Before you begin, discharge your iPhone battery below 25%. A charged lithium-ion battery can catch fire and/or explode if accidentally punctured.
Power off your iPhone before beginning disassembly.
Opening the iPhone's display will damage its waterproof seals. If you do not replace the seals, your phone will no longer be water resistant.
Remove the two 3.5 mm pentalobe screws from the bottom edge of the iPhone.
Apply a suction cup to the lower half of the front panel, just above the home button.
Be sure the suction cup does not overlap with the home button, as this will prevent a seal from forming between the suction cup and front glass.
Pull up on the suction cup with firm, constant pressure to create a slight gap between the front panel and rear case.
Insert an opening pick or other thin pry tool a few millimeters into the gap.
The watertight adhesive holding the display in place is very strong; creating this initial gap takes a significant amount of force. If you're having a hard time opening a gap, apply more heat, and gently rock the screen up and down to weaken the adhesive until you create enough of a gap to insert your tool.
Slide your pick around the corner and up the left edge of the phone, moving towards the volume control buttons and silent switch, breaking up the adhesive holding the display in place.
Stop near the top left corner of the display.
Re-insert your tool at the lower right corner of the iPhone, and slide it around the corner and up the right side of the phone to separate the adhesive.
Don't insert the pick very far, or you may damage the display cables along this side of the iPhone. Insert it only a few millimeters, or about the width of the display bezel.
Gently pull up on the suction cup to lift up the bottom edge of the display.
Do not raise the display more than 15º or you'll risk straining or tearing the ribbon cables connecting the display.
Pull on the small nub on the suction cup to remove it from the front panel.
Slide an opening pick underneath the display along the top edge of the phone to loosen the last of the adhesive.
Slide the display assembly slightly down (away from the top edge of the phone) to disengage the clips holding it to the rear case.
Open the iPhone by swinging the display up from the left side, like the back cover of a book.
Don't try to fully separate the display yet, as several fragile ribbon cables still connect it to the iPhone's logic board.
Lean the display against something to keep it propped up while you're working on the phone.
Remove the four Phillips (JIS) screws securing the lower display cable bracket to the logic board:
Two 1.3 mm screws
One 1.4 mm screw
One 2.7 mm screw
Remove the lower display cable bracket.
Use the point of a spudger to pry the battery connector up from its socket on the logic board.
Bend the connector cable up slightly to prevent it from accidentally making contact with the socket and providing power to the phone during your repair.
Use the tip of a spudger or a fingernail to disconnect the large lower display connector by prying it straight up from its socket.
To re-attach press connectors like this one, press down on one side until it clicks into place, then repeat on the other side. Do not press down on the middle. If the connector is even slightly misaligned, the connector can bend, causing permanent damage.
Disconnect the second lower display cable connector, directly behind the one you disconnected in the previous step.
Remove the two tri-point Y000 screws securing the bracket over the front panel sensor assembly connector:
One 1.0 mm screw
One 1.2 mm screw
Remove the bracket covering the front panel sensor assembly connector.
Use the tip of a spudger or a fingernail to disconnect the front panel sensor assembly connector from its socket.
Remove the display assembly.
During reassembly, pause here if you wish to replace the adhesive around the edges of the display.
The iPhone 8 Plus's battery is secured by four pieces of stretch-release adhesive—two at the top, and two at the bottom.
Each piece of adhesive has a black pull-tab at the end, which is lightly adhered to the front surface of the battery.
Peel back the first battery adhesive tab from the bottom right edge of the battery.
Use your fingernails or blunt tweezers. Avoid using sharp tools that could puncture the battery.
Lift the tab straight up and roll your tweezers, so that the white adhesive strip wraps around the tweezer tips.
You may find it easier to pull first with your fingers until there's sufficient slack in the tab to wrap it over your tweezers.
Try to keep the strips flat and unwrinkled during this procedure; wrinkled strips will stick together and break instead of pulling out cleanly.
Using tweezers to wrap and pull makes it easier to pull evenly along the full width of the strip, and it's less likely to break. It's possible to simply continue pulling with your fingers if you wish—just be sure to pull evenly along the entire width of the strip.
If the battery adhesive tabs break during the removal process, use your fingers or blunt tweezers to retrieve the remaining length of adhesive, and continue pulling.
If any of the adhesive strips break underneath the battery and cannot be retrieved, try to remove the remaining strips, and then proceed as instructed below.
Slowly but steadily, pull the adhesive tab up and away from the battery, toward the bottom edge of the iPhone.
For best results, pull at an angle of 60 degrees or less—but don't let the strip snag on any nearby components.
The strip will stretch to several times its original length.
Continue pulling until the strip slips out from underneath the battery.
Repeat the above steps to remove the remaining three adhesive strips.
Be sure to hold down the battery as you remove the final strip, or it may fling out of the iPhone unexpectedly.
If you removed all of the adhesive strips successfully, skip the next step.
If any of the adhesive strips broke off underneath the battery and could not be retrieved, continue with the next step below.
Heat the iPhone until the rear case is slightly too hot to comfortably touch. Don't overheat the iPhone, or you may accidentally ignite the battery.
Flip the iPhone back over and thread a strong piece of string (such as dental floss or a length of thin guitar string) underneath the battery.
Pull the string from side to side and work it all along the length of the battery to separate the adhesive. Do not deform or damage the battery.
If you choose to use pry tools to lift the battery out of the iPhone, use extreme caution or you may damage the ribbon cables or the wireless charging coil directly underneath the battery.
Remove the battery from the iPhone.
When installing the battery, refer to this guide for help replacing your battery's adhesive strips. You'll need to adapt the technique for the iPhone 8 Plus, which uses four adhesive strips instead of two or three.
Perform a force restart after reassembly. This can prevent several issues and simplify troubleshooting.