I 3D Printed an iPhone… Then Built It With Printed Tools
Could I take the parts from a broken iPhone 14 Pro, put them inside a housing made on a 3D printer, and end up with a working phone?
That was the plan. To make it a little more interesting, I would print the tools I used to build it too. The screwdriver bits would stay metal, but the handle, tweezers and pry tools would all come off the printer.
Before any of that could happen, though, I needed a housing that could actually hold those parts.
Designing the Housing and Printing the Tools
I used a Bambu Lab P2S Combo for the prints. An iPhone seemed like the obvious thing to make, but designing the housing myself was another matter. There are a lot of tiny details inside a phone, and very little room to get them wrong.
I brought in PatoCube to help turn original housings into a printable design through 3D scanning and design work. There was plenty of back and forth to get the details right. Thanks to him for his contribution to the project. You can find more of his work on Instagram at @patocube3d.
While the housing was being designed, I looked through MakerWorld for tools. A precision screwdriver handle was straightforward enough, provided I used real metal bits. Printing those tiny tips in plastic was not going to be useful.
The tweezers were more of a gamble. The pry tools seemed less worrying, since the ones I normally use are already plastic. If a printed one broke, I could make another.
I also got carried away with a few other prints: a charging dock, a cable protector, a three-in-one charging stand and a model of a folding iPhone.
Printing the Housing
With the tools ready and the housing design finalized, it was time to print the shell.
It came together as two pieces: the main housing and a separate camera bump. Inside were recesses for the wireless charger and antennas, along with button openings and holes for the screws.
Giving the Plastic Housing Metal Threads
Once the housing was printed, the screw holes needed some attention. There were openings where the screws belonged, but no metal threads inside them.
I used a soldering iron to melt threaded inserts into the plastic, an idea inspired by Strange Parts. The screws going into the housing would be M1.2, and most of the build would use Phillips heads.
With the shell on the PRG repair mat and the inserts in place, it was time to start transferring parts from the broken iPhone 14 Pro.
The Buttons Were the First Real Challenge
The wireless charger and button assembly came first. The buttons themselves pressed into the openings, but the little metal retaining plates needed much more force. I put on nitrile gloves and worked through the plates and their tiny retaining bars.
The printed pry tools struggled here. Fortunately, the metal bit in the printed screwdriver gave me a way to push the plates into place. The first screw also held in its insert, which was a relief.
Then I noticed the power button was not clicking properly. That meant doing the whole process again with another wireless charger and button assembly before I could move on.
Making Room for the Cameras
Next came the flash, antennas and LiDAR. Some antenna screws would not fully seat. The camera bump was still separate, allowing access to fit the piece in front of the LiDAR before closing that area up.
I placed four printed connectors into the holes, glued the bump onto the housing and added the camera glass. Then came the camera assembly itself. It dropped into place.
The Charging Port Had to Line Up
The charging port was another tight fit. One bracket would not go in properly, so I left it out. The port itself fitted more easily than expected, followed by the Taptic Engine and loudspeaker.
The screws were only just long enough to hold some of those parts down, and a few sat slightly crooked. The printed screwdriver handle, at least, was doing well. Its rotating cap made it feel surprisingly normal to use.
Would It Turn On?
I fitted the motherboard and transferred the little SIM-eject pin. The mounting screws were not ideal, but the board felt firm once the remaining connectors, front camera and earpiece speaker were in place.
The battery sat fairly flush. Getting the screen down took some maneuvering, and it still had a little give when pushed firmly. But with everything together, it finally looked like a phone.
I held the power button. The Apple logo appeared, then the lock screen.
That was a huge moment. It was also only the start of finding out what actually worked.
The First Tests Sent Us Back to the Design
I used a testing app I had been developing, still in beta during the build, to check the phone. It picked up problems: the bottom microphone was not working, and Face ID was unavailable. Face ID had already been faulty in the donor phone.
The volume buttons were not working either, and I was not happy with how the cameras looked. Getting the phone to boot was encouraging, but I wanted to fix those details.
I sent the changes back to the designer. After months of work on the project, we were going to print and build it one more time.
One More Housing, Then Another Test
The final version brought the camera glass flush with the bump and cleaned up the area around the LiDAR. The volume buttons now worked, and I fitted a SIM tray too.
After another round of testing, the functions that had failed were working, apart from the donor phone’s existing Face ID fault. The phone also had cellular service.
| Area | First build | Final build |
|---|---|---|
| Bottom microphone | Did not work. | Reported working after the rebuild. |
| Volume buttons | Did not operate properly. | Working after the redesign. |
| Camera fit | Glass and camera finish needed changes. | Glass sat flush, with improved camera and LiDAR fit. |
| Face ID | Unavailable before and after the first build. | Still unavailable. The fault predated the project. |
| Cellular service | No final service result established at this stage. | Service shown on the finished phone. |
Final Thoughts
A printed housing, real iPhone parts and a set of printed tools got us to a working iPhone 14 Pro. It took another housing and another build to get there, but the final phone feels remarkably light, a little like an iPhone 5c.
There are still questions that a successful bench test cannot answer. Changing the housing material could affect heat dissipation and antenna performance. We have no measured temperature or signal-strength comparison against an original housing, so having service does not establish equal reception.
For this project, though, seeing it turn on was only half the reward. Going back, fixing the fit and getting those controls working made the finished phone that much more satisfying.
See you in the next article!
