Modder resurrects a bricked iPhone Air and doubles its storage to 512GB with a smart NAND swap
An ambitious storage upgrade on the iPhone Air initially ended in disaster when the phone refused to be recognized after iOS was flashed. Instead of giving up, the modder behind the attempt pushed on—and ultimately brought the device back to life, all while upgrading it to 512GB of internal storage.
The breakthrough appears to hinge on using a specific NAND flash module. The original 256GB chip in this iPhone Air carried a serial beginning with “2NB.” Its supplier wasn’t immediately clear, though there was speculation about its origin. For the successful second attempt, the creator sourced a Toshiba NAND module labeled K848, a newer “S6E” variant rather than the “S5E” version seen in the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 families.
It’s likely that earlier 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB modules used in previous attempts were the older S5E type, which failed to be recognized during the iOS install process. With the K848 S6E in place, the installation completed smoothly via a connected Mac. The creator also noted that the base iPhone 17 model with 256GB reportedly uses S5E, reinforcing the idea that iOS and the storage controller may be picky about NAND families. In other words, mixing across S5E and S6E generations can lead to recognition issues, depending on the device.
Another key detail was fit and finish. The Toshiba K848 NAND matched the iPhone Air’s footprint perfectly, so no additional hardware tweaks—like stacking or adjusting resistor layers—were needed. That clean compatibility likely helped the revived phone boot normally after the upgrade.
After all the trial and error, the iPhone Air not only powered back on but did so with double the storage. The creator says a jump to 1TB is on the roadmap once compatible chips become available, which could make for an even more impressive mod.
This episode doesn’t conclusively prove that Apple has locked out storage mods on the iPhone 17 series; rather, it suggests that the right NAND family and form factor are critical. If you’re considering such a project, know that it demands expert soldering skills, precise parts matching, and the patience to troubleshoot iOS install quirks.
