7ph…
Just install the new home button with the new flex cable attached, it’s a easer install using the complete home button cable assembly, FYI when the home button cable gets damaged on the iPhkne 5S your Touch ID will no longer work.
In case anyone ends up in the same boat, here is what I found: Reply from iFixit about how to remove cable from home button: Hi Andrew, Thanks for your order! Unfortunately we don’t have a specific guide for removing just the home button from the old assembly. The part is a recent addition to our stock and mostly aimed at professionals who already have previous experience with that specific repair. Sorry about that! That said, if you’d like to return it and get the assembly that includes the home button you’re more than welcome to. Just let me know. All the best, Matt Fuss Obstacle Wrangler BUT, I was able to separate the cable using a sharp utility knife to scrape/pry the old one out. In hindsight, heat would’ve been a better method. I laid the new cable into the back of the home button, folded it over, placed it back into the screen assembly and attached the retaining bracket with no problem. I did not have any adhesive but I imagine it would have made it easier to keep everything in place. It would have been much easier to pay the extra $10 iFixit charges for the whole new home button assembly but I was in a time crunch and couldn’t return the cable I purchased. Error 53 seems to be specific to iphone 6 and above but I have not updated yet to confirm that I won’t get it with this 5s. I hate touch ID so loosing it was a non-issue for me.
