iPad damaged

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Level 1

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iPad damaged

Hi all this is more out of curiosity than anything. I will not go into details as I have little. However this is an ipad mini 5. Apparently damaged at a school. It is my boys. He wasn't responsible. I cannot understand this damage nor how it was done. I have no answers. The ipad cover is a tech21 and tough not soft. There are burn marks on the top of the unit and also down below which is not as bad nor in the pic. The case has flattened edges around half of it, with 2 areas being more more petruding and melted. I can smell some burning. The ipad does turn on, shows a little bit of the ipad icons. However it is useless. My other issue is trying to backup. I had set this up on my imac. However going back in to itunes to try and perform a backup I get the trust prompt for both devices! Very frustrating as I need to get the data off I dont have as a backup. Interested to see any theories on this...

Thanks Kon

iPad mini 5 Wi-Fi

Posted on Feb 20, 2020 7:02 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

LotusPilot

Level 10

302,624 points

Feb 21, 2020 5:59 AM in response to kon160

The photo would suggest a “crush” injury to the iPad, localised to the screen edge where the physical damage has occurred. The battery has likely deformed and internally short-circuited - causing extreme heat.

You would be advised to desist from any attempt to use this iPad. Do not connect to any source of external power or to your computer - as you risk fire and/or injury to yourself or damage to the connected computer.

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Answer 2

QuickPost

Level 10

103,437 points

Feb 20, 2020 11:08 PM in response to kon160

Hello,

If a lithium Ion battery gets punctured then it can cause it to catch fire and explode. This would be extremely difficult to do accidentally which leads me to believe that this task may have been done intentionally or sustained extreme damage. Seeing as there is a giant chunk taken out of the top bezel, it leads me to believe that this iPad was intentionally damaged or sustained some extreme accidental damage. I have been working on iPads since it was introduced in 2010 and I have never seen anything like the damage this iPad endured.

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Answer 3

kon160 Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 20, 2020 10:51 PM in response to QuickPost

Hey zmclearan sure I understand that. Also why would I be asked for a trust when it was already trusted on that device? with a backup (not up to date). My real concern was how can the ipad be burnt like that and I am trying to see if anyone out there has had similar experiences. I was only told it was smashed. Does a big smash do something to it where the battery may let off a lot of heat?

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Answer 4

kon160 Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 22, 2020 4:21 AM in response to QuickPost

Hi all thanks for your input. I can say though the ipad body is intact apart from that burn mark on the top. There is no bloating of the case to suggest the battery has expanded. It still turns on and shows charging and you can see the volume go up and down in the small section of the screen which has some form of clarity. Its a strange version of events and I cant get my kids data off now

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Answer 5

QuickPost

Level 10

103,437 points

Feb 20, 2020 9:18 PM in response to kon160

Hello,

I am sorry, this iPad is completely useless and its data cannot be recovered. This is a good example as to why it is important to always maintain a current backup.

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Answer 6

QuickPost

Level 10

103,437 points

Feb 21, 2020 12:22 PM in response to kon160

That is really unfortunate to hear. I used to work in education deploying Apple devices for special needs students and I can understand how mission critical these devices are.

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Answer 7

kon160 Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 21, 2020 1:55 AM in response to QuickPost

Thanks zmclearan for that. Yes it was deliberate. He goes to an autistic school and uses this as his communication tool. Some other kid would have smashed it really hard and it possibly ended up like this. I was even shocked how melted the hard cover got. Could have possibly had a worse scenario that what it was

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