What to do with undamaged but nonworking iPhone?

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Level 1

8 points

What to do with undamaged but nonworking iPhone?

What should I do with my abandoned iPhone which, although having no physical damage, cannot be turned on? (iTunes diagnostic procedure reports "unspecified hardware failure.") Is it not worth the risk to sell it for parts or a "do-it-yourself repair guru" since I have no reliable way to erase its contents? In iCloud I have set it to erase contents "the next time it connects to the Internet" but there's no way to know if that will ever happen.

iPhone 5s, iOS 11.2

Posted on Dec 9, 2017 9:04 AM

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Answer 1

opsanus Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 9, 2017 9:53 AM in response to askbarnabas

Yes, I took it to an Apple store for a scheduled genius bar consultation. The conclusion was no different from what I was able to determine myself, using the iTunes recovery process. I had already replaced the battery myself, which produced no new results or differences compared to the symptoms before battery replacement. However, as I now understand, maybe it's better to get the genius bar evaluation first (it's free), then decide whether or not to attempt do-it-yourself battery replacement.

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