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I have an iPhone 12 that I believe was affected by the issue with no sound out of the ear speaker. Screen cracked so they won’t fix the issue for free. Is this issue a logic board component that failed or can I simply just buy a replacement ear speaker and regain sound functionality? FaceID is disabled now and I know if I replace the ear speaker then it won’t work again.
Actually, CAB, if you can do a minimum amount of soldering, the speaker itself is replaceable without losing Face ID; it’s the one part of that front assembly that isn’t actually tied to the logic board. I wrote the guide for that repair for the iPhone X, but it’s basically the same repair; you just use the iPhone 12 Earpiece Assembly Replacement guide to get to the speaker, then follow the iPhone X Earpiece Speaker guide to finish the repair. First, follow the iPhone 12 guide up through Step 21. iPhone 12 Earpiece Speaker and Front Sensor Assembly Replacement - iFixit Repair Guide Then switch over to Step 25 of the iPhone X Earpiece Speaker guide and follow the directions to the end. iPhone X Earpiece Speaker Replacement Without Losing Face ID - iFixit Repair Guide Here are the solder points on the 12 that you’ll need to desolder.
That should do it for you. Let us know how it goes! And if you feel ambitious, you might consider making a guide for the iPhone 12 for others to follow to do that same repair. Use my iPhone X guide as your example and just copy what I did; I only had to write up four steps. Good luck!
I had the exact same issue with my 12. You just need to buy a new speaker and de solder the damaged one from the original ribbon then solder the new speaker onto it. That way your speaker will work and Face ID will be retained.
