Few things are more cringe-inducing than an iPhone 4 or 4S user finding his phone’s back glass panel shattered.  And though a broken battery cover can be hidden by a well-chosen case, if you’re selling your phone on eBay or to a friend, you’ll want to tidy up the device as much as possible beforehand.

Luckily, the back glass panel on an iPhone 4 or 4S is the easiest thing on the phone to replace.  All you need is a replacement panel and the correct screwdriver.

iPhone 4/4S panels are cheap, too.  eBay has them for around $8, an entire kits with the appropriate screwdrivers are $15.  Amazon has them, too.

Getting Started

Your road to recovery begins by answering a few simple things:

1) iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S?

2) If  iPhone 4, is it a GSM (AT&T) model, or CDMA (Verizon)?

3) If iPhone 4, is the battery cover held in place by Phillips or Pentalobe screws?

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Well, that was fast. 

Several sellers on eBay have posted 30-pin Dock Connector to Lightning adapters that are far cheaper than Apple’s adapter. Both the small dongle-type adapter (which Apple sells for a shockingly-expensive $29 ) and the adapter with attached cable (Apple = $39) are up for sale, and most are priced between $10 and $15. 

Check shipping information for delivery dates.  Some are not expected to arrive until early-to-mid October.

Lightning is the name given by Apple to its new reversible Dock Connector, which replaced the traditional Dock Connector found on Apple products since the early days of the iPod.  Lightning connectors are found on the new iPhone 5, 5th Gen iPod touch and new iPod nano.  New iPads will also certainly be “upgraded” to this new connection type.

When Apple announced it was updating the magnetic charging connection on its 2012 MacBooks, the company released an adapter that allowed users to charge new MagSafe 2 notebooks with older MagSafe chargers. That adapter is available for $10.  But when Apple unveiled the long-rumored change to its 30-pin Dock Connector yesterday, those with older Dock Connector cables, speakers, chargers, docks, batteries, etc., didn’t get off quite so cheaply.

The new Dock Connector, which Apple calls Lightning, won’t fit any existing iPhone, iPod, or iPad accessories.  So if you want to use those accessories you’ve likely been accumulating for the past few years, you’ll need a 30-Pin Dock Connector to Lightning Adapter.

And Apple will gladly sell you one… for $30.

I’m glad Apple changed its aging Dock Connector, and I very much like the design and improved usability of Lightning. But charging $30 (or $40 or the adapter with a built-in cable) is outrageously and unjustifiably pricey; you can buy an entire MP3 player with a screen, 8GB of storage, a processor, controls, etc., for less than $30.  Charging $10 – which would have still allowed a hefty profit margin – would be much more reasonable.

I will be getting the iPhone 5, and I have many accessories that use the standard Dock Connector.  But I won’t be giving Apple $30 a pop for their adapters.  I’ll wait for eBay or Amazon to sell third-party or OEM models for $3, even if I have to wait a few months. 

And if you’re smart, you’ll do the same.

M. Nichols, Products Editor

In the most unsurprising iPhone announcement to date, Apple today unveiled its 6th Generation smartphone, the iPhone 5.

The iPhone 5, which will ship Friday, September 21st, features everything we expected from the numerous leaks that preceded its announcement:   a glass and aluminum shell, a 4-inch Retina touchscreen, a faster A6 processor, a smaller “Lightning” dock connector, LTE “4G” wireless support, iOS6, and improved cameras.

Pre-orders begin this Friday, likely around 12AM Pacific time.  AT&T, Verizon and Sprint will offer the phone for $199 (16GB), $299 (32GB) and $399 (64GB) on contract. 

The iPhone 5 will be available in either black (shown) or white.  You can learn more about the iPhone 5 here.

We’re just two days away from the iPhone 5 announcement, and likely just shy of two weeks before the first 6th Generation Apple phones begin arriving at stores and doorsteps around the country.  If you’re already an AT&T iPhone user and are expecting to help pay for the new iPhone by selling the model you already have, it’s probably a good idea to unlock it before the sale so its new owner has more network choices.

And that’s not nearly as difficult today as it has been in the past.

AT&T has posted a new page on its site that allows people to unlock their iPhones with a few simple steps.  Just input a little information, submit it to AT&T, and await further instructions.  It doesn’t get much easier than that.

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