iPhone 6s Display Teardown

• A three-dimensional touch feature is enabled by aThe component responsible for detecting proximity utilizes capacitive sensing technology.
• The cover glass utilizes a dual ion-exchange process to achieve flexibility.
• The display measures 4.7 inches diagonally and has a resolution of 1334 by 750 pixels.Resolution is 326 pixels per inch.The display panel is a Retina HD model.
• Combining multiple components into a single unit.Apply gentle pressure to the display surface to activate the touch-sensitive layer.

• Begin by detaching the plastic component that holds the display’s securing clips in place; this frame connects the display assembly to the iPhone’s chassis.
• To restore the frame, technicians typically excise the narrower sections on the left and right sides, retaining the upper and lower segments which remain adhered to the glass.
• Using a cutting tool, detach the plastic mounting frame from its surroundings by carefully severing it along its outer edges.

• Carefully detach the mounting frame from the front panel by employing a combination of precise cutting, localized heating, and meticulous effort.
• Previously, on older iPhone models, these clips served as the sole fasteners holding the display assembly in place against the device's frame.
• During a recent iPhone 6s disassembly, a novel adhesive gasket was found to be bonding the display assembly to the device’s frame, a design feature that enhances the iPhone’s water resistance.

• Next, carefully detach the backlight assembly from the metal backing, proceeding with the remaining steps.
• The thin mylar sheet is notable; previously found as a backlight layer in older iPhone models, it now shields an unidentified component.
• Due to the display's thinness, its underlying components are visible; the mylar layer serves to obscure these parts during typical operation.

• Lifting the reflective covering reveals a second layer of sensors, seemingly capacitive in nature and likely responsible for 3D Touch functionality.
• The unexpected finding reveals that the 3D Touch technology doesn't rely on the previously described backlight-integrated sensors; instead, it utilizes a distinct, independent sensor.

• The back panel's gold rectangular areas function as individual plates within a parallel plate capacitor configuration.
• Within each enclosure, a minute conductive pathway—appearing as darkened regions representing numerous interconnected traces—extends to the control chip.

Located on the panel's rear side, likely, is a proprietary Apple chip that manages the capacitors, maintaining their charge and monitoring current fluctuations both to and from each.

• Applying pressure to the glass surface causes a minimal deflection, effectively reducing the separation between your fingertip and the underlying capacitor array, which the system interprets as a pressure input instead of a surface contact.
• Because the capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor decreases as the distance between the plates lessens, a reduced separation allows for a higher charge accumulation, which the integrated circuit will detect as current entering the sensor board.

These components function like touch screen layers but are oversized, preventing precise finger input, a characteristic that is not required for their operation.
Despite the presence of a functional digitizer for accurate positioning, the plates are designed solely to sense bending within the glass, without needing to pinpoint the location of that bend.

• To detach the iPhone's glass, the device is placed on a heated platform while a vacuum holds the glass in position, facilitating the breakdown of the optically clear adhesive (OCA) bonding the glass to the display.

Using a .08 mm molybdenum wire, carefully detach the LCD from the glass panel after the OCA adhesive has been sufficiently weakened.

• STS Parts provided a Polarizer Remover Machine, essentially a guillotine, which effectively removes the polarizer layer by scraping it away.
• Because this component is delicate, the protective film will be damaged during its removal; however, obtaining replacement films is straightforward.

• Initially, a backlight illuminates a slender layer of liquid crystals; the crystals then redirect the light at varying angles based on their alignment.
• The perceived color of light is dictated by the reflection angle, which is altered by applying a voltage to the liquid crystals, causing them to reorient.
• To enable the display of a full spectrum of colors, every pixel is composed of three independently controlled components: a red subpixel, a green subpixel, and a blue subpixel.
• Individual voltage levels control the brightness of each subpixel, allowing for the generation of millions of color variations through their combined effect.

This component, the polarizing film, functions as a color filter, selectively allowing specific wavelengths of light to pass through and create the display's images.

• The backlight design utilizes LEDs positioned along a single edge to illuminate the display; a diffuser, constructed from multiple layers of semi-transparent plastic sheeting, distributes the light emitted from these diodes uniformly across the screen's surface.
• Previously, the backlight assembly incorporated a layer of reflective mylar.
• The iPhone's mylar layer now performs a dual function: it blocks visibility of the 3D Touch sensors and continues to redirect diffused light away from the device's internal components.

• Observe the eight remaining layers of the iPhone 6s display assembly, presented for inspection.
• The adhesive optical clear film (OCA) layer, which will appear heavily soiled and require removal, is not shown in the illustration.