Everything you need to know to DIY (do-it-yourself) repair a malfunctioning or broken dock connector in your iPhone.
As 2012 comes to an end it seems fitting to reflect back on the events that molded and shaped it, and in iMore's case, that means the biggest iPhone, iPad, and Apple news stories of the year. So, we cracked open the analytics, sorted by popularity, and compiled a list of the your top 5 favorite stories
If you've got an iPhone 4S and you're experiencing issues with reception, the cellular antenna may be the culprit. If you no longer have AppleCare or insurance to cover it, a DIY repair isn't terribly hard to perform as long as you've got a little technical how know. Symptoms of a bad cellular antenna can vary from no service to service cutting in and out consistently.
The iPad 4 has been given the same teardown treatment the iPad mini received by the guys over at iFixIt.
If your iPhone 4S doesn't want to register a charger is plugged in, the dock connector may be defective or damaged. This can commonly occur from using third party charges that are poor quality or just from old age
When Apple changed the dock connector on the latest iPhone 5, new iPod touch and new iPod nano there was a lot or controversy over the decision mainly due to incompatibility problems with with expensive speaker docks and car audio systems.
If you've got an iPhone 4S and the loud speaker seems to be malfunctioning, and you no longer have AppleCare or insurance to cover it, a DIY repair isn't too difficult. Symtoms of a bad loud speaker assembly can range from distorted sound when playing music or using speakerphone to no sound at all.
We've seen tons of part leaks in regards to the next generation iPhone over the last few weeks, but very few when it comes to the iPad mini , and next to nothing about what might be going on inside it. With the iPhone reportedly set for introduction on September 12, and release on September 21, production is likely sufficiently ramped up to make parts leaks more likely. While the iPad mini might also be on track for the same introduction day, we don't know when it will ship yet, so there may simply not be as many parts yet to leak.
Way back in February, iMore learned Apple was planning to ditch the traditional Dock connector to go with something smaller. With the next iPhone , new technologies like LTE 4G networking will need every millimeter and milliamp of battery they can get, while AirPlay and Wi-Fi sync are reducing the need for physical cables. The moment rumors of a new Dock port emerged, many expressed hope it would feature a MagSafe-style connector, like Apple's MacBook line of laptops
