Things I learned from the 15PM teardown video
1. The adhesive for both front screen & back glass is very gooey/sticky. This basically makes a mess when opening the phones. Black gooey stuff all over the frame & very visible on the natural titanium model.
Not sure if it's just the 2 phones I have or the technique I used to open them. Or it's like this by design.
2. In order to remove the logic board from the housing, you MUST open the back glass first & remove the screw & plate that is holding down the wireless charging/rear flash flex.
So expect to see lots of torn wireless charging/rear flash flex torn. I already see a ton of 12-14 series with torn "5G Flex" that are torn, due to technician not aware there's a soldered flex on the board.
Although, maybe there's a way to lift the board carefully enough out, so you can reach the screw/plate from the front side.
3. The 15PM ALSO has a 5G flex soldered to the board. So those will be ripped, for the above reasons.
4. The overall insides were very similar to the 14PM model. So if you've worked on a 14PM, then 15PM won't be much different.
5. In the US, we have eSIM models only. But where is there room for the international model's SIM Slot? On the 14 series, there was just an empty spot where the sim slot would be located. I couldn't find any spot where an international model would have a physical SIM Slot located at.
So that means, either the international model also is eSIM only OR international model has a totally different internal design (unlikely).
6. The confirmed parts to create a "unknown part" notification have not changed. Battery, Display, Rear Cameras. And of course, Face ID/TrueDepth Camera is still paired.
7. Battery Cycle count is now in the settings > general > about > bottom of the page. It then says "unknown" when you replace the battery.
8. iPhone 15PM does NOT support "Fast Charging" via USB C. It was only charging at 5V/1.13A (5W), when on the same charger, my S22 Ultra was at 9V/3A (27W). Maybe it's due to the battery was around 80%.
I will do more testing to confirm later.
9. iPhone 15PM USB C to another iPhone 15PM USB C does charge the other phone. But it does NOT allow any data transfer.
10. iPhone 15PM USB C to my S22 Ultra, would detect on both phones, that data wanted to transfer, as we got pop ups on both asking access to data. But ultimately, I found no way to access data from either phone.
11. Action button flex is still attached to the volume flex and power button flex. It is also not paired.
12. iPhone 15PM will restart every 3 minutes when the back glass/wireless flex is unplugged. The panic log showed 0x400000. Same as iPhone 14/14P.
13. USB C accessories seem to work. I tried a USB flash drive, USB mouse and USB keyboard.
14. USB C Data Transfer speeds seem slow. Took a "long time" to transfer a 435MB file from iPhone to PC. Unfortunately, the PC didn't show the actual transfer speeds.
I'm sure there are more. But just what I can remember from the livestream.
What did you learn or find the most interesting?
If you have a Seek Thermal Cam, you're missing out if you don't have a VCC Seek Stand: https://www.vccboardrepairs.com/buy-seek-stand
Injured Gadgets just got these back in stock, so get them while you can!
It can take us a while to build these out sometimes, so they're sometimes out of stock for a while, but we're working towards always having inventory ready to build more as they sell out.
This stand makes using a thermal cam so easy. So much better than any other thermal solution on the market.
It allows you to get real close up (using my Macro Lens), and easily find where the short is coming from.
Plus it's hard free, so you can have your hands free to try to boot the device from DCPS, while having an image that is in focus & not moving around.
You can even record a video through the app, while you inject voltage into the short, so you can go back & see exactly which component was it that was heating up.
Save yourself lots of time by getting a Seek Cam, Stand & Macro Lens! ...
Anyone who is doing game console repairs, knows how many screws you need to remove to access the motherboard.
Especially the PS5, with the 5,000 screws or so.
If you don't already have an electric screwdriver, GET ONE ASAP.
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🌟Extended T9 Bit: https://amzn.to/3c4YJac
It's rechargeable through micro USB and allows you to easily swap the tips out. You can also fold it to be straight or L shape.
Let me know below if you are already using an electric screwdriver 👇👇
Had an S23 Ultra come in for a simple display connector issue… but it turned into a mess after someone tried to fix it themselves.
Glue all over the connector, uneven solder, no flux used, pads almost compromised… the whole thing was shifted and barely hanging on.
This is one of those repairs that looks easy on YouTube, but in reality takes a lot of control, the right temps, and proper prep.
Ended up doing a full FPC replacement and got it fully working again.
Curious how you guys approach these:
Do you pre-tin connectors or go straight install?
Hot air only or hybrid with iron touch-up?
What temps / airflow are you running for these Samsung FPCs?
Also… how often are you seeing DIY attempts make things worse lately?
Full video here:
Had an iPhone 11 Pro Max come in for no power. Device was in excellent condition, no cracks, no signs of impact. Customer said it just randomly died.
Honestly, this is one of those classic faults I used to see all the time, and still enjoy because of how straightforward it is once you know what to look for.
First step, as always with no power, was checking current draw on the DC power supply.
Boot behavior:
Current was jumping all over the place. It would bounce from 0 → ~500mA → 0 → a few mA → back up again. Just constantly pulsing with no stable draw.
That kind of behavior usually points to a short on a NAND cap
So I threw it under the thermal cam (Seek Compact Pro). Timing is key here, because you only see heat when current is actually being drawn. When it drops to zero, there’s no heat signature.
Caught it at the right moment and found a hotspot on the board.
Under the microscope, the area showed a slightly darkened cap under the underfill, classic sign.
Ended up being a shorted PP3V0 cap ...
This one came in as a no power data recovery job. Customer said it died overnight, no prior damage, and Apple told them the board was done and data wasn’t recoverable.
Physically, the phone looks clean. No bends, no cracks, nothing obvious. I’m honestly not sure how the board ended up cracked, there’s no visible external damage that would typically cause this.
Here’s what I found 👇
Initial testing:
- Able to boot with minimal setup (board + screen + battery + charge port)
- Stuck at 5V, very low current draw (not charging)
- No touch response
- Boot current draw looked normal
Direction I took:
- Focused on the touch issue first (since no touch = no data access)
- Using an LCD aftermarket screen:
- Got image
- Still no touch
- OEM/OLED behavior pointed toward a board-level display/touch issue
What I found:
- While removing the shield over the display IC… found a board crack
- Several display connector pins reading OL (open line)
- Traces route from connector → PMIC / display IC ...
