⚠ Do now
Apple devices · iPhone · iPad · iPod touch
From the original 2007 iPhone to this year’s releases, and every iPad, mini, Air, Pro and iPod touch in between — if Apple built it and your data is on it, our Brisbane bench works on it. One lab, twenty years of hardware.
1300 806 557Free diagnostic · Fixed quote · Proof before payment
Apple’s marketing names change every September; what actually decides a recovery is the security architecture underneath. Twenty years of iPhones and iPads sort into three eras on our bench, and knowing which era your device belongs to tells you most of the story before it’s even opened.
The early era (2007–2010) pre-dates full encryption — data can be lifted almost regardless of what state the device is in. The bootrom era (iPhone 4s through iPhone X, and their iPad contemporaries) carries a hardware trait that permits deep bench-level access no matter how broken iOS is — these remain wonderfully recoverable devices. The sealed era (iPhone XS onward and all M-series iPads) closed that door: the storage is married to the processor beside it, so recovery means repairing the original board until it runs and unlocking with the owner’s passcode. No shortcuts exist — and anyone advertising them for modern iPhones deserves your scepticism.
Practical upshot: no Apple device is “too old” to recover, and none is “too new”. The old ones are forgiving; the new ones just demand proper board-level work — which is the work this lab was built around. Start with the iPhone data recovery hub for the deep-dive, or find your exact model below.
The full index
Every iPhone, iPad and iPod touch Apple has ever shipped, grouped the way the bench sees them. Find yours — and if a brand-new release isn’t listed yet, we already work on it.
Grouped by security era — the grouping that actually matters for recovery. Full fault-by-fault detail lives on the iPhone data recovery page.
The earliest iPhones pre-date full device encryption, which makes them the most forgiving recoveries on the bench — even a badly damaged board can often give up its data through direct storage work.
From the iPhone 4s onward these chips carry the hardware quirk the recovery world knows as the checkm8/bootrom era — deep hardware-level access is possible on the bench regardless of how broken iOS is. The 5s adds the Secure Enclave, so the passcode starts to matter.
Bend-prone chassis made this the touch-disease and flex-damage era — classic board-level work, and very recoverable.
The 8, 8 Plus and X are the final checkm8-era handsets — the friendliest modern iPhones to recover, because hardware-level access survives almost any fault.
From the XS/XR onward there is no public hardware shortcut — recovery means making the original board run and unlocking with the owner’s passcode. Exactly the board-level work our bench is built for.
Tightly packed sandwich boards — precision work, routine on our bench.
eSIM-only variants and ever-denser boards — the recovery rules are unchanged: board runs, passcode unlocks, data comes out.
The newest handsets, including the ultra-thin iPhone Air — and every model Apple releases next. New hardware lands on our bench the week it lands in pockets.
iPads run the same storage architecture as iPhones of their era, so everything above about encryption and board-level work applies — with two iPad-specific notes: the thin chassis bends (cracked solder joints under the big chips), and charging ports wear out years before the rest of the tablet does.
The classroom-and-kitchen workhorse. Charging-port wear and drop damage are the usual suspects.
Small chassis, tightly packed board — minis take drops hard, and we see plenty of them.
Thin aluminium bends before it breaks — flexed boards with cracked solder joints are the classic Air fault.
M-series iPads share their security architecture with modern iPhones — same rules, same bench, bigger board.
The forgotten family — and a common one in drawers, holding a decade of family photos nobody backed up. iPod touch models follow the same iOS recovery paths as iPhones of their era, and the early generations are among the most recoverable Apple devices ever made.
We could list every Watch here and look impressive; instead, here’s the truth: an Apple Watch holds very little unique data. It mirrors its paired iPhone, and health data syncs through iCloud. If a Watch died with data you care about, the recovery target is almost always the paired iPhone or the iCloud account — call us and we’ll aim you at the right device instead of billing you for the wrong one.
Model not listed? If Apple made it, we work on it — the list above ends only because the calendar does. New releases are on our bench within weeks of launch, and mail-in covers every state. Call 1300 806 557 and tell us what you’ve got.
Why the era matters
Same lab, same engineers, same proof-before-payment promise — different physics depending on when your device was built.
Pre-encryption hardware means the storage can be read almost regardless of the device’s condition. Drawer finds from this era are routinely recovered in full — even dead ones.
A permanent hardware trait in these chips lets the bench reach the device below iOS — so a phone that won’t boot, loops or half-died in a repair shop is still very much in play.
Storage is cryptographically married to the processor on its own board. Recovery means microsoldering the original board back to life and unlocking with the owner’s passcode — the exact work this lab specialises in.
Start with your problem
Six guides, one per fault — each with the do-now steps, the bench process and the honest odds for that failure.
Glass gone, touch dead or screen black — the data underneath survives.
Open the guideCorrosion is on the clock — what to do right now, and what we do next.
Open the guideDead phone, living data. Power faults are our bread and butter.
Open the guideStuck on the Apple logo? Do not press Restore — read this first.
Open the guideBent, shorted or repair-wounded boards — microsoldering recovery.
Open the guideThe honest guide to what is recoverable after deletion — and where copies hide.
Open the guideTransparent from the start
Diagnosis first, fixed quote second, and you approve everything before recovery work starts. No data, no recovery fee.
Full diagnostic on your device, a written report of what failed, and a fixed recovery quote. You decide from there — no obligation.
Your device goes to the front of the queue with an engineer assigned same-day. For work deadlines, legal matters and can’t-wait situations.
We start immediately and work continuously until it is done — nights, weekends and public holidays included.
Priority fees cover the expedited service; the recovery quote itself depends on what your device needs and is fixed in writing before any work begins.
Straight answers
Yes — from the original 2007 iPhone through the current iPhone 17 family and iPhone Air, and every model in between. The bench approach changes with the security era (older handsets allow direct storage work; modern ones need the board running and the owner’s passcode), but every generation has a recovery path.
All of them: every standard iPad, iPad mini, iPad Air and iPad Pro generation, from the 2010 original to the current M-series. iPads share their architecture with iPhones, so the same board-level bench and the same rules apply — bends and charging-port failures are the most common iPad arrivals.
The very first generation — the 2007 iPhone and 1st-gen iPod touch. Old devices found in drawers are often the easiest recoveries we do, because the earliest models pre-date full encryption. If it says Apple on the back, bring it in.
Not at all — those labels only describe what Apple will service, not what is recoverable. “Obsolete” devices are a normal part of our week, and parts for temporary bench fitment (a known-good screen or battery to get a device talking) are something we stock across generations.
We’ll give you the straight answer up front: an Apple Watch holds very little unique data — it mirrors its paired iPhone, and health data syncs through iCloud. In almost every case the right recovery target is the paired iPhone or the iCloud account, and we’ll point you at whichever actually holds your data rather than billing you for the wrong device.
We recover data for owners. With proof of ownership we can assess what’s technically feasible and give you an honest answer — but on modern devices the passcode is the encryption key, and nobody reputable can promise data from a locked device that isn’t theirs. We don’t bypass other people’s iPhones, and we’d be wary of anyone who says they will.
Keep exploring
The flagship deep-dive — model picker, board map, urgency meter, real reviews.
iPad Pro, Air, mini and standard models: storage, board-level and passcode-locked recovery for every generation.
Samsung, Pixel, Oppo and every other brand — the wider mobile lab.
Forgotten PINs and locked devices — what’s honestly possible, with proof of ownership.
Free diagnostic, a fixed quote in writing, and proof of your recovered files before you pay a cent — from a 2007 original to this week’s release.