February 2016 was a time of unprecedented demand for the services of an Apple service center. People massively carried their favorite "apple-trees" to specialists because of one simple bug discovered by users. The fateful date of January 1, 1970, installed on the iPhone, after turning off the phone turned it into a useless piece of plastic (or in the common people "brick").
A discovery made by someone quickly spread across the web as a joke. It was massively published by various communities on social networks. And often under the pretext that setting this magic date reveals the hidden functions of the phone. As a result, thousands and thousands of users with their own hands disabled gadgets.
How did it all start?
About the fact that after the installation on January 1, 1970, the iPhone "goes crazy", Reddit users started talking on February 11th. The exact algorithm that brought the phone to an idle state looks like this:
- You need to go into the phone settings.
- In the "General" tab, select the date and time settings item.
- Move the slider to disable automatic time change.
- Manually set the "magic" date on January 1, 1970. The time must be changed to 1:00.
- After that, the owner restarts the phone, and voila, the phone stops working. Only the Apple logo is displayed on the screen , and no manipulations help solve the problem.
Why did these dates and times become the “root of evil”? The fact is that the iOS system is based on UNIX. And in it the countdown begins just from the designated date. In this regard, the theory of the occurrence of the problem was derived. When the user sets 01.01.70, the time value from the reference point becomes negative. Why negative and not null? Just because the iOS system automatically adjusts the displayed time to the time zone. The minus value is "confusing" the hardware stuffing. As a result, the phone crashes.
This problem could remain the discovery of a narrow circle of people that the developers would “fix” in the future. If not for the numerous jokers who began to spread evil jokes on the Internet. All of them were aimed at making more users set a dangerous date for themselves on January 1, 1970. Which led to a massive panic of iPhone users.
What is the “terrible power" of January 1, 1970?
After users step by step followed the instructions for setting the specified date and time, the phone needed to be rebooted. Then the cherished apple popped up on the screen and ... that's it. Further, the phone no longer booted and made the impression of a completely out of order thing.
It is worth noting that not everyone immediately began to panic and rushed to the specialists. Those who with the technique of “you”, of course, tried to solve the situation on their own. But the reboot used in such cases (by clamping Home and Power) did not give any result. As well as recovery using iTunes. In fact, there are still working methods, and you will learn about them later.
It is curious that this "trick" worked only on new phones in which the A7 processor and subsequent versions are installed. While 32-bit devices remained in a normal state after manipulations. In addition, even some users of gadgets with modern processors also did not suffer from this problem. What is the reason expressed in online communities about the impact of the time zone in which a person is located. However, when testing this version in practice, several situations disproving the theory happened.
Gradually, the number of people in this misfortune accidentally began to fade away, and experts worked out ways that helped bring everything back to square one.
How to solve the problem with the iPhone?
Users searched for solutions to the problem on their own. Among the solutions, one was proposed, which turned out to be the only true and working one. If you disconnect the battery or completely discharge the iPhone, the date of January 1, 1970 will be reset.
And if not everyone solved the problem completely, then removing the battery helped 100%. It is important to note that the implementation of the procedure on their own deprived users of the right to free warranty service. By the way, the Apple leadership has been silent for a long time about the problem. And they refused to repair or change devices for free at service centers.
How did you respond to the problem at Apple?
The problem on January 1, 1970 was ignored for some time by the company, despite the crowds of users who tumbled into service centers.
But already on February 15, an appeal appeared on the official website that informed people about the dangers of changing the date. The manual also recommended that anyone who managed to check the bug on their device contact the support service.
Subsequently, the released iOS 9.3 corrected the blunder. After the update, users could change the dates as much as necessary, including this unfortunate one. In any case, even after a reboot, the device continued to operate normally.