Touch screen is going on the fritz

Hi Jeff,

I've messed around with the iPhone X's quite a bit and haven't heard of any kind of endemic problem with the touch screen like they had with the iPhone 6 Plus and it's dreaded "Touch Disease".

It's been long enough since your battery replacement that it doesn't seem like the two are related in my opinion. That being said, there are a couple of things you can try before breaking down and replacing the screen. I'd be inclined to open the phone back up in order to check and reseat the digitizer connector on the motherboard.

That particular step in the screen replacement guide comes with a couple of notes that are worth paying attention to.

• This connector's recessed location makes it tricky to reconnect. Take your time and align it carefully, then gently press it into place with your fingertip—first one side, then the other. You should feel it click into place.
• If any part of your screen doesn't respond to touch after your repair, disconnect the battery and then re-seat this connector, making sure it clicks fully into place and that there's no dust or other obstruction in the socket.

Unplug the connector and check both sides, the motherboard and the cable, for any broken or bent pins. Assuming you're good, clean them with some 90% or higher concentration isopropyl alcohol then reassemble and retest.

If it's still misbehaving then yeah, about your only option is to replace the screen; if a new screen doesn't fix it then you're most likely looking at a board level problem that's probably not worth fixing. The good news is the X is old enough now that the OLED screens have finally come down in price; I have a soft OLED screen on order right now for only about $35 USD, so shop around carefully and you should be able to find a decent price. Just be sure you're getting a soft OLED and not an LCD replacement - that is, unless you're looking for something even cheaper and don't mind the loss in picture quality and the lowered battery life due to the higher power requirements of the LCD+backlight replacement screen. If you do want to save a few bucks, you can find a middle ground with a hard OLED screen.