I Tried Putting an iPhone 17 Display on an iPhone 16: Here’s What Happened…

The iPhone 17 display got a massive upgrade, brighter, thinner bezels, and new display tech that Apple’s been bragging about. Since the iPhone 16 and 17 look so similar on the outside, I figured: why not try putting a 17 display on a 16?

Both phones are powered down and batteries disconnected. Time to see if this futuristic panel can breathe new life into last year’s model.

Removing the iPhone 17 Display

Popping off the iPhone 17’s screen is familiar territory, a few pentalobe screws, some gentle heat, and it lifts off cleanly. The new display is impressively thin, and the internals look slightly rearranged to make room for the updated components.

Now for the real test: will the display connectors fit onto the iPhone 16’s logic board?

The Connector Problem

Nope. Not even close. The iPhone 17 uses a completely different connector layout. Apple clearly redesigned the interface, likely to support the new display features. Even if you tried to line them up, they physically don’t match. So, electrically and mechanically, this swap is a no-go.

Even if the connectors somehow matched, the iPhone 17 and iPhone 16 aren’t the same size anymore. The iPhone 17’s display is slightly taller and narrower. When you try to place it on the iPhone 16 frame, it just doesn’t sit right. There’s overlap at the corners and visible gaps, definitely not a clean fit.

Final Thoughts

So, can you put an iPhone 17 display on an iPhone 16? Unfortunately, no. The connector design and subtle size changes make this upgrade impossible. Apple’s done a good job making the phones look similar, but under the hood, they’re very different.

Maybe next year, I’ll try the opposite, iPhone 16 screen on an iPhone 17. (Spoiler: that probably won’t work either.)

See you in the next article.