Crazy recovery job I wrapped up this week on an iPhone 14 Pro Max that was mailed in all the way from Nebraska.
Customer told me the phone had been run over multiple times, and honestly, after opening it up, I thought this was going to end up being a no-fix. The phone was absolutely destroyed. The housing was twisted, the board was severely bent, and the damage near the NAND had me expecting the worst.
First thing I did was remove the board and inspect everything under the microscope. The bend near the NAND and CPU area was pretty extreme, which is usually a very bad sign on these newer iPhones. In many cases, once the board bends this badly, the CPU or NAND can crack internally and the data is gone for good.
Because the board was bent so severely, I couldn’t safely use my normal board heater setup to separate the sandwich board. I had to carefully use hot air instead and take my time through the entire process. Definitely one of those jobs where one wrong move could destroy the last chance at recovery.
Luckily, I was able to separate the board successfully with no damage.
Once separated, I inspected the CPU area closely and noticed something interesting. The board itself was bent upward right where the CPU ended on both sides, but somehow the CPU itself stayed relatively straight. That gave me a little hope.
I removed the CPU first, and surprisingly there were no ripped pads and no obvious internal damage. Then I removed the NAND, and it also looked healthy. At that point I figured this recovery actually had a real chance.
So I moved forward with a full transplant:
CPU
NAND
EEPROM
All transferred onto a donor board.
After rebuilding everything, I powered it on... and the phone booted right up.
From there I was able to back up all the customer’s data directly to iCloud. The customer mainly cared about recovering their photos and videos, so getting confirmation that everything restored successfully onto their new iPhone made the stress worth it.
Definitely one of the more nerve-racking recoveries I’ve done recently, but also one of the most satisfying.
What’s the worst physical damage you’ve ever seen a phone survive and still come back to life?
If you have a Seek Thermal Cam, you're missing out if you don't have a VCC Seek Stand: https://www.vccboardrepairs.com/buy-seek-stand
Injured Gadgets just got these back in stock, so get them while you can!
It can take us a while to build these out sometimes, so they're sometimes out of stock for a while, but we're working towards always having inventory ready to build more as they sell out.
This stand makes using a thermal cam so easy. So much better than any other thermal solution on the market.
It allows you to get real close up (using my Macro Lens), and easily find where the short is coming from.
Plus it's hard free, so you can have your hands free to try to boot the device from DCPS, while having an image that is in focus & not moving around.
You can even record a video through the app, while you inject voltage into the short, so you can go back & see exactly which component was it that was heating up.
Save yourself lots of time by getting a Seek Cam, Stand & Macro Lens! ...
Anyone who is doing game console repairs, knows how many screws you need to remove to access the motherboard.
Especially the PS5, with the 5,000 screws or so.
If you don't already have an electric screwdriver, GET ONE ASAP.
🌟 Cordless Screwdriver with T9 Bit: https://amzn.to/3E5duCj
🌟Extended T9 Bit: https://amzn.to/3c4YJac
It's rechargeable through micro USB and allows you to easily swap the tips out. You can also fold it to be straight or L shape.
Let me know below if you are already using an electric screwdriver 👇👇
Stop Guessing at iPhone Panic Logs
Panic logs can provide valuable information about why an iPhone is restarting, but identifying the actual cause is not always straightforward.
A panic log may point toward a charging-port assembly, proximity sensor, power circuit, missing sensor, damaged flex cable, or a board-level issue. The difficult part is knowing which component is responsible on each particular iPhone model.
That is why I created the VCC Panic Log Cheat Sheet.
Personally Tested and Verified Solutions
This is not a generic list copied from forums or collected from unverified posts.
The cheat sheet is based on panic logs and solutions I have personally tested and verified while repairing iPhones at VCC Board Repairs. It covers virtually every iPhone model and documents the parts, sensors, flex cables, and circuits commonly associated with specific panic strings and numerical values.
The goal is simple: help repair technicians diagnose restart issues faster and avoid wasting time or money replacing the wrong parts.
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In case you haven't heard, I will be moving from Las Vegas, NV to Star, ID.
In my Las Vegas office, I had fully custom built workbenches for myself & my employee(s). But now it's time to go & tear everything down.
I'm really sad since these benches felt like the perfect layout! Or maybe I just got used to them.
I've attached some pics of what it looked like before & now that's all gone.
I do have some good news tho.... I recorded a detailed video of my office for youtube! I'll be posting that video soon!
Like this post if you want to see that video!
