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Repair and disassembly information for the second-generation iPhone SE that was announced and released in April of 2020.

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Which parts need replacing after possible water damage?

Hi all! A few months ago, my iPhone SE (2020) started to show some weird behaviour after using it in water for a while. My phone should be waterproof, but I think somehow it still got some water in it. It still works, I have been using it daily for the last two months, but I noticed a few things afterwards:

  • My battery got significantly worse, the capacity still shows 78%, but I often have to charge it twice per day.
  • I have some broken pixels in the corner of the screen, they're always glowing white when the screen is turned on.
  • Sometimes the vibration feels a bit weird, but it still works. Especially the feeling when I use the home button changes at times.
  • Sometimes my phone randomly starts rebooting, if I try to charge it during that time it becomes very hot. Luckily, this doesn't happen very often, but when it does it's often at the worst timing (for example when I'm navigating in the car...), so I would like to fix it.

I haven't opened it up (yet), since I don't have a spare phone, so I haven't been able to check which parts might be damaged. Do you recognise any of these issues and might know a solution? I am thinking about (at least) changing the battery, but which other parts would I have to replace? Or should I just wait untill it falls apart completely and then buy a new one?

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  • Since the battery still works, the loss of capacity can be chalked up to coincidence. Replacing it is a moderate job.
  • Broken pixels is likely an effect of water seeping into the screen. Replacing it will be necessary.
  • The Taptic Engine was likely damaged by the water. Replacing it will, again, be necessary.
  • The phone randomly rebooting is likely a result of the battery being worn out. If replacing the battery doesn't work, the issue is board-level.
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iPhone SE 2020 Battery Replacement

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30 minutes - 2 hours

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iPhone SE 2020 Screen Replacement

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30 minutes - 2 hours

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iPhone SE 2020 Taptic Engine Replacement

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40 minutes - 1 hour

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@fixmyiphon81689 besides replacing parts you also have to make sure that you treat the potential water damage. Otherwise even your new parts may not work since corrosion on the mainboard will be ongoing.

The very first step I would take is to disassemble your phone. Use these guides iPhone SE 2020 to help you disassemble your phone. Take a close look at all components and connectors. Look for major corrosion, evaluate the pins in the connectors etc,. Take a look at all connectors as well as cable ends. You will have to remove all the EMI shields. If you do not remove the shields, you are not cleaning the board. Once you got the gross contamination cleaned, use 90%+ isopropyl alcohol and clean your parts some more. For a proper cleaning, use this guide. It was written for an Apple iPhone 3G but it is still pertinent to your phone as well. I can not stress the importance of a good cleaning enough, so do it over and over while replacing the alcohol after each cleaning. It would of course be best to get it professionally cleaned Do not forget to replace the battery. This is a must and not an option. It will fail if you do not take care of it now. After that, reassemble your phone and re-evaluate. For as long as you have not cleaned your board and replaced the battery, everything is just a guess. Keep in mind that water damage is the hardest to troubleshoot and to repair. It does not matter if is was exposed for 2 seconds or 2 hours, what matters is where the water (particulates) did the damage.

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