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Repair information and guides for the Apple iPhone 5s that was announced on September 10, 2013. Model: A1533, A1453, A1457, A1528, A1530, A1518

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iPhone water-damaged, DFU works but it won't turn on?

Hi all,

I dropped my iPhone 5s in a toilet a year ago while on vacation in Ireland. It was submerged for a couple of seconds and when I got it out, it acted strangely for a few seconds and then just shut off. I bought some rice as soon as I could and there it sat for days. Once back in the States, I took it to a repair shop who told me they couldn't get it to turn on. This is what they told me:

"After cleaning the phone, we actually tried a new battery, charge port and screen. None of those combinations would get your phone to turn back on. What that means is it is likely a motherboard short which we can not repair."

All I want off of it are the photos from my trip prior to the toilet incident. I also reached out more recently to a forensic repair team who told me they'd only have a chance at fixing it if there is power to the motherboard but that it doesn't sound like there is based on what the above says.

However, when I try various repair programs, I've plugged it in, held the home + power buttons, then let go and held just the home button to get into DFU mode and it seems to work, as I hear an alarm via the PC. There is a second alarm when I hold it again, to exit DFU mode.

My real question is: could the DFU thing be a sign there IS still power to the motherboard, or is it unrelated? I'm just wondering if there's any hope for this phone or if it's truly unfixable.

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@sweethenrietta " could the DFU thing be a sign there IS still power to the motherboard" yes it could very well be. Here comes the main part. For now you want to stop doing anything with your phone. Stop charging,syncing and trying to turn it on. The more you mess with it the great the chances you do more damage. If you need the data leave it alone and send it to somebody to check if the files can be recovered.

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Thank you! Going to send it off to Texas for a recovery attempt, wish me luck :)

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Best of luck and hope it works out for you. Remember to back your stuff up often:-))

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Thank you. Unfortunately the phone was dropped while I was on vacation and the photos I lost were taken minutes prior. This is how I learned the hard way not to disable the Cloud feature LOL

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Heather will be eternally grateful.
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