We recently received an iPhone 5 from an owner in Fort Wayne, Indiana, that had seen better days. According the owner, the device was simply dropped, causing it to break. However, the damage we observed during our diagnostic exam was startling.
As you can see in the photo, the iPhone had received considerable damage during its fall, and the backplate was literally broken into two separate pieces. We were shocked that somehow the glass screen had not been cracked in the fall, since the front panel was virtually destroyed otherwise. We discovered that both the logic board and the battery had acquired physical damage as well, with the logic board broken across the top portion of the component.
If this sounds – and looks – like pretty significant damage, you are correct. In fact, we quickly determined that there was no a single usable component left from the damaged phone, and every component would need to be replaced in order to repair the device properly. We did perform an iPhone repair, replacing essentially all parts of the device. What this iBreak story goes to show is that despite the technological improvements over the years that have led to an increased durability for all Apple devices, these electronics are still susceptible to significant damage.