Apple Officially Acknowledges 1970 Date Bug That Can Brick Your iPhone, Promises Fix [Video]

POST

MAIL

Posted February 15, 2016 at 2:55pm by Shalom Levytam

Apple has officially acknowledged the 1970 date bug that we demonstrated last week and promised a software update to fix it.

Manually changing the date to May 1970 or earlier can prevent your iOS device from turning on after a restart.

An upcoming software update will prevent this issue from affecting iOS devices. If you have this issue, contact Apple Support.

Click here or take a look at the video below to learn more about the bug and how to fix it.

Read More

Follow iClarified

Add Comment

Would you like to be notified when someone replies or adds a new comment?

Yes (All Threads)

Yes (This Thread Only)

Notifications

Would you like to be notified when we post a new Apple news article or tutorial?

Yes

Comments (10)

You must login or register to add a comment...

Add Comment

Khan - February 15, 2016 at 6:43pm

Who really f with the dates anyway? And why would anyone back date to 1970? I don't think it's a big deal.

Reply · Like

sandeewhispers - February 17, 2016 at 12:42pm

I'm actually surprised this is the only comment like this. That was my thought as well. LOL!

Reply · Like

SGreene - February 20, 2016 at 1:36am

Good question, except it has happened to me twice without my touching the date. The first time It was accompanied by the phone getting extremely hot. I would change to the correct date and soon again it would switch back. Interestingly the date displayed was correct but I noticed because my emails and imessage started showing strange dates sent and received. After it ran out of battery it showed stuck on apple a few times and then would not come back on at all. I tried to tell Apple and they gave me the impression they didn't quite believe me. The second time it happened was in the apple store as they were replacing the phone under warranty and when the backup was restored onto the new phone date showed 1/1/70. The genius took that phone and gave me another new one- said they'd never seen it before. That was over a year ago.

Reply · Like

Andy - February 15, 2016 at 4:15pm

Yep for people who know how open iphone whitout damaging home button is easy to fix it. But if you dont openet iphone yet you can easy damage you home bitton and in future get erro 53 becouse you never get your touch id to original state.

Reply · Like

Huracandriver82 - February 15, 2016 at 3:18pm

Never had this many bugs or patch fixes when Jobs here.

Reply · Like

gamerscul9870 - February 15, 2016 at 3:27pm

It's because phone had less features back then compared to now!

Reply · Like

gamerscul9870 - February 15, 2016 at 3:30pm

and it doesn't take long for most to immediatly find the solution like someone below just addressed hence when the article last time mentioning this also stated the solution.

Reply · Like

Brandon Robinson - February 15, 2016 at 3:16pm

Orrrrrr....... You could just break out a pentalobe screwdriver, pop out two screws, use a suction cup to pull the screen up, and remove the screws holding the battery in place, disconnect the battery, depress the power button for a few seconds, and reverse the process..... not that hard.

Reply · Like

gamerscul9870 - February 15, 2016 at 3:29pm

It's also not hard to fix this so you don't have to worry about it yourself, but how hard can it be to find the right stuff if people don't live in the right places to find it other than suction cups?

Reply · Like

Brandon Robinson - February 15, 2016 at 5:46pm

$5 on Amazon or E-Bay, or you could just let your phone run down your battery over the course of several days. Odds are if you don't have the capability to obtain the tools, you're going to have a hard time getting to an Apple Store to have Apple fix the device.

Reply · Like

Recent. Read the latest Apple News.

RECENT

Apple TV Renews Thriller 'Down Cemetery Road' for Season 2

tvOS 26.2 Release Notes

iPadOS 26.2 Release Notes

Apple Shares Teaser for Early 2026 TV Lineup: 'Hijack', 'Shrinking', 'Monarch', More [Video]

Swiss Regulators Open Antitrust Probe Into Apple's NFC Access Rules

More News

Tutorials. Help is here.

TUTORIALS