Warning: do not try this on your iPhone, you’ll regret it!

Feb 12, 2016 07:03 GMT  ·  By

How often do you set the date on your iPhone? Probably just once - when you set up the device for the first time - but if you use to change these settings every once in a while for whatever reason, you'd better be super careful.

A bug that was found in iOS when changing dates can brick iPhones, iPads, and iPods beyond repair, and the only way to get them to work once again is to take them to an Apple Store.

A reddit post reveals that if you change the time and date settings to January 1, 1970, this permanently bricks iOS devices, and after reboot, the only thing you’re going to see is the Apple logo that shows up at boot.

It’s very important to note that you shouldn’t try this on your device by any means because it will break it to the point where nothing works unless you remove the battery and reconnect it. This can only be done in an Apple service center and might cost more than you’re willing to pay for such an experiment.

How the bug bricks the iPhone

Basically, the whole thing comes down to this: set up the date (January 1, 1970) on your iOS device, reboot it, and you’re done. The phone or tablet will no longer boot and will be stuck to the Apple logo. Pushing the device in DFU mode to start the recovery process won’t make any difference because iTunes will indeed detect it and let you restore, but when the OS boots, it’ll stuck with the Apple logo again.

Several reddit users have already tried this “tweak” and bricked their devices, and according to their experiments, any iOS device powered by A7, A8, A8X, A9 and A9X chips will be impacted. iOS 8 and newer include the bug.

A small app called BrickingDate that’s available for jailbroken iOS device has already been developed to block changing the date to January 1, 1970, but if you’re still on the original configuration, there’s no way to prevent this bug right now. Apple is expected to come up with a fix in the next update, though.

Update: we're getting some reports from our readers that letting the battery drain could make the iPhone work once again after changing the date and getting stuck with the Apple logo. But again, don't try this on your device because there's no guarantee this trick is going to work.