How to replace a broken screen on an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus

Cracked your iPhone 7 or 7 Plus screen? We'll be honest: An Apple Store's probably the best bet to fix it.

The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus's screen is beautiful, to be sure — but that glass beauty can break if dropped, smashed, or otherwise chipped against similarly-hard surfaces. Some breaks are worse than others — I've gotten by with a slightly-chipped 7 Plus screen for a month — but if you completely smash your screen, you're probably in need of a screen repair. When you crack your screen, it also destroys your iPhone's water resistance; if you're used to keeping it near water, you'll definitely want to fix your device.

There are several ways to repair or replace a broken iPhone screen, depending on your monetary situation and free time. Here are a couple, in order of easiest (and cheapest) to most complicated.

Buy a screen protector

If your screen is shattered but relatively intact, you can put off a potentially-costly repair by sealing the broken pieces behind a screen protector. I'll note that this is a temporary measure, and one I generally recommend for screens that are cracked, but not completely destroyed — it can keep the cracks from worsening or pieces of the screen from falling apart, but eventually you'll need to replace the screen. It also won't maintain your iPhone's water resistance.

Make an appointment with Apple

The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus screens have more complicated technology embedded within them than any iPhone before them: Between the Touch ID sensor, Taptic Engine-based Home Button, 3D Touch display, and FaceTime front-facing camera, a cracked iPhone screen can be a real hassle to replace.

Luckily, if you purchased AppleCare+ with your iPhone, a screen repair is simple and inexpensive — assuming you have the time to send it to Apple. It's just $29 to fix a broken iPhone 7 or 7 Plus screen, and any Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Representative store you visit has the equipment necessary to properly remove, replace, and re-calibrate your iPhone for Touch ID and water resistance.

Even if you don't have AppleCare+, repairs through Apple are often cheaper than attempting to buy and repair the screen yourself: An out of warranty iPhone 7 repair is $129, while an iPhone 7 Plus repair is $149. (This is also why I always recommend picking up AppleCare+ when you buy a new iPhone.)

Start a repair request

Repair it yourself

In past years, I would have recommended this option above making an appointment with Apple, but as the iPhone screen has gotten more complicated — and expensive, a home-brew repair can often hinder your device from full operability. (You won't be able to re-calibrate your screen for water resistance, for instance.) It's also now pricier than either the AppleCare+ repair or out of warranty repair, with a screen replacement and toolset averaging around $230.

As the iPhone 7 ages and screen prices go down, this may change, but for now, I find it hard to recommend users go this route. If you're really curious about repairing an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus, however, you can watch JerryRigEverything's how-to explainer below.