iPhone 16 Pro Max No-Power Data Recovery
- Aaron Harrington
- 2 hours ago
- 5 min read
Dead Motherboard Case Study (100% Data Recovered)
Watch the full repair:
The Problem
A customer’s iPhone 16 Pro Max went from working normally one evening to completely dead the next morning.
No Apple logo
No vibration
No charging icon
No response at all
Apple and most local shops will either call this “unrepairable” or offer a device swap; which does not include your original photos, videos, or messages.
In this case, the customer was clear:
“I don’t care about the phone. I just need all my data back.”
This is exactly the kind of board-level iPhone 16 Pro Max no-power data recovery work I do in my lab.
Step 1 – Diagnosis & the “Initial Draw” [01:13–03:16]
I removed the motherboard and connected it to a DC power supply on the bench.
The board immediately pulled about 0.8A of current before I even tried to boot it.
That’s a classic sign of a short to ground on a main power rail.
On many iPhones, that would point to primary lines like VDD_MAIN. I checked those lines in diode mode under the microscope, and they all measured normal against known-good values.
That told me the obvious power rails were healthy; the short was hiding deeper in the board’s internal circuitry.
Step 2 – Splitting the “Sandwich” Board
The iPhone 16 Pro Max uses a dual-layer “sandwich” motherboard:
Bottom / RF board – radios and support circuits
Top / logic board – CPU and NAND (storage), where the data lives
Using a controlled heating process, I carefully separated the two layers and tested them individually.
RF (bottom) board: Tested fine.
Logic (top) board: This is where the short was located.
The fault was on the same half of the board that contains the CPU and NAND, so if I can stabilize that side, I can usually access the data.
Step 3 – Finding the Heat Spike with Thermal Imaging [12:04–14:22]
Next, I injected voltage and used a thermal camera to see what was getting hot.
A charging IC, U4000, lit up with a clear heat spike.
I compared readings on its main output line (PP_CHARGER_LDO) to a known-good donor board I keep in the lab.
The values were way off, confirming that U4000 was internally shorted.
I removed and replaced U4000 and tested again.
The major short was now gone.
But the board only drew about 0.09A and still would not boot.
That meant the initial obvious failure was fixed, but there was a second, hidden issue still blocking the boot process.
Step 4 – The Hidden Second Issue: System Alive Line [34:05–40:41]
At this stage, the job shifts from “find the hot chip” to logic-line troubleshooting.
I compared diode-mode readings on key communication lines between this dead board and several known-good boards in the lab.
One line jumped out:
The System Alive line (which helps the phone’s “brain” talk to its “memory”) measured about 0.7 on this bad board.
On three known-good boards, the same line measured closer to 0.3.
That’s a strong indicator that the NAND (storage chip) was not properly connected anymore. Whether from the original failure or thermal/mechanical stress, the phone could no longer reliably “see” its own storage.
No stable connection to NAND = no boot, no passcode screen, no way to access the data.
Step 5 – NAND Reball & Final Assembly [46:56–52:12]
To fix the NAND connection correctly, I:
Removed the NAND chip from the logic board.
Cleaned the board pads and performed a precision NAND reball; rebuilding all the microscopic solder balls underneath the chip.
Reinstalled the NAND and rechecked the System Alive line to confirm the reading had returned to the normal range.
Re-stacked the sandwich motherboard and moved it into a test jig for power-on.
This time:
The current draw looked normal, and
The phone showed the Apple logo and booted to the lock screen.
With the customer’s passcode, I was able to fully access the data.
The Result – 100% Data Recovered
Device: iPhone 16 Pro Max
Condition on arrival: Completely dead, no power, no boot
Main faults:
Shorted U4000 charging IC on PP_CHARGER_LDO
Compromised NAND connection on the System Alive line
Work performed:
Dual-layer sandwich board separation
U4000 replacement (charging IC)
NAND reball and reinstallation
Logic-line diagnostics using known-good reference boards
Final outcome:
✅ iPhone 16 Pro Max dead / no-power data recovery was 100% successful. All photos, videos, messages, and important app data were safely backed up for the customer.
The phone itself is not something you’d trust as a daily device after this level of board surgery, but that wasn’t the goal. The goal was the data, and the data was recovered.
Nerd Corner (For Technicians & Repair Shops)
If you’re into the technical side of things, here are the key points from this repair:
Initial DCPS draw: ~0.8A pre-boot → clear primary-rail short
Short isolation:
VDD_MAIN and other main rails in normal diode range vs donor
Short isolated to top/logic board after sandwich split
Faulty component:
U4000 charging IC shorted on PP_CHARGER_LDO
Post-U4000 replacement behavior:
~0.09A draw, no Apple logo → deeper logic-line issue
Secondary fault:
System Alive (PMU → NAND) measuring ~0.7 in diode mode vs ~0.3 on multiple donor boards
Solution:
Replace U4000
Reball NAND, restore correct System Alive reading
Re-stack board → normal boot and full data extraction
This is the kind of board-level iPhone 16 data recovery that typical phone repair shops and Apple don’t offer.
iPhone 16 Pro Max Data Recovery – Common Questions
Can you recover data from a dead iPhone 16 Pro Max that won’t turn on?
Yes. If your iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, or 16 Pro Max has no power, no Apple logo, or appears completely dead, there’s still a good chance the data can be recovered by working directly on the motherboard instead of just swapping parts like the battery or screen.
This case study is a real example of data recovery from a dead iPhone 16 Pro Max that wouldn’t turn on.
What if Apple or another repair shop already said my iPhone 16 is “unrepairable”?
That’s very common. Most shops don’t offer board-level iPhone 16 Pro Max data recovery—they focus on part replacements (battery, screen, charging port) and full device swaps.
I specialize in cases where the phone is considered a total loss, but the data is still recoverable from the logic board.
Do I get a working phone back, or just the data?
These jobs are aimed at data recovery from dead iPhones, not a long-term, fully warrantied device repair. After this level of work, the phone might not be reliable enough for daily use.
What you do get is your photos, videos, messages, and other important data, backed up to a safer location.
Do you offer mail-in iPhone 16 Pro Max data recovery?
Yes. I accept mail-in iPhone data recovery cases from all over the United States.
You ship your dead iPhone to my lab, I perform the board-level diagnosis and repair here, and once the data is recovered, I return your phone and backup on a drive. I can also perform and iCloud backup instead on request.
To learn more about my overall process and other services, you can also visit the iBoard Repair main page.
Need Data Recovery for a Dead iPhone 16 Series?
I run iBoard Repair, a dedicated iPhone data recovery lab serving mail-in customers across the U.S.
If your iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, or 16 Pro Max is completely dead and your data is irreplaceable:
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