Data Recovery from Dead MacBooks & iPhones
When a device won’t turn on, your photos and files are still on it — they’re just locked to the board. I repair the board enough to boot, then get your data back.
Why a dead MacBook needs a board repair to get data
Older computers had a removable hard drive you could plug into another machine. Modern MacBooks (with the T2 chip or Apple Silicon) and every iPhone are different: the storage is soldered to the logic board and encrypted to that specific board. Swap the board and the data is gone forever.
That’s why many shops say “sorry, your data is lost.” Board-level repair is the way around it — fix the fault that stopped the device from booting, and the data is accessible again.
When data recovery makes sense
- Your MacBook or iPhone won’t power on and you don’t have a backup
- The device was water damaged and stopped working
- Another shop or Apple quoted a board replacement
- You want your files, but don’t want to spend more on an older device
What you’ll need
Your device passcode or Mac login password. The data is encrypted, and without the password it can’t be unlocked — by anyone. Your recovered files can be copied to a USB drive or external drive.
Back it up next time
Once your files are safe, I’m happy to help you set up iCloud or Time Machine backups so you’re never in this spot again.
Data recovery FAQ
Why can't you just pull the hard drive out?
On most MacBooks since 2016 and every iPhone, the storage chips are soldered to the logic board and encrypted to that board. The only way to get the data is to make the original board work again. That's what board-level data recovery does.
How much does data recovery cost?
Data recovery starts at $200. Diagnosis is free, and you'll get a quote before any work begins.
What can you recover?
Anything stored on the device: photos, videos, documents, school and business files. You'll need your device passcode or Mac login password for the data to be unlocked.
Can I keep using the device afterwards?
Sometimes the repair that recovers your data also fixes the device for good. If a full repair makes more sense, I'll quote both options so you can choose.
Told it’s not worth fixing? Get a second opinion.
Diagnostics are free. Tell me the model and what’s going on, and I’ll let you know honestly whether it can be saved and what it’ll cost — before any work starts.