Funny thing is, enabling automatic time setting in older versions of OS X opens you up to a MiTM attack where an attacker can execute arbitrary code...
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Apple Will Fix 'January 1, 1970' Date Bug in Upcoming iOS Update
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A. If you have a reason (a real reason), you can present that reason to Apple and see if it convinces them to help you for free. Or you can present it to us, and see if it makes us think Apple should help you for free.
B. I agree it's a good idea for Apple to prevent this particular change going forward. And as other exploits are revealed, that they can fix with an OS update, they should fix them too. They do this anyway, which is why jailbreakers have to find new exploits for new OS versions.
C. I'd like to think I could let someone use my phone and they couldn't drop a brick on it and break the screen. I'd like to think I could let someone use my iPhone and they wouldn't be able to toss it into a lake.
Setting your clock to this particular date is FAR outside the normal use of the phone (unless you can provide an actual, convincing reason in [A] above). So the problem is on you until Apple provides a fix to prevent people from dropping bricks on your phone, or from intentionally setting the time to a date that will brick your phone.
If you have AppleCare, I expect this could be considered accidental damage, and you'd only have to pay the $79 or $99 fee for repair or replacement.
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." -- Einstein
And this is an issue that apparently only affects iOS devices with a 64 bit processor. There aren't any of those without Touch ID.
Edit: Or so I thought, I was wrong on that front.
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I am constantly dumbfounded by the apple defense I see sometimes. A device shouldn't be rendered useless because you set the time back on it. That's the definition of a horrible bug, Apple is acknowledging a horrible big and they are fixing it. Some folks are so loyal to the brand it's downright disconcerting.
Problem is, sure the batteries ran out in terms of booting, But it still comes up with the 'Plug me in' screen! Ive had the lock button held down for 30 hours now and it still occasionally appears. I think Apple must have implemented a back off algorithm into how often it displays the 'Plug me in' screen to save power. BASICALLY its not as simple as it sounds to COMPLETELY empty the battery, ESPECIALLY on an iPad
No. The method of counting time is a UNIX feature, but not specifically this bug, which results from mishandling of the UNIX time and in such a way that prevents the phone booting.
Ohh, you want to drain it beyond that? Yeah, I'm pretty sure they don't want you to do that, and you might break it that way. You can empty it a bit further by heating it up (since the batteries discharge higher voltage then, making it overestimate the charge)... but I really wouldn't do it.
If you routinely encountered data loss while using some piece of software exactly as intended, I'd call that a horrible bug. This is...not comparable.
I think your crazy.
Firstly, why should anyone have to start providing reasons to Apple, the point is it happened. If they changed the rules to 'Free repairs for those who can come up with convincing stories' would that keep you happy?
Secondly, the point is, its not fixed now, its still happening to people now, it could happen to people who don't even change the settings via man-in-the-middle network attacks
Finally, your throwing a brick at comment is pointless. This is a FLAW with Apple software and THEY alone are responsible for it, the bug can occur through normal use of the phone. People always love a joke, others don't know what their doing. Put it this way, if you had an app on your home screen put there by Apple and it said DO NOT OPEN, and opening it bricked the device, would you blame Apple if a friend of yours opened the app?
Speaking as a programmer, one of my jobs is to ensure users cannot either accidentally or deliberately enter values that break the systems I develop. I would in fact say that checking and validating user input is probably the most time consuming part of development as you have to anticipate and mitigate so many different scenarios.
So while it is clear this bug takes quite a lot of effort to trigger it is Apple's fault for not protecting against it, especially since it can brick your device. If someone else gets hold of your iDevice and manually changes the time or if someone spoofs an NTP server and sends your device a fake time it shouldn't result in a broken device. The system should detect an valid value and reset to a safe default.
So while it is clear this bug takes quite a lot of effort to trigger it is Apple's fault for not protecting against it, especially since it can brick your device. If someone else gets hold of your iDevice and manually changes the time or if someone spoofs an NTP server and sends your device a fake time it shouldn't result in a broken device. The system should detect an valid value and reset to a safe default.
The only thing that comes to mind for me is testing. Let's say you work on a calendar app. If you app is based on unix-time, there might be a valid test to do with that.
As a user, I see no reason that I can think of. No to say there are none, but what do I know?
How would anyone get access to my phone? Are people in the habit of unlocking their phones and just passing it around to everyone???
Wouldn't be surprised if they tried to sell my a 6s in lieu of the $269
I agree that MOST would never set the date to earlier than 1970 and would not be affected by this bug.
Apple has officially acknowledged the "1970" date bug affecting 64-bit iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices. The support document does not identify a current fix, but Apple said that an upcoming iOS software update will prevent the issue.Manually changing an iOS device's date to January 1, 1970 results in a continuous reboot cycle, effectively bricking the device. Restoring through iTunes in DFU Mode may work for some users, while others have resorted to hardware fixes.
Apple has not provided a reason for the bug, but YouTube video maker and programmer Tom Scott speculates that setting the date close to January 1, 1970, which is 00:00:00 in Unix time, may be resulting in an integer underflow -- in this case, a date prior to January 1, 1970.
iOS then handles the underflow by returning the negative integrer to the maximum value, which Scott says results in a date that is some 20 times longer than the universe is expected to last. Scott believes iOS may have difficulties handling this large number, resulting in affected devices crashing.
German website Apfelpage.de shared a second YouTube video showing that opening an iPhone and resetting its battery could fix the problem, but this method could damage your smartphone and void your warranty. The safer option is to visit a Genius Bar or contact Apple Support online or by phone.
iOS is a Unix-based operating system, and Unix time starts at 00:00:00 UTC on January 1, 1970. Apple does not allow you to manually set your iOS device to a date prior to then, likely in an effort to prevent a bug like this, but changing the date to May 1970 or earlier still causes issues on 64-bit devices.
Article Link: Apple Will Fix 'January 1, 1970' Date Bug in Upcoming iOS Update
But there are scam artists out there that dupe people into doing this to uncover a hidden gem.
This article explains it better. It affects all 64 bit IOS devices i believe.
http://www.neowin.net/news/apple-acknowledges-1970-bug-that-bricks-64-bit-ios-devices-fix-on-the-way
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