- Disassembling the iPhone
- Adding the Glowing Apple Mod
- Adding the Strap Mod
- Next Up: Wi-Phone
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Adding the Glowing Apple Mod
The first thing that came to our mind when we pondered the whole modification idea was replacing the little silver apple in the aluminum case with something eye-catching. To keep things simple, we decided on a glowing replacement for the silver apple, one that gave off a little light in the dark. This proved to be quite simple—so simple, in fact, that the risk factor is pretty much zero.
The only catch is that this mod will require a trip to the store for a bag of glow-in-the-dark stars. We found Wonder Stars at http://www.explorastore.com/main/product.asp?invky=138&sec=glo, which worked quite nicely.
Figure 3 is a shot of the "before mod" case.
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Figure 3 Apple logo before modification
Once you have the stars in hand, select a medium-sized one out of the bag and cut off its points. Then, using a file or grinder, trim the thickness of the star to about half its original size; otherwise, the case won't fit correctly when you put it back on. Figures 4 and 5 show the size/shape of our star before and after we trimmed it down to size.
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Figure 4 Glow-in-the-dark star
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Figure 5 Altered star
Now we have to remove the original Apple logo. Simply take a small flat-head screwdriver and scrape away any glue that is around the end of the metallic circle. Then work around the circle, and pry the metal logo out of the aluminum case (Figure 6). Once it's out, place the glow-in-the-dark piece over the hole and either press it firmly in place, or apply a bit of glue or tape to keep it in place, or use a soldering iron to melt the edges of the plastic onto the aluminum case.
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Figure 6 Apple logo removed
That's it! You now have a glow-in-the-dark Apple logo on your iPhone. Figures 7 and 8 show us the lights-on and lights-off results of this mod.
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Figure 7 The added glowing logo mod, in the light
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Figure 8 The added glowing logo mod, in the dark