Forensic chip analysis enables iPhone data recovery despite corroded electronics

After suffering massive liquid damage, a Berlin family lost access to all the data on their iPhone – including several thousand photos, videos and personal messages. The device no longer responded, showed no charging indicator and was not recognised by the computer. Only through specialised data reconstruction in the clean room laboratory of RecoveryLab Berlin was it possible to completely restore all content.

During the forensic examination, the technicians determined that central components such as the logic board and several conductor tracks were irreparably damaged by corrosion. However, the built-in NAND flash memory, on which all user data is stored, remained largely intact.

‘In such cases, software-based data recovery is out of the question,’ explains Stefan Berger, customer advisor at RecoveryLab. ‘We perform a hardware-based direct analysis: the memory chip is precisely desoldered, read out with specialised readers, and the raw data is then logically reconstructed using forensic software. Only through this multi-stage process can the original file structure be restored.’

Modern iPhones have complex memory architectures in which data encryption and controller management make direct reading difficult. RecoveryLab therefore uses specially developed workflows to analyse the raw data segment by segment and reassemble fragmented areas of information. This approach also enables the recovery of chat histories, media files and application data, which often remain incomplete with conventional methods.

After several days of analysis, the experts were able to consistently extract all photos, videos, messages and contacts. The family received their data back in its entirety on an encrypted data carrier – documented in an audit-proof manner and processed in accordance with GDPR-compliant security guidelines.

The case illustrates that even in the event of irreparable water damage, successful iPhone data recovery (https://www.recoverylab-datenrettung.de/apple-macintosh/iphone/) is technically possible, provided that no attempts are made to repair the device yourself. “Many affected individuals place the device in rice or reconnect it to the charger. This often causes short circuits that permanently destroy the memory,” warns Berger. RecoveryLab recommends immediately disconnecting damaged devices from the power supply and having them checked by specialists in flash memory and SSD data recovery (https://www.recoverylab-datenrettung.de/flash-speicher/ssd-datenrettung/).