Guide for swapping logic board between XS devices?

Hi Sam,

Guess you could say that I'm the only reason iFixit has a motherboard guide for the iPhone X, since I wrote it.

So yes, the process for the XS is going to be very similar, but don't let the lack of iFixit guides stop you. I'll walk you through the process.

First of all, since you're going to have both phones open anyway, I'd suggest moving over all of the paired parts; it's not going to be that much extra work and afterwards everything will still be fully functional. Here's a list of the parts you'll want to move over.

• Motherboard
• Earpiece Speaker assembly
• Front camera assembly
• Battery
• Screen

I'd suggest taking the screen from your phone so you don't lose True Tone. Another argument in favor of keeping the current screen is that you won't have to take the earpiece speaker assembly off of it; just use it all as one assembly, making your life easier.

Taking the front camera assembly means your Face ID will still work, so it's worth the extra couple of minutes to pull that assembly and swap it out as well.

The battery isn't a big deal, but I'd suggest checking the battery health (under Settings) on yours before you start. Apple recommends replacing it if it's below 85%. Even if it's close, you might want to keep it since you have no way of knowing what the battery health is on the broken phone.

Now, for guidance on this whole process, I'd suggest following the rough outline of the steps used in the iPhone X Face ID Replacement guide.

iPhone X Face ID Replacement - iFixit Repair Guide

While iFixit doesn't have everything you need for this repair, the Spanish site Nadie Me Llama Gallina does. You actually only need two of their guides to accomplish everything I've listed out. The first one is the front camera assembly guide, which requires you to remove the screen and the battery, meaning that one guide covers four of the parts you'll want to swap over.

Manuales / Apple iPhone Xs / Front cameras - Nadie Me Llama Gallina

After that, you can hop on over to the motherboard replacement guide to finish the job.

Manuales / Apple iPhone Xs / Motherboard - Nadie Me Llama Gallina

That should be all the information you need to get your phone parts swapping done. You'll want to buy a sheet or two of precut screen adhesive, and a set of battery adhesive stickers as well. If you really want to be complete, replacing the lower speaker gasket will help you keep the phone as watertight as possible. Here's a list.

• iPhone XS Loudspeaker Adhesive Gasket
• iPhone XS Battery Adhesive Strips
• iPhone XS Display Assembly Adhesive

Good luck with your swap; no reason it shouldn't work just the way you hope. Of course, if you're feeling ambitious, take lots of pictures as you work, and once you're done you can use those to create your very own iFixit iPhone XS Face ID Replacement guide! It's easy, fun, and you're certain to have the appreciation of the repair community and anyone who comes along after you with the same problem.

Once you're done, be sure to come on back and let us know how everything went; any learnings you come across could well help the next guy.