If you have a cracked screen Apple Watch that has simply been too pricey to repair then maybe you just haven't found Tech Jedi. If your cracked screen still has a perfectly good image under that cracked glass there is good news. That means the OLED display underneath is unharmed and thus there is a very high likelihood it can be refurbished. If so, the repair cost might be much lower than you think.
Apple designed their watch with the touch screen digitizer built into the glass that is overlying the OLED image portion of the display. Refurbishing the cracked watch screen simply requires separating the OLED from the cracked touch screen glass and replacing it with a new touch screen.
There are three benefits to doing the repair this way.
First, the digitizer itself costs just a fraction of what a new Apple Watch screen does. While the time and labor that goes into refurbishing the screen is much greater than a simple replacement, a skilled Technician can still do the job for much less than the the cost of replacing the screen with a purchased replacement watch touch screen display.
Second, if you replace your entire screen your Apple Watch will no longer be able to use Apple Pay. Apple Pay utilizes a wireless signal called NFC (near field communication). The NFC chip that is necessary for this function is located on the Apple Watch screen. Due to privacy and data encryption concerns Apple designed the Apple Pay function of the watch, controlled by the NFC chip, to be tied to the specific motherboard of that Apple Watch. This prevents a person from removing a screen, attaching it to a new watch which is already accessible by passcode and being able to use Apple Pay data from the other watch that is contained on the NFC chip on that screen.
(It is possible to remove the NFC chip and transfer it to the replacement screen, however, it is a very risky repair because it requires high heat to remove the chip and that kind of heat can easily damage the OLED of the display. When you simply refurbish the original Apple Watch screen you are able to retain the original NFC chip and thus functionality with a very high likelihood of success.)
Last, when you refurbish the original display you are going to get perfect compatibility with your Apple Watch. Aftermarket or copy parts are notorious for causing issues such as freezing, rebooting, slow response, lack of touch recognition, battery drain, etc. I try to use OEM (original) parts whenever possible, but with more rare devices such as Apple Watches sometimes OEM displays simply cannot be found. Even when they can there is a very high likelihood that they are refurbished displays anyway so you might as have a refurbished display with your watches corresponding NFC chip.
If you have a cracked screen Apple Watch please check out our prices below. Prices may change slightly due to part availability and pricing.
*Apple Watch Series 1 38mm and 42mm - The screen cost for the series 1 watch is significantly lower than series 2 and 3 so screen replacement price is cheaper than the refurbishing option. Refurbishing would be the better option only if keeping Apple Pay functionality is very important to you.
*Apple Watch Series 1 38mm and 42mm - Screen Replacement - $66.00
*Apple Watch Series 1 38mm and 42mm - Screen Refurbishment - $96.00
Apple Watch Series 2 38mm - Screen Replacement - $136.00
Apple Watch Series 2 38mm - Screen Refurbishment - $121.00
Apple Watch Series 2 42mm - Screen Replacement - $151.00
Apple Watch Series 2 42mm - Screen Refurbishment - $126.00
Apple Watch Series 3 38mm - Screen Replacement - $178.00
Apple Watch Series 3 38mm - Screen Refurbishment - $121.00
Apple Watch Series 3 42mm - Screen Replacement - $184.00
Apple Watch Series 3 42mm - Screen Refurbishment - $126.00
Apple Watch Series 4 watches should still be under warranty with Apple and I would highly recommend that you go through Apple for your repair. If for some reason that is not an option for you please contact us and we will give you the most current pricing. At the time of this blog post we have been unable to locate Apple Watch 4 touchscreen digitizers for purchase but will continue to attempt to acquire them.
If you are interested in getting your Apple Watch screen repaired or require other Apple Watch repairs such as battery replacement, force touch problems, water damage or other please contact Jeff at Tech Jedi.
Phone - 402-937-0639
Email - lincolntechjedi@gmail.com