This YouTuber Restored An iPhone 8 And Everything Cost Less Than $400

Watching people make or restoring anything can give you a sense of satisfaction. However, that pleasure is not the only thing you feel when you see how Hugh Jeffrey brought a damaged iPhone 8 back to life. The man started with a smartphone that looked like it was beyond repair he bought with a very low price on eBay. He then restored its functions and gave it the color that not any other iPhone 8 has.

After he has done with the phone, it becomes a seemingly new iPhone featuring 256GB of onboard storage. Jeffrey bought the phone at a price of less than $400. This is not a bad deal as a new iPhone 8 with 256GB will set you back about $750. Even when you sacrifice a bit and go for a refurbished handset, you still have to pay at least $630.

Jeffrey had this iPhone from eBay, a black handset with broken screen and back:

The phone needed to be plugged in to work properly

When we look on the inside, there was dust covering the inside of the phone. The previous owner had replaced the screen, but he or she left out the gaskets preventing dirt from getting inside.

He started repairing by taking the phone apart.

Next, he switched all the interiors to aftermarket Product Red iPhone housing with a price of about $43. Jeffrey believed that it had decent glass and aluminum. Things went fine until he got to the screw threads.

He kept the screen from the old iPhone 8, but the glass panel still needed to be changed. However, the Touch ID home button was not an easy task.

Any of such button is compatible only with the handset, so the Touch ID Home button would not work with the parts he bought on eBay. The only one who can do this job is Apple themselves as no one but them has the software to make the button compatible with the interiors.

The original iPhone did not come with dust and water resistant gaskets so Jeffrey had to add them on too, because, without them, dust will penetrate the interiors

After he had done with everything, he put the phone back together and here is what he has now:

Here are what he had to buy from eBay, an old iPhone 8, glass panel, and housing. Everything came at the total price of $390 AUS, an equivalent of USD 278.

He did have to use the iFixit tools which cost him $60, this sum of money was not included in the total cost of restoring the iPhone. Another item he used to make the work easier is a magnetic mat that can keep the parts and screws in place, which comes at the price of $20.

For those who do not have an iFixit tool kit and a magnetic mat, you may have to add the cost of these two to the total amount, which bumps it to $358, which is still cheaper than buying a 256GB brand new iPhone 8.

This might sound like an excellent way to save yourself some money if you want a new iPhone. However, the estimated total expense will not be the same with one damaged iPhone to another. If you're going to recreate the process at home, you might face with a lower or higher price for the parts.

In general, this is not an easy thing to do at home. You might have to try several times to end up with something you can use. And some iPhones are just damaged beyond repair for a non-professional to restore them.

If you are interested to see Jeffry in action, here is the video he recorded: