The iPhone Apocalypse: January 19, 2038

[179202]

"The room never felt more quiet than ever before.
"

Wha??

 

[icehockey77]

What do you suppose I'll be able to get for my original first-generation iPhone, still working, in the year 2038?

Nothing, because it will stop working the 19th day of the year

 

[von franklin]

Here is the thing. NO iPhone that is out today will be around and working in 20 years so it won't matter.

 

[Givmeabrek]

The only iPhone left will probably be in the Smithsonian. The rest will be in landfills...

 

[Ternary]

Hi guys. I'm reviving this thread because I just completed the 2038 experiment on a 64-bit iPhone!

Our test subject is an iPhone 5s, running iOS 9.2.1 (yes, the version with the 1970 bug). I intentionally refraining from upgrading it to iOS 9.3 because I was curious if I could trigger that same bug with the upper date limit. My hypotheses for this test included the following:

• The iPhone 5s would suffer the same fate as the iPhone 5, but it would also refuse to boot due to the 1970 bug.
• The iPhone 5s, being a 64-bit device, would continue keeping time past January 19, 2038.

19 days after setting the iPhone 5s to the maximum date (January 1, 2038), I came in to analyze the results. This time I warned my roommate in advance (and he didn't mind since, unlike before, there were no critical exams). Before I powered on the device, haunted memories from the iPhone 5 kept swirling in my head: particularly the invisible time in the lock screen and the nonstop vibration. With the potential knowledge that I could be carrying yet another time bomb, I gently tapped the power button and braced for impact...

​

"Wait, WHAT?!" was precisely my initial reaction. I swiped to unlock, entered my passcode, and the device unlocked! Knowing that we were already much better off than the iPhone 5, I went to Settings to verify my gut instinct.

​

So there we have it: the iPhone 5s and newer CAN indeed track time past 2038. But before I leaped for joy, I had to try powering down the device. Remember, the iPhone 5s or newer on iOS 9.2.1 will freeze if you restart with the system time set to January 1, 1970. Let's see if this also the case past 2038.

So I pressed and held the power button, and this time, the slide to power off icon appeared. Upon swiping that, the iPhone 5s began to power off. It stayed on the loading screen for about two minutes when suddenly,

The entire screen flashed blue!

Then the Apple logo reappeared, and when the device finished booting up, the system time was STILL January 20, 2038! Unbelievable!

Ok, so the normal power off mechanism didn't work properly. But what about the other method? You know, the one where you press and hold the power button and home button for a few seconds. I decided to give that a whirl. This time, the device did power off entirely. When I powered it on again, everything worked normally with the system time once again STILL January 20, 2038!

With that, I once again restored the system time back to normal civilization, thankful that fewer people than last time were injured during this experiment.

The Moral of the Story

• The iPhone 5s or newer will continue to work past 2038, with the only known exception being a normal power off. Even then, your device won't be permanently compromised.
• That being said, the maximum settable system time is only January 1, 2038. This means if you accidentally let your battery fully die or screw up with the system time settings, you'll need to cross your fingers that Apple's time server is still up in 22 years.
• If you're aiming for the maximum time on the stopwatch app, don't use an iPhone 5s or newer. Stick with an iPhone 5 on any firmware below iOS 9.3.
• Need one more selling point to offload your 64-bit iPhone? Here it is!

Well, I hope you enjoyed learning about the future fate of your iPhone as much as I did.

 

[TitaniumZane]

I set my iPhone 6 to the year 2038, and something strange happened. My phone now says it needs activation, even though it was already activated. When I hit next after selecting the wifi, it say "Could not activate iPhone." Same thing happens when I hit try again, no matter how long I wait.