If your iPhone 6 won’t turn on or power up, you may be worried about losing all the photos stored on it. The good news is that even if your phone won’t boot up, there are still ways to recover your photos.
Quick Overview of Photo Recovery Options for a Non-Functioning iPhone 6
Here are some quick potential solutions for retrieving photos from an iPhone 6 that won’t power on:
- Use a backup – Restore from your latest iCloud or iTunes backup if it contains your photos.
- Try recovery software – Specialized iOS data recovery software can extract photos from a crashed iPhone.
- Remove the flash memory – Take out the flash memory chip and use a USB adapter to read it on a working device.
- Take it to a repair shop – A phone repair store may be able to temporarily power on your device to pull photos.
Attempting to Fix the Power Issue First
Before attempting photo recovery, it’s worth trying some basic troubleshooting steps to see if you can get the iPhone to turn on again normally. Here are some things to try:
- Charge the phone – The battery could simply be too low to boot up, so try charging for at least an hour.
- Force restart – Press and hold the Power and Home buttons for 10+ seconds to force a hard reboot.
- Reset the phone – A soft reset may resolve any software glitches preventing booting.
- Update iOS – If possible, update your iOS software via iTunes which may fix boot problems.
- Replace battery – An old battery could be causing start up issues, so replacing it may help.
If none of those basic steps get your iPhone 6 turning back on, it’s time to look at retrieving your photos through different methods.
Recovering Photos from iCloud Backup
If you had iCloud Backup enabled on your iPhone 6 before it stopped working, you may be able to restore a backup containing your photos. Here’s how:
- Connect another iPhone or iPad to your iCloud account.
- Tap Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups.
- Select the desired backup of your dead iPhone 6 then Tap Restore.
This will overwrite the data on your current iOS device with the iCloud backup data from your iPhone 6. Once completed, you can access all the photos that were backed up.
Keep in mind iCloud only stores the most recent backup, so if you made changes after the last backup, you may lose some newer photos. But as long as you’ve backed up somewhat recently, you should be able to retrieve most pictures.
Things to Know About iCloud Photo Recovery
- Works for iOS 8 and later devices that had iCloud Backup enabled.
- Only the most recent iCloud backup is stored.
- The backup contains photos, messages, contacts, and other data.
- You’ll need to overwrite another device to restore the backup.
Using iTunes to Restore from Backup
If your iPhone 6 photos were backed up to iTunes on a computer instead of iCloud, you can restore from that backup as well. Follow these steps:
- Connect a different iPhone or iPad to that computer via a USB cable.
- Open iTunes on the computer and select the connected device.
- Click Summary > Restore Backup and choose your iPhone 6 backup.
iTunes will then transfer the backup data including photos to your new iOS device. Just like with iCloud, this will completely overwrite anything currently stored on that device.
Key iTunes Backup Points
- Works for any iOS device backed up through iTunes.
- Can store multiple backups so you may have older ones.
- The backup contains photos, app data, messages, and settings.
- You need to use a computer with iTunes installed.
Using Professional Data Recovery Software
If you don’t have a recent iCloud or iTunes backup to restore from, your best option for retrieving photos from an iPhone 6 that won’t turn on is professional iOS data recovery software. Here’s how the process works:
- Select a reputable recovery software and install it on a computer.
- Connect your unresponsive iPhone 6 to the computer.
- The program will scan the iPhone and extract recoverable data.
- Preview found photos and select those you want to restore.
- Finally, recover/save the selected photos to your computer.
This type of advanced data recovery software is able to bypass the iPhone’s operating system and directly access the raw storage memory to pull data from it. So even with a crashed phone, it can still get your photos off the device.
Benefits of Data Recovery Software
- Works even with crashed, damaged, or unresponsive iPhones.
- Allows previewing photos before recovering them.
- Recovers additional data like messages, contacts, notes.
- Much cheaper than going to a repair shop if you have a computer.
Just make sure to use a reputable software company – I recommend PhoneRescue for iPhones. Avoid free downloadable software, as it is often malware in disguise.
Removing and Reading the iPhone’s Flash Memory
As an extreme last resort if other options failed, you can physically remove the NAND flash storage chip from your iPhone 6’s logic board and attempt to read it using special adapters.
This is an advanced process that requires completely disassembling the iPhone, desoldering the flash memory, and then using a USB NAND reader/adapter connected to a working computer to access the storage chip.
If done properly, you can then scan and restore the data. However, we only recommend going this route if you’ve exhausted all other options. Taking apart the iPhone risks permanently damaging it and is very difficult.
When to Attempt Physical NAND Extraction
- No backups of the device exist anywhere
- Professional data recovery software failed
- You have electronics repair experience
- The data is extremely valuable to you
Again, this should only be a last ditch effort when all else fails. Consult a professional electronics repair shop if you need assistance.
Getting Help from a Repair Shop
Another last resort option is to take your non-functional iPhone 6 to a phone repair shop for photo recovery assistance. Here are some of the ways they may be able to recover photos:
- Temporarily get the phone powered on to back up photos
- Use professional data recovery software tools
- Disassemble the phone and read the storage chip
- Replace damaged parts like the battery to regain functionality
The success will depend on the exact issue with your iPhone 6 and the repair shop’s capabilities. If they can get it temporarily powered on, you may be able to help them recover photos in-person before it shuts back down.
The downside is that repair shops often charge very high prices due to the labor involved. But if you absolutely need the photos, it may be worth the cost as a last option.
Questions to Ask iPhone Repair Shops
- Do you offer reliable photo recovery from non-working iPhones?
- What methods do you use to recover the photos?
- How much does your photo recovery service cost?
- What iPhone parts do you have access to if needed?
Make sure to get an estimate upfront so you aren’t surprised by the bill. And ask about success rates – not all repair shops are equal in data recovery capabilities.
Preventing a Data Loss Situation in the Future
The best way to avoid finding yourself in this situation again is to regularly back up your iPhone photos and data. Here are some backup tips:
- Enable iCloud Backup auto backups to always have a recent copy in iCloud.
- Sync your iPhone with iTunes on a computer for scheduled backups.
- Save important photos to cloud storage like Dropbox or Google Photos for redundancy.
- Export your photos to a computer periodically for permanent storage.
Ensuring you have multiple backups via iCloud, iTunes, cloud services, and external storage will minimize the risk of losing your photos again due to iPhone failure or damage.
Conclusion
While an iPhone 6 that won’t power on can be extremely frustrating, there are options for recovering your photos from the unresponsive device. iCloud and iTunes backups provide the easiest solutions if available. If not, professional data recovery software and repair shops can often retrieve photos, but at an added cost. And with proper diligence about consistent backups, you can make sure your photos are always stored safely beyond just your iPhone.