We fix issues like this everyday on a variety of iPhones, iPads, MacBooks and other devices. Many of these devices are repaired the same day we receive them, if not then the next business day for standard repairs like this one. This iPhone XS Max came in from a repair store in another state and was delivered to our offices this morning, we had it fixed a few hours later ready to ship back out. Based on the damage that was discovered we think it suffered a hard drop. The repair store that took this device in, tested it with a new battery and new charge dock and it still wouldn't charge or show any signs of life. At that point they decided to reach out and send it in for us to repair since we specialize in advanced repairs.
As always, we confirmed the issue and verified replacing basic components like the battery and charge port wouldn't fix the device. At this point we were confident it was an issue with the main logic board of the iPhone XS Max. The iPhone XS Max, like many newer iPhones has a sandwich circuit board which means there are two circuit boards that are soldered together along the edges. This helps save space when building a phone with so many IC chips.
We started checking circuits on the iPhone XS Max for shorts and didn't find any shorts. At that point we needed to separate the boards so we can do additional testing and have access to more of the boards for troubleshooting. We were able to get the phone to boot with the top circuit board so we knew the issue was with the bottom circuit board.
After checking it and inspecting under a microscope we found tiny cracks in the Wireless Charging IC(photo 1).
We removed the Wireless Charging IC(photo 2) and replaced with a good Wireless Charging IC.
We then soldered the two circuit boards back together using a board preheater (photo 3).
Once that was done we reassembled the phone and it was up and working again. We'll be sending this phone back to the repair store and they'll have a happy customer. It was repaired for the fraction of the cost of a brand new iPhone and even less than the average cost of buying a used iPhone XS Max.
If you or someone you know needs a repair, reach out to us at Device Pro Solutions. We fix game systems, computers, phones, tablets and more. Devices can be dropped off if you're local to Kansas City or you can submit the repair at www.deviceprosolutions.com and then mail it to us.