You should add a collection of weird micro screw types and sizes to your tool box if you plan on working on cell phones and computers. Weird screws rule the day.
Recently, I found myself trying to open up an iPhone. Never done that before. So I got out my collection of miniature screw drivers.
None fit. Not wanting to wreck the iPhone, I figured that some research was in order. Pretty soon, I discovered that all iPhone models since Version 4 use a Pentalobe screw sized 0.8 mm.
Huh? What the heck is a Pentalobe screw. And, where on earth can I get a Pentalobe screwdriver?
Turns out that the result was pretty simple. I found a Mastercraft Specialty Electronics Precision 66 piece Driver Set at Canadian Tire in Calgary for $20, shown above. There, in the top left corner was my 0.8 mm Pentalobe bit. I had the iPhone opened and fixed within a couple of minutes.
As a side note, make sure that you work with these screws over some sort of sided container. If these micro screws fall on the floor, finding them is a real challenge.
Micro Screw Types and Sizes Pretty Amazing
Pentalobe screws were adopted by Apple in 2009 as a tamper-proof proprietary solution. No more Phillips screws. Of course, entrepreneurs came up with compatible screwdrivers pretty quickly.
As I examined my Canadian Tire screwdriver set, I was amazed at how many different micro screw types and sizes were in the wild. These include various varieties of Torx, three pointed, internal and external polygon, Pozidriv and more. You can see a few of these in the picture above.
In recent years, as I have done more DIY projects, I added a variety of metric screws to my repertoire, in addition to the more traditional flat, Robertson and Phillips screws.
Now I know that if I want to do more work on personal electronics devices, I need to learn more about these weird micro screw types and sizes. Hopefully, my $20 investment in the micro-drive set from Canadian Tire will come in handy again.