Apple Promises Solution for iPhone’s Devastating “1970” Software Bug

On Monday, Apple released a support document on its official website — wherein the Cupertino-based company acknowledged a recently exposed iOS data settings bug that could, unfortunately, render a victims’ device bricked.

When the bug was originally discovered, many users were under the impression that they’d have to rewind their iOS devices all the way back to January 1st, 1970. However, as the company indicated in its official support document, “Manually changing the date to May 1970 or earlier can prevent your iOS device from turning on after a restart.”

Although the company has so far pledged to offer a solution to the issue in a forthcoming software update, it has been mum insofar as providing addition details in regards to when the update will be released — not to mention, how the bug came to be in the first place. Strangely enough, neither is the company offering up any temporary solutions to rectify the issue.

It’s believed that any 64-bit hardware running iOS 8 or 9 is susceptible to the bug, which will, according to user reports, most often render a device stuck at the Apple logo — unable to finish rebooting after a manual restart. Unfortunately, none of the alternate reboot options will get an effected device to restart, either. And while some have suggested that a manual reboot could potentially get a device up and running again, little if any evidence has surfaced to support that claim.

Over the weekend, the issue became a lot more serious that it was initially thought to be — when some users were responding to posts in Apple online support communities, supposedly attempting to fool users into manually resetting the date on their own devices, and thus, rendering them unusable.

Unfortunately, until further notice, any device that ends up falling victim to the bug will have to be replaced by Apple.

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Have you experienced this issue? If not, it’s definitely a safe bet to stay away from
the date and time settings on iOS until the company brings a solution to the table.