Maker Builds Working iPhone 14 Pro Inside a Fully 3D Printed Housing

Phone Repair Guru set out to answer a straightforward question: could parts pulled from a broken iPhone 14 Pro sit inside a housing made entirely on a 3D printer and still produce a phone that boots and functions. To push the idea further, the tools used for the assembly would also come off the printer, with only the metal screwdriver bits kept real. A Bambu Lab P2S Combo handled the printing, but designing a housing precise enough to hold everything required outside help. PatoCube handled the 3D scanning of original housings and the subsequent design work, going back and forth until the tiny internal details lined up.

Printed tools arrived first, starting with a precision screwdriver handle from Makerworld that performed well with metal parts. Then came the tweezers and pry tools, which were actually quite similar to the plastic ones you’d see on a workbench. Along the way, a few extra prints appeared, such as a charging station and a cable protector, but these were still considered low priority. The housing itself is printed in two pieces: the main body and a separate camera bump. Then there were the cutouts for the wireless charger and antennas, as well as the holes for the buttons and screws. Because plastic screw holes are useless without metal threads, a soldering iron was used to melt in threaded inserts, a handy skill he learned from Strange Parts. The majority of screws used were M1.2 Phillips, which was not a great concern.

Transferring the donor parts began with the wireless charger and button assembly. The buttons really snapped into their holes quite easily, but the small metal retaining plates were a different issue, requiring him to battle with them for a moment, aided by a pair of nitrile gloves. The printed pry tools were not up to the challenge, so the metal bit on the printed screwdriver was called upon to do some heavy lifting. One of the early power buttons refused to click properly, so he had to replace the entire button assembly before he could even consider moving on. Next came the flash, antennae, and LiDAR. Some of the antenna screws were finicky and wouldn’t go all the way in. Having the camera assembly all in one piece, with the added camera bump, makes it much easier to properly put the LiDAR module in front of the LiDAR. Then he slid four printed connectors into their holes, glued the bump, and slapped on the camera glass. The camera unit simply slotted into its place.

Charging port fit was a bit of a problem because one bracket would not budge, thus it was left out. The port fit in more easier than imagined, followed by the Taptic Engine and loudspeaker. Several screws were a little too short, and some were slightly misaligned. The motherboard followed, along with the SIM-eject pin.The mounting screws were a little flimsy, but once the remainder of the connectors, as well as the front camera and earpiece speaker, were secured, the board appeared to be rather sturdy. The battery simply kind of nestled in. Lowering the screen required some finesse, and even so, there was considerable give when he pressed down firmly. After putting everything together, you could see a pretty convincing phone starting to form.

Holding down the power button displays the Apple logo, followed by the lock screen. That first boot seemed promising enough to indicate that the concept could work, but it wasn’t long before we struck our first stumbling block. A beta testing software revealed that the bottom microphone was dead as a dud, and the volume controls wouldn’t move. Face ID was still malfunctioning, rendering our donor phone essentially worthless. Not to mention that the camera didn’t fit properly yet, so that needed to be fixed as well. These issues were immediately escalated to the designer, who began working on a solution.

Months passed, until finally a redesigned housing was printed and assembled. The updated version smoothed out the camera housing, making the glass even with the bump, cleaned up the region surrounding the LiDAR, and finally got the volume buttons to work properly. A SIM tray was also included for good measure. Then we ran another set of tests, and to our relief, all of the issues we had before were resolved, with the exception of the old pre-existing Face ID issue, which remains a mystery.

One thing that did not surprise him was that the phone had a cellular connection, and when held, it feels as light as an iPhone 5c, if not slightly lighter than a regular 14 Pro. He is still concerned about how this 3D printed material will withstand heat and whether its antenna performance will be any better than the original metal one, as he does not have any side-by-side comparisons to test. After all of that fiddling, build 2 is shaping up to be a far more polished product than build 1, even if the Face ID issue remains a mystery.