What is dangerous for January 1, 1970 for iPhone users?

February 2016 was the time of unprecedented demand for the services of the Apple Service Center. People massively carried their favorite "apple-phones" to specialists because of one simple bug, discovered by users. The fatal 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").

The discovery made by someone quickly spread through the web spaces in the form of a joke. It massively published various communities in social networks. And often under the pretext that the installation of this magic date reveals the hidden functions of the phone. As a result, thousands and thousands of users with their own hands disconnected gadgets.

How did it all start?

About the fact that after the installation on January 1, 1970 iPhone is "going crazy", users of Reddit began to speak on February 11. The exact algorithm that led the phone into an inoperative state looks like this:

1. You need to enter the phone settings.
2. In the "Basic" tab, select the date and time setting item.
3. Move the slider to turn off the automatic time change.
4. Manually set the "magic" date on January 1, 1970. The time should be changed to 1:00.
5. After that, the owner reboots the phone, and, voila, the phone stops working. The screen displays only the Apple logo, and no manipulation does not help to solve the problem.

Why exactly did this date and time become the root of all evil? The fact is that the iOS system is based on UNIX. And in it the countdown begins as soon as the designated date. In this connection, the theory of the origin of the problem was derived. When the user exposes 01.01.70, the time value from the reference point becomes negative. Why is it negative, not zero? Simply 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 is out of order.

This problem could remain the opening of a narrow circle of people, which in future would be "fixed" by the developers. If not for the numerous jokers who started spreading on the Internet evil jokes. All of them were aimed at ensuring that more users set a dangerous date for themselves on January 1, 1970. This led to a mass panic for iPhone users.

What is the "terrible power" on January 1, 1970?

After the users step-by-step followed the instructions for setting the specified date and time, the phone had to be rebooted. After that, the cherished apple appeared on the screen and ... everything. Further, the phone no longer booted up and produced 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. Of course, those who tried to solve the situation with the technique of "you" tried to solve the situation on their own. But the reboot used in such cases (through clamping Home and Power) did not yield any result. As well as recovery with iTunes. In fact, there are working methods, and you will find out about them later.

Curiously, this "chip" worked only on new phones, which have an A7 processor and later versions. While 32-bit devices remained in their normal state after manipulation. In addition, even some users of gadgets with modern processors also did not suffer from this problem. On what in online communities the reason for the impact of that time zone, in which the person is located, was expressed. However, when testing this version in practice, several situations have disproved the theory.

Gradually, the number of those who got into this trouble accidentally began to come to naught, and experts developed ways that helped to bring everything back to normal.

How to solve the problem with the iPhone?

Users were looking for solutions to the problem themselves. Among the solutions, one was proposed, which turned out to be the only true and working people. If you disconnect the battery or completely discharge the iPhone, the date January 1, 1970 will be discarded.

And if the full discharge of the problem was not solved by everyone, then the extraction of the battery helped by 100%. It is important to note that the implementation of the procedure by its own means deprived users of the right to free warranty service. By the way, Apple management has long been silent about the problem. And repair or change the devices for free in the service centers refused.

How did they react to the problem in Apple?

The problem of January 1, 1970 was ignored for some time by the company, despite crowds of users who fell into service centers.

But already on February 15 an appeal appeared on the official website, which informed people about the danger of changing the date. Also, the manual recommended that anyone who managed to check the bug on their device contact the support service.

Subsequently released iOS 9.3 corrected the admitted miss. After the upgrade, users could change any number of dates, including this unfortunate one. In any case, even after the reboot, the device continued to work as usual.