Chosen Solution
Hello people from ifixit, I need to know if the complete screen from Apple Watch Series 3 is the same as Series 2 and can be replace one for the other or need to remove some flex or IC from one to put in the other. Some people tell me that need to change the NFC IC. Thank you Update (10/30/2017) Hello Dan, and thank you for you’re quickly answer. Really what I need is a technical opinion and not about warranty coverage because I have many Series 2 from many customers with crack screens that need to be replaced. But no one has big quantity of Series 2 complete screen on the market to buy. For this reason I posted the question. My supplier in China who I did buy many Series 1 complete screens (hyper-trustable) tell me that the LCD & Touchscreen module is compatible. But, need to replace a flat ribbon cable with some component that are glued on the back side of this module, they call it the NFC IC but I don’t know really if is trueIy inclusive in the Series 3 teardown description the IFIXIT team wrote this info: “Spec-wise, the display is unchanged from the Series 2, with one key difference - it now functions as a multifrequency (LTE?) antenna. We’ll be testing compatibility to see if the displays really are interchangeable.” Based in this info I believe that both are compatible. Thanks
I don’t think anyone has even thought about doing this… The AW3’s screen is brighter than the AW2’s! As the AW3 is so new you should try to get it covered under warranty (get AppleCare + if you don’t already). Update (01/31/2018) @quekilombo - Diego - The NFC unit is missing on the Series 3 display so you would need to recover the chip from the broken Series 2 display if you could to then re-solder onto the new display to get this to work. Given the sensitivity of the LCD unit and the mass of the glass this will be very difficult to do without damaging the display. Here’s the back side so you can see the difference:
Series 2
Series 3 The Blue outline is the NFC chip and the spot on the Series 3 is vacant. I think I understand why Apple did this as replacing a broken display would invalidate the information in the watch when people had ApplePay enabled. Having it as part of the main board makes sense.
Just replaced a screen on a series 3 LTE. I used a donor screen from a locked Series 3 LTE. Everything went off without a hitch. However, I can confirm Apple pay does not work. I get an error when attempting to set it up. I have not yet attempted to swap the NFC chip. I will attempt to see if I can remove the NFC chip tomorrow from the cracked screen and install… If anyone has any further information about this I would be happy to hear it…
Hi, I have the same problem, It looks that no one is selling digitizers for series 2 at the moment… I have series 3 complete screen so I test it wit series 2 watch and see if it works.
I have successfully swapped a S2 Display onto a S3 Watch. I removed the Light Sensor / NFC Module from the damaged S3 Display and attached it to a working S2 Display. I used conductive ink to make electrical connection to the two antenna points under the module, and superglue to mechanically attach the Module. Next I reflashed the Watch firmware using a (non-Apple) hardware device similar to the one used at the Apple Genius Bar. I verified NFC functionality by setting up Apple Pay on the Watch, double-tapping the Side Button to activate Apple Pay as though I were about to make a purchase, and reading the “tag” data with an app called “CardTest” on an Android phone. The repair is a little bit fiddly but doable.
Hi I have recently changed my broken lte series 3 watch with a series 3 gps watch. The force touch was not damaged. The Apple Pay won’t work, was it confirmed that the chip was on the old lcd? If not is there a way of getting it to work again?
I see here that nobody had the idea to remove entire NFS module. Its just glued on the back of AMOLED. Just use 100ºC from some distance with air station. Just remove from s3 and put on s2 lcd (or vice versa). Job done. We can see 3 connectors. 1- first one is the LCD (same) 2- touch (exact the same in s2 and s3! just see the IC - its same IC in both models). Touch screen for s2 is the same for s3! 3- third module has some differences but can be easily removed and replaced.
I cannot find an answer for this, there is no guide and iFixit does not even stock them, I wouldn’t take the risk if I were you. If memory serves, they are different because the cellular model uses the screen as an antenna for the cellular (I think). A non cellular model might work. Maybe. Repair is quite difficult on these models as well, so all I can tell you is good luck.
No Watch 3 LTE in SA we did not get this function if it has LTE there is a red dot on the turning know
Can a Series 1 LCD be put on Series 3 (GPS + Cellular)
hello, i just tried this on a 42mm and it does not work you will need a series 2 screen
