⊕ First Fix
Age 7
My dad handed me a dead hard drive when I was seven and refused to help me fix it. It took months. It also worked. Everything since — every iPhone through the 12, six Macs, six iPods, a hundred repairs for other people — runs on that lesson.
When I was seven, my dad handed me a dead hard drive and told me it was mine to fix. Not a toy — a problem. He knew exactly what was wrong with it. He never said a word.
I asked for help. I didn’t get any. So the drive sat on my desk in pieces while I read forums I barely understood, stripped screw heads, bent things I shouldn’t have touched, and started over. A few months in, it spun up.
Every drive after that one took less time. The method never changed: get handed something broken, get no help, stay with it until it works. It’s still the only way I know how to learn — and now it’s the way I teach.
You get a dead device and a screwdriver. It’s your problem now.
No help. No hints. Nobody takes it back off your hands.
The first one took me months. The months are the point.
Laser-bonded to the frame. Replacing it is heat-and-pry, then re-laminate. Most shops charge ~$200 for this alone.
Stainless mid-frame that the whole device hangs off of. Holds the speaker, microphones, and the logic-board assembly.
Pull-tab adhesive strips. Pull slow and parallel to the back. If a strip snaps, release with isopropyl, never a metal pry. Punctures are a fire risk.
A16 Bionic + NAND + PMIC + RF and a stacked memory package. Most board-level repair lives here: reflowing connectors, swapping U2, eSIM rework.
48 MP main + 12 MP ultrawide + 12 MP telephoto + LiDAR. Sensor-shift stabilization means dropped cameras need full module replacement, not lens work.
Linear resonant actuator. Three screws and one connector. Replace the rubber gasket if it tore — that’s the water seal at the bottom edge.
Flex cables route to the logic board through a small bracket. Disconnect battery first. The panel cracks under uneven pressure — pry parallel to the frame.
Laminated stack of Ceramic Shield glass over the OLED panel. Pry from the bottom edge with suction and a thin pick; the seal is glue, not clips.
No storefront, no ticket queue, no “genius” anything. Somebody’s screen shatters, somebody’s battery swells, and somebody who knows somebody has my number.
The pricing has exactly one rule, unchanged since the first repair:
| The job | The shop | Me |
|---|---|---|
| Cracked screen | $129 – $329 | Less |
| Battery swap | $79 – $99 | Less |
| Charging port | $90 – $150 | Less |
| Back glass | ~$200 | Less |
| Data recovery | $300 and up | Less |
| “It won’t turn on” | Not worth it | I’ll take it |