Apple had an awful surprise awaiting those who were bold enough to upgrade the storage of their iPhone Air using precise soldering methods, ensuring that the device would not be recognized when iOS was flashed on it. Thankfully, the daring modder who made the attempt and failed but did not throw in the towel, as he successfully revived the sleek flagship. As a bonus, he also increased the internal memory to 512GB using the same process that bricked the device in the first place.
A successful resurrection of the iPhone Air may have been possible by using a specific NAND flash module, which, in this case, was from Toshiba
The 256GB chip running in the iPhone Air featured a unique serial number starting from ‘2NB.’ At the time, YouTuber DirectorFeng could not deduce which manufacturer was Apple’s supplier, though he speculated that it might have been YMTC. In his new video, he got a hold of a Toshiba NAND flash that was the newer ‘S6E’ variant compared to the ‘S5E’ version present in the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 lineups, with the storage module featuring the model number ‘K848.’
It is possible that the older 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB modules used for the previously attempted mod were the older S5E versions, and could not be recognized when flashing iOS on the iPhone Air. Fortunately, the modder did not encounter the same error as he patiently waited for the operating system to be installed via a connected Mac. The content creator also states that the base iPhone 17 with 256GB of storage features the older S5E, meaning those flash modules must belong to this specific family, or else they might not get recognized.
A closer look at the Toshiba K848 NAND module installed in the newly resurrected iPhone Air / Image credits – DirectorFeng
This entire ordeal suggests that Apple might not have necessarily locked modded storage upgrades for the iPhone 17 series. However, even if you possess steady hands and enough practice to perform such operations, you must ensure that you have access to the correct components, or you might run into the same roadblocks. In the video, it is also revealed that the Toshiba K848 NAND module featured the ideal physical size to perform this upgrade, as no additional tweaks, such as changing resistors in layers, were required.
In the end, the YouTuber successfully revived the iPhone Air while also obtaining double the starting storage for his previous troubles. He has mentioned in the video that he will attempt to upgrade the onboard memory to 1TB when those chips become available, so let us keep our fingers crossed for a future mod.
News Source: DirectorFeng
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