iPhone screen grades A to E: what each one means when you sell your pulls
By Fixera
A broken iPhone screen is either a live panel worth paying for or it is scrap, and one test decides which. The grade only comes into it after that test is passed. The grade has nothing to do with the cracked glass on top. It is about the panel underneath: how clean the image is once it lights up and how intact it stays. Learn what each grade rewards and you can sort your drawer yourself and roughly price a batch before you tape the box shut.
The test that comes before any grade
A panel earns a grade only after it passes one check: does it show a clean, even image on white, and does it register touch? The front glass can be cracked corner to corner, a full spider web, and the panel underneath still counts. The money is in the original Apple OLED or LCD, not the glass laminated over it.
What we do with it is reglass it. New front glass and fresh OCA bonded onto the original display, then it goes back out as a tested unit. So a shattered screen that lights up evenly and reads a swipe is a live candidate. A screen with mint glass that shows a black bar or ignores your finger is scrap.
Sort on that basis. Whether the panel drives an image and reads touch is what gets it through the door. What is on that image then sets the grade.
How the five grades differ
Once a panel is in with a working image and working touch, the grade is set by what you see on a full white screen. Grade A is a clean panel with only the glass broken. B and C are burn in, light then heavy. D and E are other image faults, minor then heavy. Fewer marks means a higher grade and less work for us to bring the panel back to spec.
| Grade | What it is | What you see on white |
|---|---|---|
| A | Broken glass only | Clean, even image, no marks. Glass can be shattered; the panel behind reads factory fresh |
| B | Light burn in | A faint shadow or ghost in one area, left by a fixed layout like a keyboard or status bar. Nothing else |
| C | Heavy burn in | A strong, clearly visible shadow across part of the screen. Nothing else |
| D | Minor image defect | A few dead pixels, light lines, or a small dark or discoloured patch |
| E | Heavy image defect | A large dead area, several lines, or heavy discolouration. Still shows an image |
Every grade in that table is still an original panel we pay for. E is the floor, not a reject.
Burn in, grades B and C, is an OLED trait. An aged OLED holds a ghost of whatever sat on it longest, a keyboard, a status bar, a nav bar, and that shadow stays after the glass is changed because it is baked into the panel. Dead pixels, lines and backlight patches, grades D and E, show up on any panel and more often on the incell LCDs (11, XR, the SE line). If a panel carries more than one kind of fault, or you are not sure which way it falls, send it ungraded and we grade it on the bench.
What we reject outright
Some panels are out no matter how clean the rest of the batch looks:
- No image, or a broken image. Black, half black, heavy flicker, or a panel that will not drive at all. There is nothing to reglass.
- Dead touch. Digitiser gone, no input. Out, even behind a flawless picture.
- Copy panels. Original Apple only. Soft OLED copies, hard OLED copies and aftermarket incell cannot go back out as refurbished originals, so they are no use to us.
- Already reglassed. If the glass has been changed and relaminated once, we cannot process it again. Send untouched pulls, not screens that have already been through a refurb.
Not sure whether a pull is an original or a copy? Make that call before you box it. Our piece on reglassed vs aftermarket iPhone screens shows how to tell them apart on the bench.
Why one buyer's A is another buyer's D
Grades are not standardised. Each buyer writes their own. One logs a faint shadow as A because their spec is loose. Another logs the same panel as burn in and pays the lower rate. Same screen, two payouts, and you cannot push back, because you never saw the standard it was graded against.
So read the grading rules before you seal the box. The letter tells you nothing on its own. What tells you something is the written definition behind it: what counts as light burn versus heavy, how many dead pixels drop a panel to D, where damage stops being cosmetic and becomes a reject. When that is published and applied the same way to every panel, you can grade your own drawer and know what a batch is worth before it leaves you. Our definitions, split by defect and model family, are on the grading rules page.
Don't want to grade it yourself?
Plenty of shops would rather not sit squinting at white screens deciding whether a mark is light burn or heavy. You don't have to grade a thing. Send the batch in on the free prepaid EU label and we grade every panel one by one when it reaches Fonora OÜ in Tartu. You get the split before any money moves: how many landed at each grade, what we rejected and why, and the total. If it does not sit right, you see it first and nothing is paid blind.
The choice is straightforward. Grade it yourself and you know your number up front from the pricelist. Send it ungraded and you skip the sorting but wait for the report. The standard is the same either way.
FAQ
What do iPhone screen grades A to E mean?
Grade A is broken glass only over a clean image. B and C are light then heavy burn in. D and E are minor then heavy image faults. Every grade from A to E still shows a full image and takes touch across the whole surface, and E is the floor, not a reject.
Which broken iPhone screens does Fixera reject?
Fixera rejects a dead image, dead touch, aftermarket or copy panels, and already reglassed panels. None of these enter the A to E ladder, and Fixera says so at the start, not at the bench.
Do I have to grade my screens before I sell them?
No. Send the batch on the free prepaid EU label for new business clients or orders of €200 or more, and Fixera grades every panel one by one on arrival, with a report on each panel and a 3 business day dispute window before any money moves.
How fast is payment once a batch is graded?
Fixera tests and grades a batch the day it arrives in Tartu and processes the payout the same business day. A quote holds its price for 14 days once it is created.
When you want to see what your drawer is actually worth, run a batch through the instant quote.
Sell us your broken screens
Original panels that still show an image are worth money, cracked glass and all. Prepaid EU label for new business clients or €200+ buybacks, graded and reported, paid fast.