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iPhone 1970 date glitch

SeanONeillMac

SeanONeillMac

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 17, 2016
4
0
Hi Guys,

I decided to try the 1970 date thing on my phone to see how I could fix it myself and behold it is very simple disconnect the battery and it'll be working fine when you reconnect it.

But I also decided to get in contact with apple to see their reaction and they have offered to replace the phone for a €291 fee.

Now cogs turned in my head and told me that well if this is caused by software then surely they cannot press the charge over to me?
What do you all think I'm normally really good at legal situations and I am not 100% sure on this but I have a feeling that it being a software issue means that technically they should replace it for free or even a significantly less price.

Can I get some opinions on this?
 
I'll just set this straight I'm not looking for a free device I can fix the device without a problem.

I am looking to see what Apple are willing to do and just ideas came into mind and I want to verify my ideas
 
SeanONeillMac said:
Now cogs turned in my head and told me that well if this is caused by software then surely they cannot press the charge over to me?
Click to expand...
If you had a believable reason for why you changed the date back to 1970 (other than "I knew it was going to break my phone, and I wanted to see if I could fix it myself"), I think that you might have a case.

The iPhone warranty says it does not cover damage caused by misuse. I think a point could made that what you did could be considered misuse.
 
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SeanONeillMac said:
Now cogs turned in my head and told me that well if this is caused by software then surely they cannot press the charge over to me?
Click to expand...
Software didn't cause the bricking of the phone, you did. Now the process is a result of a bug in the code, but it requires an overt action by the consumer to do something that is completely out of the range of normal usage.

Apple shouldn't be the one on the hook to pay for your actions.
 
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I love how everyone is defending Apple. Changing the date on your phone should not brick the device, period. Maybe someone was looking for a specific day of the week of someone who was born in 1970, and they didn't know any better and thought the easiest way would be to set the date on their phone to that specific date, and see what day of the week it was.
 
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Okay I appreciate the answers and I'm getting a broader view on this and I agree with yous and disagree at the same time.

It's not exactly misuse of the software.
Misuse would be piracy, jail breaking and software/hardware modifications.

To be honest there was a thing going around Facebook which looked official and seemed like it could work and I seen so many people on it that were stupid enough to try it for that reason.

But to be honest you can't really blame the intelligence of the consumer because of a post that looked legit.

i feel sorry for anyone who doesn't know how to open their phones to fix it but at the same time I agree that maybe they deserve it for being so gullible.
 
geoff5093 said:
Changing the date on your phone should not brick the device, period. Maybe someone was looking for a specific day of the week of someone who was born in 1970, and they didn't know any better and thought the easiest way would be to set the date on their phone to that specific date, and see what day of the week it was.
Click to expand...
I agree, it shouldn't brick the device, period.

And then you have this thread, where the OP specifically said he bricked his device on purpose.

Did it occur to you that the responses to this thread might be different if someone started with a different (legitimate) reason for having set the date?

I love how some people here find Apple guilty of everything, all of the time, and bitch when someone has a different opinion.
 
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geoff5093 said:
I love how everyone is defending Apple. Changing the date on your phone should not brick the device, period. Maybe someone was looking for a specific day of the week of someone who was born in 1970, and they didn't know any better and thought the easiest way would be to set the date on their phone to that specific date, and see what day of the week it was.
Click to expand...
That would be understandable for the person who innocently discovered the bug but you can't really expect Apple to cover everyone who has read the news this week and have gone ahead and changed the date knowing full well it's going to brick their iPhone.
 
SeanONeillMac said:
i feel sorry for anyone who doesn't know how to open their phones to fix it but at the same time I agree that maybe they deserve it for being so gullible.
Click to expand...
I think that if escalated up the customer support channel, Apple would eventually replace the device for no cost.
 
maflynn said:
Software didn't cause the bricking of the phone, you did. Now the process is a result of a bug in the code, but it requires an overt action by the consumer to do something that is completely out of the range of normal usage.

Apple shouldn't be the one on the hook to pay for your actions.
Click to expand...

You can't say that it is the customers fault either tho because guess what the function to go back to that date is there completely accessible to anyone to do straight out of the box.
It's a **** up Apple didn't know about and everyone seems to defend them.

We all learn from our mistakes and guess what having an open function like this accessible to everyone and having such a major bug in it sort of falls on apples head.
 
SeanONeillMac said:
I decided to try the 1970 date thing on my phone to see how I could fix it myself and behold it is very simple disconnect the battery and it'll be working fine when you reconnect it.
Click to expand...
Very simple for who?

You?

Sure.

Not so simple for the average iPhone user though.
 
SeanONeillMac said:
You can't say that it is the customers fault either tho because guess what the function to go back to that date is there completely accessible to anyone to do straight out of the box.
Click to expand...
And this bug been there undetected for how long, with millions of people using the phone, and nobody (Apple, millions of customers, security researches) discovering it until now?

SeanONeillMac said:
It's a **** up Apple didn't know about and everyone seems to defend them.
Click to expand...
At this point, it seems like the bug has only been reproduced by customers going back and changing the date .. on purpose .. after learning of this issue (like you did). So how is that not the customers fault?

Show me someone who accidentally was impacted by this bug, and I'll 100% defend that customer (in that Apple should replace the customers phone at Apple's cost).

But for what you did? Hell no. That's on you. I'm glad you were able to fix it yourself.
 
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geoff5093 said:
Changing the date on your phone should not brick the device, period. Maybe someone was looking for a specific day of the week of someone who was born in 1970, and they didn't know any better and thought the easiest way would be to set the date on their phone to that specific date, and see what day of the week it was.
Click to expand...

I'd just google it?
 
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geoff5093 said:
I love how everyone is defending Apple. Changing the date on your phone should not brick the device, period. Maybe someone was looking for a specific day of the week of someone who was born in 1970, and they didn't know any better and thought the easiest way would be to set the date on their phone to that specific date, and see what day of the week it was.
Click to expand...
Why would you ever change the date of a device to 1970?

I'm a test engineer. In my line of work, this is the equivalent of going into the registry, changing a random value to 2, and rebooting.

It's as unwarranted.
 
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geoff5093 said:
I love how everyone is defending Apple. Changing the date on your phone should not brick the device, period. Maybe someone was looking for a specific day of the week of someone who was born in 1970, and they didn't know any better and thought the easiest way would be to set the date on their phone to that specific date, and see what day of the week it was.
Click to expand...
So said person knows how to fiddle around in their settings for something they've never had to do previously but cant just google what day said date was? Somewhat far fetched reasoning....i cant see any worthwhile reason to change the date to 1st Jan 1970!
 
geoff5093 said:
Maybe someone was looking for a specific day of the week of someone who was born in 1970, and they didn't know any better and thought the easiest way would be to set the date on their phone to that specific date, and see what day of the week it was.
Click to expand...
It's a lot easier to just look it up in the Calendar app. :)


Photo 17-02-2016, 16 10 16.png
 
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eyoungren said:
I would make an Android/iPhone crack here…but I have and use iPhones so I will refrain. :D
Click to expand...
Most would say those that are technologically challenged prefer iOS over android. So it's more likely to happen to iPhone users
 
aristobrat said:
I agree, it shouldn't brick the device, period.

And then you have this thread, where the OP specifically said he bricked his device on purpose.

Did it occur to you that the responses to this thread might be different if someone started with a different (legitimate) reason for having set the date?

I love how some people here find Apple guilty of everything, all of the time, and bitch when someone has a different opinion.
Click to expand...
Apple I'm sure is covered legally in the event software bricks the device. Having said that they probably will provide the expected customer service provided the phone hasn't been tampered with.
 
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