It’s been a long time since we last had to remove a Home Button from a screen. This repair was a little reminder of how much phones — and phone repairs — have changed over the years.
It has been a long time since I last removed a Home Button from an iPhone screen.
This iPhone SE came onto our workbench in Ballarat for a screen replacement, and as soon as I started transferring the Home Button to the new display, it brought back plenty of memories of how phone repairs used to be.
When I first started working with phones, a Home Button was quite literally just a button. Then Apple introduced Touch ID with the iPhone 5s, turning that simple button into a fingerprint sensor uniquely paired with the phone. Suddenly, one little component became something a repairer had to handle very carefully during a screen replacement.
And that is only one small example of how much mobile phones have evolved.
Older phones were often assembled with screws, clips and separate components. As splash and water resistance became increasingly important, manufacturers moved towards displays secured with adhesive and seals. Internally, designs became more compact too. What once involved several separate boards and components eventually evolved into densely packed designs, including the stacked or “sandwich” logic boards found in many modern smartphones.
For a repairer, every generation brings something different to learn.
There is one part of phone development that almost feels like it has gone backwards, though — size.
There was a time when manufacturers competed to make mobile phones smaller and smaller. Think back to compact phones such as Motorola’s StarTAC family from the late 1990s. Having a tiny phone in your pocket felt futuristic.
Today, we have gone almost completely the other way. Screens became larger, phones became larger, and now foldable phones allow us to carry a device in our pocket that opens to reveal a display that can be bigger than your hand.
Technology keeps moving forward, but occasionally an older device lands on the Fonestop workbench and reminds us just how far we have travelled.
This iPhone SE screen repair was one of those jobs.
And yes — I still remember how to remove a Home Button. 😄
Bring it to Fonestop in Ballarat for honest advice and professional repair.
This customer had been told elsewhere that the phone simply wasn’t worth repairing. They came to us for another opinion, and we got it working again. The repair may be worth more than the phone itself, but the memories and data inside can be priceless. Thanks for trusting Fonestop with your device. ❤️
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