The Apple A10 Fusion chip introduced the first quad-core architecture to the iPhone line, bringing significantly higher processing density and advanced underfill protection beneath the chips. When an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus undergoes catastrophic liquid intrusion, capillary action draws moisture and minerals under the A10 processor and NAND chips, causing severe micro-shorts.
For forensic labs, handling an A10 device requires precise thermal profiling. Because the factory epoxy underfill expands rapidly when heated incorrectly, standard hot-air rework can cause "popcorning," permanently tearing the microscopic solder pads beneath the CPU. Cleanroom engineers must use computerized infrared preheaters to soften the adhesive, allowing them to safely clear shorts or transplant the A10 CPU, NAND, and Baseband chip to a donor board to initialize the cryptographic decryption handshake.
