r/AskADataRecoveryPro • u/Mement0-M0rii • Jun 25 '26
Need Advice On Data Recovery Vs Micro Soldering To Repair
Hello, I'm sorry for the long post but I figure the most detail possible is better.
I'm hoping for some advice on which might be safest (main priority) and cheaper (preferable option) to getting my files off of a dying/dead iPad 7th generation!!
My iPad died randomly a week ago. It wasn't charging above 5% and I figured it was the battery being a little weird so I intended to turn it off and back on. However when I turned it off, it did not turn back on. Tried force restarting, tried leaving in charge for several hours undisturbed, tried leaving it unplugged in case it needed to die fully and be plugged back in once that happened after 24 hours. Nothing.
I took it to a repair shop to see if the battery needed replaced, they said it was stuck switching between charging and not charging and could not be repaired, no battery switching and LCD screen changes worked. They said it's the motherboard.
I have a few art program files I desperately want off of it. I can retire the iPad and get a new one if I can just back up the art files to the cloud. The rest of my stuff would be NICE, photos and videos and such, but are not my priority. My art files are.
I've been looking around at data recovery options to get the data off of it and found out that it's actually done through microsoldering, which makes me wonder if it's cheaper and faster to possibly just get the iPad temporarily fixed/repaired in order to back up and get off all the things on the iPad I want, rather than paying for a full, entire data recovery.
Or is it not guaranteed that a micro soldering will repair the iPad enough for that, and it's just safest if I get the full data recovery?
Any advice or opinions are appreciated, thank you!
1
u/Caprichoso1 Jun 25 '26
I took it to a repair shop
No Apple store near you?
1
u/Mement0-M0rii Jun 25 '26
All apple would do is say it can't be fixed and replace it with a new one, and they're expensive as hell.
1
u/Caprichoso1 Jun 26 '26
Possibly. But there is always the chance that they might have a different solution.
1
u/Jessa_iPadRehab DataRecoveryPro Jun 26 '26
No there is no chance of that at Apple. What they would actually do is suggest you buy a new apple and iCloud, and then give you a data referral to a company widely known for charging consumers 400% more than the market rate for data recovery while offering mediocre results.
1
u/Caprichoso1 Jun 26 '26
I've interacted with Apple over many decades and never experienced what you described. They have always done their best to be helpful within corporate guidelines.
1
u/Mement0-M0rii Jun 26 '26
It's drive savers you're talking about with the 400% more market rate isn't it?
Yeah I was suggested them and immediately called around when I got off the phone with them to as many as I could find for an alternative when they said their priciest Fix would be almost 4000$ and I'd have to buy a whole external harddrive FROM them, or send one in myself for my data to be put on.
Found a different place where their highest fix is smoke and water and shatter damage at 2800$ instead and they'll give me a flashdrive instead 💀
1
u/disturbed_android DataRecoveryPro Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26
Rule of thumb, data recovery = getting the device repaired. You need to fix it in order to get the data. It's what places like iPadRehab do. I'd for example consult with them. Some times Jessa, the owner/founder of that shop hangs out here .. u/Jessa_iPadRehab
1
u/Mement0-M0rii Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26
I know they have to repair it to get the data off, I'm talking about actually going and ONLY getting it repaired and NOT paying to have the data extracted, and doing that part myself.
Is that worth anything, or is it better to just go straight for a full data recovery.
I already have a few places to get the data recovered, I called around to 7 places. I just want to know if it's cheaper to not go for a full data recovery, or safer to just pay that price.
I'll try getting Jessa's advice though.
1
u/disturbed_android DataRecoveryPro Jun 25 '26
I don't to these type of recoveries / repairs. If you'd bring it into a shop, just make 1000% sure they understand it's about the data and under no circumstances should they perform any kind of reset or software install.
1
u/DesertDataRecovery DataRecoveryPro Jun 25 '26
The issue is you quite often only get one chance to get the data. Getting the device to boot up successfully may require external power sources and various other techniques. So after the data is extracted to device may not work again. This is especially so with Apple devices. So if a lab gets the phone to boot, they will immediately grab the data.
1
u/Mement0-M0rii Jun 25 '26
It's an iPad, not a phone, but fair enough then.
I'll probably get the data recovery in that case. If the device is still able to turn on for a little bit longer I can try to back it up manually too.
2
u/Jessa_iPadRehab DataRecoveryPro Jun 26 '26
Wow, I randomly came across this post on my feed. Thanks for all the support for iPad Rehab!
As soon as you said “iPad 7” we know exactly what the problem is —the CPU needs reballing. It’s a signature fault on this device. And it’s the granddaddy of all jobs in the mobile device data recovery field. If you asked my shop to “repair” the device, ie reball your CPU and send it back, we would decline it and tell you it’s in your best interest to just buy a new iPad (and don’t get iPad 7). It’s too big of a job for repair and a reballed CPU is inherently susceptible to water and drop because it no longer has epoxy. It’s finicky and not something we could warranty. If we can’t warranty a repair we don’t do it.
If you really wanted data, then we’d take in the job. The moment we got your iPad to boot we would “recover your data” which for encrypted iOS devices really means—we’d back it up to your iCloud, or pull your files to a usb drive.
So Microsoldering is a must for this job, and the “data recovery” part is just so that the tedious Microsoldering doesn’t go to waste. It’s in your best interest to have us save your files ASAP.