Last week, Apple admitted to a fairly serious iOS bug which could brick any iPhone, iPad, or iPod.
The bug meant that setting the system date to 1st of January, 1970 would render unusable any iPhone, iPad, or iPod running any version of iOS 8 or 9.
Connecting the device to iTunes and attempting to reset it proved ineffective too, meaning anyone affected needed a replacement phone, tablet, or iPod.
Related: iPhone 6S
Now Apple has released a fix for the bug in the form of the iOS 9.3 public beta.
According to Reddit and MacRumours forum users, restoring bricked devices by connecting them to iTunes and resetting them will revive them.
Apple has fixed the issue by simply preventing anyone setting the date prior to 31st December, 2000.
Related: iPhone 6S Plus
This means the beta also prevents hackers from bricking devices by pretending to be a time server and using the built-in automatic time adjustment function to reset the time and date.
To get the update, you can enroll in Apple’s beta testing service here.
iOS 9.3 will be launched for all iPhone users in the near future, although a date is yet to be confirmed.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.