Repair guide · iPod Mini 1st/2nd Gen
How to open the iPod Mini 1st/2nd Gen
This guide covers both iPod Mini generations: the 1st Gen from 2004 (4GB) and the 2nd Gen from 2005 (4GB or 6GB), all model A1051. Both open the same way. The case is one aluminum tube, so nothing splits in half: you lift a white plastic cap off each end, take out two tiny screws, unplug the click wheel and push the insides out through the top, while the click wheel stays in the tube. The glued top cap is the slow part, and patience works better than force. Most of our other Mini repair guides start with this iPod Mini disassembly; a click wheel swap needs only the bottom end.
Before you start
- Check the battery firstOn the Mini a swelling battery rarely shows from outside, because the aluminum tube almost never bulges. Look instead for dark or pressure spots on the screen, or a click wheel that scrolls by itself or stops working; insides that drag as they slide out are another sign. If the iPod is very hot or smells, don't open it: unplug it from any charger, set it on a non-flammable surface away from anything that can burn, keep a container of dry sand close by and leave it until it is cool. Then contact us before you go on.
- Run the battery downIf there's no sign of swelling, play it until the battery is nearly flat before any job that handles the battery or the logic board. A cell with little charge left is much less likely to catch fire if a tool punctures it.
- Set up a safe benchWork on a non-flammable surface with a container of dry sand within reach. If the battery smokes, sparks, hisses, pops or suddenly swells, pour all of the sand over it in one go, then get out of the room and let fresh air in. If it keeps burning or anything else catches fire, call the fire service. Don't go back for half an hour, and don't touch the iPod until then.
- Ground yourselfStatic can kill the logic board. Wear an anti-static wrist strap or work on an anti-static mat, or at the very least touch bare metal before you start. Keep replacement parts in their bags until you fit them.
- Have a dish for the screwsThe two top screws are tiny, and they are the ones that go missing most often.
Tools
- Phillips #00 screwdriverFor the two screws under the top cap. A Torx bit won't seat in them.
- Thin plastic pry toolLifts the caps. Every iMods Mini part comes with one.
- Small flat blade (optional)Helps start a stubborn top cap. Lift, never lever hard: the cap is soft plastic.
- SpudgerA plastic one with a fine tip, for the click wheel plug.
- Small snap-ring pliers (optional)Squeeze the bracket's corner arms. A small flat tool does the job too.
- Hair dryerOn low, for a few seconds of warmth on the top cap's glue.
- TweezersGuide the insides back into the tube from the bottom end. Keep the tips off the battery's plug.
- Anti-static wrist strap or matProtects the logic board once it is out of the tube.
- Adhesive for the caps (optional)Thin double-sided tape or a light glue. Our caps come without adhesive; see step 12.
Step by step
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Step 1: Lock it
Unplug any cable, then slide the Hold switch to Hold, so the iPod can't switch itself on while you work, and wait for the screen to go blank. Note which side the switch is on now: you'll match the cap's slider to the switch at the end.
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Step 2: Warm and lift the top cap
The white cap at the headphone end is glued down. Give it a few seconds of warm air from a hair dryer set to low, aimed at the cap only. Keep it short: the battery is inside the tube and must not get hot.
Slip the tip of the plastic pry tool into the seam where the cap meets the aluminum and lift a little. Move along the seam, lift a little more, and keep going round until the cap lets go.
The cap is soft plastic. Levering hard with a screwdriver bends or cracks it, and a few light marks are hard to avoid. If it won't move, warm it again rather than pushing harder.
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Step 3: Take out the two screws
Under the top cap there is a tiny Phillips #00 screw at each end. They hold the small headphone jack board in the tube, so nothing slides out until both are out. Use a #00 driver that fits snugly: these two strip easily.
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Step 4: Pry off the bottom cap
The cap at the dock connector end is held by small plastic clips, and on many units by some glue as well. It usually gives up more easily than the top one. Pry at points where there are no clips, so none of them snap.
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Step 5: Unclip the metal bracket
Behind the bottom cap a sprung metal bracket supports the dock connector. It hangs on a springy arm at each of its four corners. Squeeze the arms inward, with small snap-ring pliers or a small flat tool, and lift the bracket out.
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Step 6: Unplug the click wheel
With the bracket out you can see the click wheel's orange ribbon ending in a small plug beside the dock connector. There is no latch: the plug simply pushes on. Put the spudger tip right at the plug and lift it straight off.
Don't dig in under it. Levering deep can tear the socket's contact off the board, and this ribbon is the easiest part of the Mini to damage.
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Step 7: Push the insides out through the top
From the bottom opening, push on the board near the lower edge of the click wheel, keeping the pressure even. The board, screen, battery and drive slide out together through the top. Once it is partway out, hold the board by its two long edges, either side of the screen, and slide it the rest of the way. Keep your fingers off the little jack board at the top end: its plug into the logic board breaks easily.
The click wheel stays behind in the tube; it leaves through the bottom, and only the click wheel and housing guides take it out. On the board the screen faces the front. Turn it over and the battery lies on the back, on top of the microdrive (the hard drive). If the battery is old, puffy or no longer holds a charge, this is the easiest moment to replace it.
If it sticks, don't force it. Ease off, then push again evenly with a slight wiggle, or guide it with tweezers from the bottom. A swollen battery is a common reason it binds, and forcing it can scrape tiny parts off the board. Still stuck? Stop and contact us.
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Step 8: To close: slide it back in
Tuck the thin battery wires in so they can't catch on the tube. Feed the insides back in from the top, slowly and evenly, with tweezers at the bottom opening to guide the board. Hold the board by its long edges, either side of the screen, and never push or pull on the little jack board at the top end. If it binds, back it out a little and line it up again.
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Step 9: Screws first, then the wheel plug
Put the two #00 screws back through the headphone jack board, just snug. Then press the click wheel plug fully onto its socket. With no latch it is easy to leave it half on, and a plug that is half on leaves the wheel or the center button dead.
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Step 10: Clip the bracket back in
Hook one side of the metal bracket in first, then press the other side down until its arms snap into place. Don't skip it: a bracket left out is one of the two usual reasons a wheel goes dead after a repair.
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Step 11: Test with the caps still off
Slide Hold off first: with the top cap off, move the switch itself. Then switch the iPod on: on the 1st Gen press the center button, on the 2nd Gen any button. Try the wheel, Menu, Play/Pause, Next, Previous and the center button: that checks the wheel plug you unplugged. Play a song through headphones. Connect a charger (a wall charger for a 1st Gen) and your computer to check that it charges and syncs, then unplug the cable: it must keep running on its battery.
If the wheel does nothing, unplug the cable first, then press the wheel plug home again and check that the bracket is in.
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Step 12: Make the caps stay, then fit the bottom one
Our caps come without adhesive, and repairers fix them back in three ways. Some caps grip again on their old glue. If yours won't, clean the old glue off with isopropyl alcohol and fit thin double-sided tape, trimmed to the cap. Or add a small dab of latex glue: it holds the cap down but still lets it come off if you ever need to get in again.
The bottom cap has small pins on three sides. Line them up before you press, then press it home evenly.
A bottom cap pushed on crooked can cut the click wheel ribbon. Look before you press.
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Step 13: Top cap on, Hold lined up
Inside the top cap is a plastic slider that rides on the Hold switch. Move it to the same side as the switch on the board, then press the cap on. Slide Hold on and off once it is in place, to check the slider really moves the switch.
Close it up and test
- Both caps sit flushNo gap round either cap, and neither one lifts when you press on it.
- Hold locks and unlocksWith Hold on the buttons do nothing; with it off they work.
- Everything respondsWheel, all five buttons, sound in both ears, charging and syncing.
If it doesn't work afterwards
- The wheel or the center button is dead
- Most often the wheel plug isn't fully on or the bracket was left out. Unplug any charger and slide Hold on, open the bottom end again, press the plug home and refit the bracket. A torn or creased wheel ribbon means a replacement click wheel. Click wheel not working
- Something else stopped working
- Suspect a connector that isn't fully home first. Unplug the charger, open it again and slide the insides out, unplug the battery, press each connector you touched back in (with any latch closed), then plug the battery back in last. Not working after a repair
- Hold does nothing, or it stays locked
- The slider in the top cap probably isn't on the switch. Take the cap off, set the slider to the switch's side and refit it. If the slider sits on the switch and Hold still does nothing, the jack board may not be fully pressed onto its connector; if that isn't it, the Hold switch on the jack board, or the logic board where it plugs in, is the likely fault. Hold switch not working
- It runs hot
- The bottom of a Mini normally gets warm while it plays or charges. If it gets very hot or smells, unplug it, leave it closed on a non-flammable surface and contact us. A failing battery can also make it hot while it charges or plays; never press on a hot or puffy battery. If it only runs warmer than before, let it cool, then check that no cable got pinched and no part presses on the board. If it still runs hot with a good battery, the logic board is the likely fault. Free repair quote
- A cap won't stay on
- The old glue has given up. Clean it off with isopropyl alcohol and use thin double-sided tape cut to the cap, or a small dab of latex glue.
Questions
How do you take apart an iPod Mini?
From both ends. The top cap and two screws come off at the headphone end, the bottom cap and a metal bracket at the dock end, then you unplug the click wheel and push the insides out through the top. The click wheel stays in the tube.
How do I disassemble an iPod Mini without breaking the caps?
Warm the top cap briefly, then lift it a little at a time at several points round the seam instead of levering in one spot. On the bottom cap, pry where there are no clips.
Do the 1st Gen and 2nd Gen open the same way?
Yes: the same tube, the same caps and the same two screws in the same place. Inside, three parts are made for one generation only, the click wheel, the LCD screen and the logic board, so order those for yours.
How do I tell a 1st Gen from a 2nd Gen?
Turn it over. 4GB or 6GB engraved on the back means a 2nd Gen; nothing engraved means a 1st Gen. Both are model A1051. If the housing has been replaced, the back can mislead: go by the part number on the click wheel's cable or the number on the logic board.
Can you open it for me?
Yes. If you'd rather not open it, choose We Fix It on the part's page and mail your iPod in. We do the repair and send it back, typically in 3 to 5 business days, with a 1-year limited warranty.