Minty Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 Apple’s iOS platform has progressed in leaps and bounds over the last few years in terms of what it’s capable of and the features and functionality that are baked in. The combination of purpose built hardware and software allows Apple to produce a user-experience that generally outclasses most other hardware/software combos on the market. But that progression doesn’t mean it doesn’t have issues or bugs of its own. In fact, a new bug has come to light today and it appears to be a little date and time trick that is at the center of it all. But what’s the bug? Well put simply, the trick can brick any 64-bit iOS device it’s performed on. So, the issue goes a little something like this; you head on over to Settings > General > Date & Time within iOS, and then change the device’s date to January 1st, 1970 (first set the year to 2000, then go back to Settings, then go to Date & Time again and set year to 1970). For some reason, going through that process with that specific date and year will brick the device. For those out there that aren’t familiar with the terminology, it essentially renders the iOS device useless, and we’re actually talking about a hard-brick here. A state that no amount of restores via iTunes will cure, with your best bet being, to take it to the Genius Bar and have the battery disconnected and reconnected. Of course, we’re not actually going to risk process on our own iPhones, iPads and iPod touch units, neither do we recommend you doing it, but there seem to have been enough people who have ran through it to confirm, that it is in fact a genuine cause for concern. A number of those individuals who fell foul of the mysterious date issue were under the impression that a simple DFU mode restore via iTunes would rectify the issue. The device can be placed into DFU mode, and subsequently restored via iTunes, but even then it simply gets stuck on the Apple logo boot-up screen, and refuses to go past that. Interestingly, this bug seems to be haunting iOS devices with a 64-bit CPUs only, so in essence, any iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch device with the A7, A8, A8X, A9, or A9X chipset is prone to being permanently bricked. More so, it does not matter what version of iOS you’re running either. I don't know why you would put your date back to this in the first place. Be careful anyway[emoji6] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StonerUK Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 Didn't know a cure to a "bricked" iphone was to disconnect and reconnect the battery lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minty Posted February 15, 2016 Author Share Posted February 15, 2016 The official angle appears to be that Apple will address the problem in a firmware update that will be pushed out to affected devices over-the-air. Given the fact that iOS 9.3 is currently in testing, Apple will either bundle the fix with that update when it goes public, or release a separate emergency iOS 9.2.2 fix to address the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryanw Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 i wont update my iPhone ever again since i have error 53 on my iPhone 6 hopping new update might fix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minty Posted February 15, 2016 Author Share Posted February 15, 2016 Maybe a jailbreak might fix this for you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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