Repair guide · iPod 4th Gen and iPod Photo
iPod 4th Gen and iPod Photo screen replacement
This guide covers the 2-inch screen of the iPod 4th Gen (A1059, grayscale) and of the iPod Photo (A1099, color), including the iPod with color display sold from mid 2005. The screen lies under the logic board, so you take out the hard drive and the board before it lifts out of the front panel; there is no soldering. The gray and color screens don't swap, and the iPod Photo came with two different color screens: the number printed on your logic board tells you which one to order. It is a Moderate job; on the iPod Photo we allow 20 to 30 minutes.
Which screen fits: gray, late 2004 or mid 2005?
Gray and color screens are not interchangeable: each works only in its own model. On an iPod Photo, the number printed on the logic board under the screen ribbon decides, even if parts were swapped in the past (step 10 shows where to read it). We bench-tested both boards: the mid-2005 board (820-1764-A) runs either color screen, but the late-2004 board (820-1642-A) stays black with the mid-2005 screen, so it needs the late-2004 one. The screens can be told apart too: count the dark bars on the glass edge next to the screen's cable, two for late 2004, one for mid 2005. Not sure which you have? Identify your iPod
Before you start
- Make sure it's the screenIf the iPod still plays and shows up on a computer but the screen stays dark, the screen ribbon may just be loose: reseat it, twice and carefully, before you buy a screen. The backlight is part of the screen, so a dead backlight also means a replacement screen. After liquid damage, a dark screen points to the logic board first: look for corrosion on the screen connector before ordering.
- iPod Photo: read the board number before you orderIf the iPod has never been opened, the order number on the box or receipt may settle it: M9829LL/A, PS492AA, M9585LL/A, M9586LL/A and PS493AA are late 2004 / early 2005 units; MA215LL/A, M9830LL/A, MA079LL/A and MA127LL/A mid-2005 ones. Otherwise read the number printed on the board under the screen ribbon; it is free and avoids a screen that stays black. Follow steps 1 to 10, note the number, and leave the iPod apart, battery unplugged, screws laid out in order and the logic board on the anti-static mat or in an anti-static bag, until the screen arrives; then carry on from step 11.
- Check for a swollen batteryOn these iPods the battery sits behind the click wheel; a center button that sits low or feels jammed is the usual sign of swelling. If so, unplug it, stop charging it and never press on, bend or pierce the battery. If the iPod is very hot or smells, don't open it: put it on a non-flammable surface away from anything that can burn, keep dry sand nearby, let it cool, and contact us. If the battery smokes, sparks, hisses, pops or suddenly puffs up, cover it with all the sand at once, then get out of the room for half an hour and air it out. If it's still burning or you can't smother it, call the fire service. Don't touch the iPod until the half hour is up. If it is swollen, replace the battery first (our battery guide), then carry on with this repair.
- Set up the benchWork on a hard, non-flammable surface with a soft cloth on it, and keep a container of dry sand within reach.
- Run the battery downIf there's no sign of swelling, use the iPod until it is nearly flat: you will handle the logic board, and a discharged cell is less likely to overheat if it is damaged.
- Ground yourselfStatic can kill the logic board. Wear an anti-static wrist strap, or at least touch bare metal first, work on an anti-static mat and keep the replacement screen in its bag until you fit it.
Tools
- Plastic opening tools, one wide and one thinFor the case clips. The screen comes with one plastic pry tool.
- Plastic spudgerFlips the connector bars up and eases the old screen out.
- T6 Torx screwdriverFor the black screws that hold the logic board: six on the 4th Gen, five on the iPod Photo.
- Anti-static wrist strap or matThe logic board comes right out in this repair.
- Soft cloth and a small trayFor the polished back and the screws.
- Wall chargerFor the test before closing.
Step by step
New to opening this iPod? How to open the iPod 4th Gen and iPod Photo (13 steps)
-
Step 1: Unplug it, switch it off and lock Hold
Disconnect any cable, charger or computer first. Switch the iPod off by holding Play/Pause until the screen goes dark, then slide the Hold switch to locked, so its orange bar shows.
-
Step 2: Release the case clips
Our opening guide has the detail. In short: with the screen up and the dock connector toward you, start on the right-hand long side with the wide plastic tool, its edge tilted toward the steel back, and free the five tabs on that side. Then the two clips beside the dock connector (lightly past the thin steel there), the five tabs on the left-hand side, and the top edge.
-
Step 3: Turn it over, open the back, unplug two things
Holding the two halves together with your fingers, turn the iPod over so the screen faces the cloth, dock connector away from you; don't let the front drop away from the back. Lift the back along one long side like a book cover and lay it flat beside the front half, inside up; the orange headphone ribbon still links them, so never pull the back straight off; if it tightens as the back opens, stop and ease the back closer to the front. Ease the small white battery plug out of its socket on the logic board by its body, not the wires. Then lift the headphone ribbon's connector straight up off the board and set the back aside.
Yanking the back away before the headphone ribbon is free can tear its socket off the logic board.
-
Step 4: Take out the hard drive
Raise the drive at the dock-connector end; its orange ribbon stays attached at the far end. Holding the drive, pull the ribbon's connector straight off the drive's pins, rocking it gently if it sticks, and set the drive on the cloth.
Don't bend the drive's pins.
-
Step 5: Release the drive ribbon at the board
Peel back the black adhesive strip over the ribbon's connector on the logic board. Flip the connector's black bar up; it swings through 90 degrees toward the ribbon. Slide the ribbon out and put it with the drive.
-
Step 6: Open the screen and wheel latches
The screen ribbon and the click wheel ribbon each plug into the board under a black bar. Flip both bars up with the spudger. The wheel connector's lock sits on the side away from where its ribbon enters and tilts up a quarter turn. On the iPod Photo the screen connector sits nearer the middle of the board than on the 4th Gen.
-
Step 7: Unscrew the logic board
Remove the black T6 screws holding the board: six on the 4th Gen, five on the iPod Photo, which has one fewer. Lay them out in the pattern they came from.
-
Step 8: Slide out the wheel ribbon
With its lock open, draw the click wheel ribbon gently out of its connector.
Never force it. This ribbon tears easily, and a torn one leaves the wheel dead.
-
Step 9: Lift the board and unplug the screen
Raise the board at its large end, enough to slide the screen ribbon out of its open connector, then ease the unplugged battery cable clear of the board's end and lift the board out onto the anti-static mat.
-
Step 10: iPod Photo: read the board number
Look on the face of the board where the screen ribbon lay over it: the printed number reads 820-1642-A (late 2004) or 820-1764-A (mid 2005). This is what your replacement screen must match (see Which screen fits). Still waiting for the screen? Leave everything apart, battery unplugged, and carry on from the next step when it arrives.
-
Step 11: Lift out the old screen
The screen rests in the front panel, sometimes held by a little mild adhesive. Ease it up with the spudger and lift it out. On an iPod Photo, count the dark bars on the glass edge next to its cable before you put it aside.
-
Step 12: Fit the replacement screen
Check it is the right one: gray for the 4th Gen, and on the iPod Photo the screen your board number calls for. Lay it in the front panel the same way round as the old one, its ribbon in the same place.
-
Step 13: Refit the logic board
Hold the board above the panel, slide the screen ribbon squarely into its connector and press the black bar down. Lower the board into place with the battery cable running round its end as before, not trapped underneath. Slide the wheel ribbon fully home and close its lock, then turn the screws back in, starting each by hand.
On the iPod Photo look twice at the screen connector: sitting nearer the middle of the board, it is easily left half in.
-
Step 14: Drive and ribbons back
Slide the drive ribbon into its connector on the board, press the black bar down and lay the strip back over it. Push the ribbon fully onto the drive's pins, the same way round as before, and seat the drive on its plastic guide pin.
Lay the back beside the front. Headphone ribbon next, jack-board end first: that end sits under a small black latch on the jack board's underside, you can't see it, and it slips out easily while the case is open. If you aren't sure it is fully in, reseat it now, while the logic-board end is still unplugged: take out the jack board's two silver T6 screws, turn the board over, flip the latch up, push the ribbon fully in, close the latch and screw the board back. Then press the ribbon's connector straight down onto its socket on the logic board. The Hold check in the test confirms both ends: the lock icon must come and go with the switch. Plug the battery in last.
-
Step 15: Test before closing
Rest the back loosely in place, switch Hold off and connect a wall charger. The screen should light up with a clear picture. Check the wheel and every button, the center one included, play a song through headphones to check both ears, and slide Hold on and off: the lock icon should come and go. Then disconnect the charger: it should carry on running on its battery.
An iPod Photo screen that stays black while everything else works means the screen ribbon is half seated, or a mid-2005 screen is on a late-2004 board. Disconnect the charger and unplug the battery before you reseat anything, and plug the battery back in last.
-
Step 16: Snap the case shut
Line the halves up and press them together from one side across to the other with even pressure until every clip catches. Then check the dock opening: nothing should block the connector.
If it only closes when squeezed hard, stop and look for a ribbon caught at the edge.
Close it up and test
- A clear pictureEven brightness, no lines and no marks.
- Every screw usedNothing left over in the tray, and each screw went back into its own hole.
- Everything worksWheel, center button, Hold, sound and charging, on the charger and off it.
If it doesn't work afterwards
- It plays, but the screen stays black
- The screen ribbon is most likely not fully seated or its bar is open. Disconnect the charger, unplug the battery, lift the drive out (step 4), push the ribbon in straight and press its bar down, then refit the drive and plug the battery in last. On the iPod Photo also check the screen matches the board (a mid-2005 screen stays black on an 820-1642-A board). Black screen
- Lines or flicker
- A screen ribbon that isn't pushed fully in can show lines or flicker. Disconnect the charger, unplug the battery, lift the drive out (step 4), reseat the ribbon, refit the drive, and plug the battery back in last. Lines on the screen
- The replacement screen shows the same fault
- Reseat its ribbon once more (charger disconnected, battery unplugged, battery back in last) and try a reset (slide Hold on and off, and then press and hold Menu with the center button until the Apple logo comes up). If the screen stays wrong after two careful reseats, the logic board is the likely cause; a free repair quote confirms it. Free repair quote
- The wheel or center button is dead
- The wheel ribbon is probably half seated or its lock open. Disconnect the charger, unplug the battery, reseat it and close the lock, and look for a tear, as it tears easily in this repair; battery back in last. Click wheel not working
- A lock icon shows
- The headphone ribbon isn't fully in at one end. Disconnect the charger, open it and unplug the battery. Lift the ribbon's connector off the logic board first, then reseat the end under the jack board (two silver T6 screws out, board turned over, latch up, ribbon fully in, latch closed, screws back), press the connector back down onto the logic board, and plug the battery in last. Hold switch not working
- Nothing at all
- Try a reset on the charger first (slide Hold on and off, and then press and hold Menu with the center button until the Apple logo comes up). Still nothing? Disconnect the charger, unplug the battery, reseat every connector you touched (drive ribbon at both ends, screen and wheel ribbons with their bars closed, headphone ribbon: lift it off the logic board, reseat the jack-board end, then press the board end back down), and push the battery plug fully home, last. Still dead even on the charger? Static or a slipped tool may have damaged the board: get a free repair quote. Free repair quote
Questions
How do I replace the iPod 4th Gen screen?
Open the case, take out the hard drive and the logic board, and the screen lifts out of the front panel. The steps above go through it, with no soldering.
Can a color screen go in a 4th Gen, or a gray one in a Photo?
No. The grayscale and color screens each work only in their own model.
Which iPod Photo screen do I need?
Read the number printed on your logic board under the screen ribbon. 820-1642-A needs the late-2004 screen (two bars); 820-1764-A runs either, and its stock screen is the mid-2005 one (one bar).
The backlight has gone. Do I need a whole screen?
Yes: on these iPods the backlight is part of the screen. Reseat the screen ribbon first, though, because a loose ribbon can leave it dark too.
My iPod got wet and the screen is dark. Is it the screen?
Most likely the logic board comes first. Open it, unplug the battery, let it dry completely and look for corrosion where the ribbons plug in, the screen connector included, before ordering a screen.
Can you do it for me?
Yes. Choose We Fix It on the screen page and mail your iPod in: we fit the screen and send it back. Turnaround is typically 3 to 5 business days, with a 1-year limited warranty.