It’s fair to say it’s been a pretty crappy week for iPhone users everywhere.
First we found out about the ‘Error 53’ message, which permanently ‘bricks’ any device that has been repaired by a non-Apple technician – essentially a death sentence for your phone.
But now it appears there is another bug which could destroy your beautiful iPhone, and it’s pretty bizarre.
It relates to the date and time in iOS. Some users report that their iPhone dies permanently when they changed time zones, and if they tried to reboot it they’d be stuck permanently on the reboot screen.
Users have also reported that if you set the date and time to January 1, 1970 (no idea why you’d do this anyway), then your iPhone would become ‘bricked’.
According to 9to5Mac, these problems will affect any iPhone, iPad or iPod using a 64-bit processor and running any software newer than iOS 8. Essentially if you have a iPhone 5s or anything newer you could be affected.
And unlike other bugs, it appears your phone can’t recover from it. Users have been strongly advised against testing it out, or from doing it to others, because it could cause permanent problems for the phone.
But some people have reported happier news, saying the phones can be revived again after five hours. Others have also said the problem can be overcome by swapping Sim cards around.
Apparently there’s another way to get the problem fixed as well, by contacting Apple Support, or going to the Genius Bar at an Apple Store – so maybe things aren’t so bad after all.
Whether it’s fixable or not, for the sake of your iPhone – don’t try this at home.
