Chosen Solution

Hi, This material between the front glass and stainless steel band on my iPhone XS has been damaged from a fall; a bit of it is kinda scraped off. I think JerryRigEverything called it a buffer or something in his durability video for the XS Max. I don’t know if it’s plastic, rubber or composite. Attached image shows the material I’m talking about. It’s obviously not my phone; I don’t have a camera with me at the moment, sorry..

  1. What is this material and what does it do? Is it rubber? Plastic? Composite?
  2. How would I go about replacing it? Do I just get a new display? Does it come with a new display? iPhone XS Screen Appreciate any help. Thanks :)

It’s called the bezel, It’s plastic cast around a metal frame, used to reinforce the screen and serves as structural attachment between the case and the screen. It is adhered to the glass with what looks like industrial strength adhesive and the adhesive loops the whole edge of the glass to make a water resistant seal. Also it is the sealing interface between the screen assembly and the case. Removing the frame is extremely difficult and there seems no reliable way to reattach a new one to seal properly. You may need to cut open the metal bezel, remove a few structural screw holes, then try to dissolve the adhesive and cut along the display, refer to below video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syC-HJLj…

The piece you are talking about is the bracket that holds the lcd and glass together and holds the screen in place in the phone. When you replace the screen these are already pre built on the screen. You could choose to replace it but that requires lots of heat and a very steady hand. Best thing to do is to replace the screen.