What is an iPhone digitizer?

I know that there are a ton of question about the “digitizer” on your iPhone, or any other touch-screen smartphone these days. We here at Mission Repair are experts and very familiar with iPhone digitizers, glass, and screens. We repair them by the thousands every month. Let’s see if we can demonstrate what the digitizer is here under a glass panel:

This is the digitizer on an iPhone!

The digitizer is fused UNDER the glass cover. It’s the electronic component that senses the touch of a human finger through the glass, and is designed to allow the unit to be controlled by a fingertip. This is the “input” of the device and it’s very thin and transparent.

The point is that you cannot replace the digitizer alone. Since it’s part of the glass, in the event of a touch failure it needs to be replaced with the glass and vice versa. So if you have a cracked iPhone glass, you’re going to get a new digitizer as well. If you have an iPhone that doesn’t respond to touch, you’ll also get a new glass. It’s just the way it’s designed.

You might see these assemblies marketed as:

• iPhone glass
• iPhone digitizer
• iPhone touch screen
• iPhone glass screen
• iPhone screen
• iPhone touch panel

For all intents and purposes, these terms are all interchangeable and are all the same thing. Are you in need of one of these parts? Here’s a list of glass/digitizer repairs that we sell here at Mission Repair:

• iPhone 2G Glass Repair
• iPhone 3G Glass Repair
• iPhone 3GS Glass Repair
• iPhone 4 Glass Repair
• iPhone 4S Glass Repair
• iPhone 5 Glass Repair
• iPhone 5C Glass Repair
• iPhone 5S Glass Repair
• iPhone 6 Glass Repair
• iPhone 6 Plus Glass Repair
• iPhone 6S Glass Repair
• iPhone 6S Plus Glass Repair

Don’t forget our wide selection of iPad Glass Repair options!

Remember, you might see these glass panels for sale cheap – be sure to inquire about the required digitizer that is fused to the glass from the factory – without it, the glass is useless. You cannot replace the glass or “remove” your good digitizer and reinstall it onto your iPhone without advanced equipment and lots of training. It just doesn’t work! These assemblies are built together and must stay together. I hope this information helps!