Chosen Solution
I’m about to replace my wife’s iPad Mini 4 LTE’s LCD/digitizer (fused). The guide says to remove the connector with 6 solder pads on it, the home button, and some posts talk about a component that affects the sleep/wake function of the iPad. Appreciate any help with some concerns: 1.) The 6 pads that need to be desoldered and resoldered, is it better to release it with a heat gun or use a soldering iron and peel it slowly away? 2.) How do I know if the replacement screen/digitizer has the component needed for the sleep/wake function 3.) Should the replacement not have it, what does the component look like and how do we remove it? Soldering Iron? Heat Gun? Thank you all! (m _ _ m) (kneeling)
You want to remove it using a soldering iron with a small hoof tip, at the lowest temperature your solder can handle. Using leaded solder here will make your job a lot easier. Pop a small amount of flux paste on the existing joints before desoldering, too. I’d recommend against using a heat gun - the kind of heat needed to melt the solder would destroy the plastic flex - or desoldering wick/braid, for a similar reason. It’d be pretty obvious if the new display assembly doesn’t already have the sensor, as there will be an exposed copper pad array in that location, ready for a sensor to be soldered onto it. This is what the part looks like:
