When your iPhone, Android, Laptop, or any other devices are on the fritz, expert technicians like Marcus Cupello can make repairs and recover data. Here's a look at his process—and why his mail-in program is the best bet for those needing their devices and data restored.
Oh shoot—it's bricked!
Maybe you've just dropped your iPhone in the lake, or your Android took a fall that mangled more than just the screen, or your laptop just won't boot up no matter how many damn times you click the power button. Having a device die on you is devastating.
The tech itself can be expensive—and maybe you want to save money by bringing it back to life. What's usually more important in these cases is the data within. When you consider the precious memories held within the photos, videos, and files of the dead device—you realize something priceless has been lost.
The good news is there are repair shops that can help with not just data recovery but can also (depending on the damage) perform complex motherboard repairs that get laptops, phones, and tablets powering on again. The bad news is that not all of these shops are created equal.
The problem is that you don't know what you don't know. Unless you understand what's going on inside your devices, it's easy to throw in your lot with a repair shop that won't actually help you (or even one that will make things worse).
Marcus Cupello is the Co-Founder of Marnics Mobile—and a content creator on a mission to fix and recover the data of as many devices as he can. Based in Northwestern Ontario, Cupello's mail-in program allows clients to send broken phones, tablets, and laptops from all over the world. The most interesting fixes are posted across the repair expert's social platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.
"The primary focus is data recovery," Cupello says. "These are people's lives and memories, and we work to save that information. One of the best parts is calling the customer and giving them the good news."
Behind every repair is a compelling story that highlights the importance of the memories stored on our phones. In one recent video, Cupello repaired the corroded and short-circuited logic board of a Samsung Galaxy 10. Proof that few devices are beyond saving: the phone had been submerged at the bottom of a lake for so long that treasure hunter and content creator @dallmyd had to dive down to recover it.
Many others, like this one, highlight a common story in the repair business. "My client Chris," the video begins, "never backed up his data and then put his phone underwater."
So take this as your reminder to back up your data! But for those who don't can't recover their data from the cloud, Cupello's mail-in program has you covered.
When it comes to phone repair, water damage is a primary culprit that necessitates Cupello's intervention. Another is heavy damage caused by heavy impact, which, in addition to cracking the screen, creates problems with the logic board within.
So long as the CPU or the memory chip is intact, repair experts of Cupello's caliber have a near-perfect success rate in at least recovering data. What often makes things difficult for Cupello is that he's often not the first one taking a crack at the phone or laptop repair.
"I get a lot of things sent in that have already been around to different shops," he says. "They would either tell the customer that it's not possible or they would attempt board work, even when they're inexperienced and don't know what they're doing. Maybe they'd use a hot air station and overheat the logic board or bridge things that aren't supposed to be bridged and create shorts."
Following up after a less experienced technician makes the job more complex for Cupello—and highlights the importance of sending damaged devices to the right person for the job the first time.
Cupello has all the latest tools and procedures at his disposal—and considers each piece in his arsenal as "one big tool" that flows together in his workflow.
For diagnostics, which is a major process that comes before the repair begins, Cupello often deploys a thermal imaging camera, which can pick up variations in heat signatures to identify short circuits. This allows Cupello to hone in on the problem with a microscope and measure with resistors to determine what repairs are needed.
These are high-stakes repairs with little margin for error. Cupello's content walks viewers through each careful decision and precise move that the technician makes on each job. Take this video, for example, where he had to surgically grind away the top layer of a CPU without damaging the lower layer. If he were to slip up, the CPU would be irreparably harmed, closing off the path to data recovery. Fortunately, the customer's iPhone was in the hands of an expert.
"It's a rare skill set," Cupello explains, "as it stands in Canada, you might find only a handful of other places that are doing something similar to what we're doing."
Unless you are as skillful with a soldering iron as Cupello, the only thing you have to worry about when dealing with a bricked phone, tablet, or laptop is getting the repair job in the right hands. Our photos, videos, and files are irreplaceable—so there's no room for messing around with the wrong shop.
If your device is bricked and needs repair or data recovery, check out Marcus Cupello and Marnics Mobile's mail-in program.
