Long story short...

Whilst looking on the side of the road for something one of my mates lost..
I saw something that looked like a phone case of some sort so I gave it a nudge
with my foot and flipped it over to find this

I'd most likely be right in saying it's truly rooted beyond repair?

Looks normal to me? I thought all iPhones looked like that?

Quick update!

It makes that sync sound when you plug it into power

Maybe it has hope?

I can repair it if you like (if could be)

Here is my old iPhone 4 with new blue display:

Woah, that's crazy! you had to take the whole thing apart to get to that if my iPhone ever breaks you fixing it

Lol! Are you going to buy the 5?

No, I have the 4s I can wait for my upgrade next year 5S!

Have you tried turning it off and on again?

I heard that the vibrate setting on those is a bit weedy. I could welly up the vibrator a bit if you'd like

Try to put a unlocked (without pin) Sim card and call.

Lol at IT Crowd!

Is this a gen 4? Is it a GSM or CDMA model? If its a CDMA, you could fix it up with new parts and sell it to someone who wants to use the Virgin Mobile pre-paid plan.

I fix a few of these a day (see my sig) .

Main pcb looks fine, just needs a new digi/lcd , but if its bee reported lost/stolen by its owner then you have an iPod.

By the way, i "got" your thread title...very good

This is why i Buy Nokia phone

Yeah I'm thinking that, But my main concern is that the water damage pads have been tripped..

I'll have to get one of friends room mate to have a look for me, As he works for Apple servicing/repairing them

If your concern is about just the water indicator stickers themselves then ebay sells new stickers.

Wondering if water damage can often progress after the pcb seems dry & functional?
Be interesting just to know what common sources of later water damage are. Corrosion, moisture sensitive parts, damage from live shorts showing up later, contaminate deposits leading to later shorts? I mean some factories wash pcbs in dishwashers with normal water & air dry. No DI water, no oven baking. I know speakers, mics & some buttons shouldn't swim.

Love the glass backs. Like there wasn't enough breakable glass in phones already.

Update..

I've since cleaned up the front a bit and put on the new backing (Arrived this morning)
It's just waiting for it's new screen and home button, Shouldn't be too long!

Also it's a 32gb (IMEI is unblocked)

Id remove the liquid damage indicators altogether.

I did about 5 minutes later, I wasn't diggin the pink

Generally speaking, glass breaks aren't covered by most phone warranties or insurance unless you pay extra for accidental?

How hard is it to replace glass back?

Dead simple, It's held on by 2 tiny screws at the bottom of the phone but depending on the
manufacture date you'll need either a phillips head OR pentalobe screw driver.

Update..

The home button and screen arrived today much to my surprise!

I just spent most of the day putting it all in and such, I've just plugged it in to charge but it looks like it's going to work!

I'll post some pics soon

Seems to be working fine

Rebuild successful I'd say?


Sorry no beam shots

Yeah but does it Fully works?

^^ what he said.

Check ALL functions , and one to watch out for is the proximity sensor, make a call or make a 10 second voice recording and play it back using the earpiece speaker and put it to your ear, does the screen blank out?, and turn back on when you remove it from your ear?

Yep, I've check pretty much everything I can think..

I can't test calling yet as I don't have any micro sims at hand

Doesn't seem to want to show any wifi either but I'm working on it!