Common Repairable iPhone Logic Board Problems: Fix the Board, Recover the Data

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Presented at TechnoSecurity&DigitalForensics 2019 by

Jessa Jones

For encrypted data on iOS and other mobile devices, the path to data recovery often requires getting the device to turn on and boot natively. This can be a hardship for many devices that have accidental or intentional damage to the logic board hardware. Fortunately, many of these faults are repairable with low cost microsoldering equipment and some training. This session will showcase some of the common "signature faults" that occur in iPhones, and show you what the repair of these faults looks like. We will cover short circuit detection and repair, charger damage, and common micro-bga chip problems from flexion-damage that occurs every day in larger form iPhones. Attendees will also learn what a typical microsoldering setup looks like, including the relative costs of common equipment, and what type of training/experience would be required to safely and efficiently perform logic board repairs through microsoldering. During the session, the presenter will walk you through a live example of a dead iPhone with a logic board hardware problem, and invite audience volunteers to use our handheld thermal camera to find the cause of a short circuit, and to bring the phone back to life in real time!