I need to recover photos on iPhone 4 that is stuck in reboot. It can be done by a data recovery specialist, but at a cost of over $2,000. Need something more affordable!! Any suggestions?

Photo recovery on iPhone 4 in reboot at an affordable cost??

iPhone 4 (8GB)

Posted on Mar 13, 2021 10:23 AM

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Posted on Mar 13, 2021 12:59 PM

Actually, it cannot be done by a data recovery specialist at any price.


Are you sure you didn’t do ANY of these ways of preserving photos?


  • emailed, texted or messaged the photos to friends or family
  • iCloud photo sync
  • iCloud backup
  • iTunes backup
  • Transfer your photos to your computer via USB cable
  • Apple Photo Stream
  • Sync to Google Photos
  • Sync to some other photo archiving service such as Shutterfly
  • Sync to Dropbox
  • Sync to box.com
  • Sync to Microsoft OneDrive
  • Sync to Amazon Photos
  • back up to Livedrive
  • Backup to any other backup or archiving service

If the answer is no to all of the above your photos are gone forever.


14 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Mar 13, 2021 12:59 PM in response to Adok1031

Actually, it cannot be done by a data recovery specialist at any price.


Are you sure you didn’t do ANY of these ways of preserving photos?


  • emailed, texted or messaged the photos to friends or family
  • iCloud photo sync
  • iCloud backup
  • iTunes backup
  • Transfer your photos to your computer via USB cable
  • Apple Photo Stream
  • Sync to Google Photos
  • Sync to some other photo archiving service such as Shutterfly
  • Sync to Dropbox
  • Sync to box.com
  • Sync to Microsoft OneDrive
  • Sync to Amazon Photos
  • back up to Livedrive
  • Backup to any other backup or archiving service

If the answer is no to all of the above your photos are gone forever.


Mar 13, 2021 6:30 PM in response to Adok1031

Adok1031 wrote:

No to all. And I know Apple offered a service to recover data but discontinued it in 2017 because phone sales were down. I’ve already upgraded the phone so not worried about it, just need the photos as they are for my 82-yr-old parents.

The way iPhones are designed (at least since the iPhone 5S) it is not possible to recover data from a disabled phone. Any data recovery service that says they can recover data is mistaken or deliberately lying. The reason: Storage on an iPhone is encrypted with strong encryption. The decryption key is saved in the Secure Enclave, a special storage area in the processor chip. When iOS starts the Secure Enclave is opened by the processor using your phone’s passcode, and storage is decrypted. (Your biometric parameters are also stored in the Secure Enclave, which is why you must enter your passcode after restarting the phone.)


And, as Tim said, Apple never offered a data recovery service. Even when the FBI ordered them to recover data from an iPhone 5 used by a terrorist, Apple said they could not. The FBI was able to recover data from that phone by hiring an Israeli hacking firm; The FBI paid them $980,000 to do it. And the method used in that case was pre-Secure Enclave, and will not work on newer phones than the iPhone 5.

Mar 14, 2021 8:11 AM in response to Adok1031

Adok1031 wrote:

It is an iPhone 4. Never used a password on it at all. The phone was absolutely fine until the update was attempted, got stuck in boot loop, and now can’t recover photos. Thanks Apple!!!

APPLE? How about Thanks to YOU who never bothered to back up the photos that were important to you, despite the fact that Apple gave you several different ways to do so?


Yes, there was a problem with your phone that probably resulted in your losing your photos, but you might have also dropped the phone in a toilet or puddle, it could have been stolen or lost, or thrown under a bus. And all of them would have also resulted in losing photos that you hadn’t synced or backed up.


Whatever happened to personal responsibility?

Mar 14, 2021 8:59 AM in response to Adok1031

Bottom line is, whether it’s a laptop, desktop, tablet, smart phone or anything else, nobody assumes any responsibility for your data other than you. It has always been 100% on device owners and users to safeguard their own data since the dawn of personal computing in the 1970’s.


Even online services like iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox and others offer no guarantee of access to your data and expect that you’ve made independent backups in the event of a catastrophe. Their terms of service exclude them from liability for data loss.


If you care about your data, on any device or service, back it up. If you don’t and the worst happens, you will lose your data. Because nobody else is going to assume any responsibility for it.

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I need to recover photos on iPhone 4 that is stuck in reboot. It can be done by a data recovery specialist, but at a cost of over $2,000. Need something more affordable!! Any suggestions?

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