Spooky Error Kills iPhone When You Change Date. It’s True!

There are good days and bad days. Then there are really bad days. And then there’s Apple’s “Black Thursday”.

We are talking about January 1, 1970. It was a Thursday like any other, but apparently something happened — we have no idea what — and things have never been the same. This date is back to haunt iPhone users for some inexplicable reason and even Apple has no idea what is happening.

We are hearing reports of a bug that will brick your iPhone if you set your phone’s date to this dreaded day – January 1, 1970.  Yep, that’s right. If you set the phone to this date and restart it, the phone gets stuck on the launch screen (the one with the Apple logo on a white background) and … well, that’s it! It doesn’t go anywhere from there.

People tried connecting their phones to iTune, tried to force reset it, but nothing happened in either case. The iPhone just sat there – bricked and soulless.

When the first report surfaced on Reddit, people started experimenting with their own devices to see if it really worked. It’s like someone told you, ‘Hey, don’t touch that bright fiery thing. It’ll burn you!’ And you’re like, “Really?? Let me give it a try!”

What’s causing this sudden glitch in the iPhones? No one has any real ideas. One theory says that it has got something to with the sudden change of timezones. What’s curious is that it is only affecting devices running on Apple’s A7 processor or later. That would include all iPhones including and after the 5S, iPad Air, and the second generation iPad Mini.

Like we said before, iTunes also was unable to help. Even the “Geniuses” at the Apple stores weren’t able to figure out what was happening. And people were like:

With no solution in sight, Apple Stores had no choice but to replace the bricked iPhones. Now, the “resourceful” ones among you might be thinking that this is a good opportunity to get a free replacement to your iPhone. We would like to stop that train of thought right here, before it derails and causes more destruction.

Remember that you’re in India, and with no official Apple stores, the chance that you’ll get a free replacement is really thin. So please do not try this at home!

However, if you want proof, then you can watch this video:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY-ahR1R6IE&w=560&h=315]

As you can see, this is not something you’d stumble across while fiddling around your phone. The bug is really specific. It’s almost impossible that someone randomly chose Jan 1, 1970 on the first try.

But we have to hand it to that blessed soul with a lot of time on his hand. Not only did he start changing his iPhone’s date one day at a time, going all the way back to 1970, he also restarted his phone after every change!?

What do we have to say about that? Just this …

That’s right, life goes on … unless you are silly enough to set the date on your phone to January 1, 1970. In which case, your life (and your phone’s) will come to an abrupt standstill.