Data Recovery From Dead Devices
When the board is what stands between you and your files, we repair it for long enough to get them back — assessed honestly first, because not every case is recoverable.
£45 Diagnostic
The fee is waived when you go ahead with the repair, and you get a fixed quote first. Every repair is no fix, no fee.
Free Both Ways
Tracked and insured across the UK.
30-Day Warranty
On parts and labour for this repair.
Signs you need this repair
- Dead phone with photos that were never backed up
- MacBook or laptop will not start and the files are not in the cloud
- USB stick snapped at the connector
- External drive not detected after a drop or the wrong power adapter
What actually goes wrong
Modern phones and laptops encrypt their storage with keys held by their own processor or security chip. On an iPhone, a recent Android phone, a T2 or Apple silicon MacBook, and many Windows 11 laptops, the storage chip cannot be moved to another board and read. The only route to the data is making the original board work again, for long enough to copy it off.
That makes data recovery from a dead device a board-level job first and a data job second. We diagnose the board, repair what has failed, and back up the data as soon as the device comes up. Sometimes the data is all the customer wants, and the device does not need to be restored to everyday use.
USB flash drives and external drive enclosures are different: a snapped connector or a failed bridge board can be repaired, and some external drives encrypt data on that bridge board, so the original board has to be repaired rather than replaced. Failed hard drive mechanics are not a board repair at all — for those, see our data recovery service.
We describe every case as an assessment, not a promise. If a storage chip itself has failed, or the encryption makes recovery impossible, we tell you before you pay for any repair.
Not in Newcastle? Post it to us
We repair Micro Soldering & Board-Levels by post for customers right across the UK. Book online, send it in, and we diagnose it and confirm a fixed price before any work starts — with a £45 diagnostic that is waived when you go ahead with the repair. It comes back to you tracked and insured.
- £45 diagnostic, waived on repair
- Tracked, insured return delivery
- 30-day warranty, same as in store
Questions about this repair
Can you take the memory chip out and read it?
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What if the device cannot be recovered?
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Other Micro Soldering & Board-Level repairs
Book this repair
Post it in from anywhere in the UK, free both ways, or walk in to 119 New Bridge Street, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 2SW with free private parking in front of the shop. We diagnose it and quote a fixed price before any work starts.
iRepair Labs is an independent repair workshop, not an authorised service provider for any manufacturer named here. Brand and product names are trademarks of their owners.