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iPhone 5S bricked after changing time

Hello, I was playing around with my Date & Time settings and I changed the time to January 1st 1970. I shutdown my phone and restarted it, the result is a bricked iPhone. I've tried restoring, updating, but nothing seems to be working. Is there anything Apple can do for me? It seems like a bug on their part, and if this is an issue with Unix time the phone should know better than to let the user brick the phone.

Posted on Feb 11, 2016 6:23 PM

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Posted on Feb 11, 2016 6:39 PM

Well, Apple (and any manufacturer) makes decisions about how stupid their customers are. And I'm sure it never occurred to Apple that someone would do something like setting the time to the start of the Unix clock, so they never tested it. If you haven't yet, consider doing a DFU restore:

  • Install the latest version of iTunes on your computer if it isn't there already (note that the latest version requires Window 7 or later or OS X 10.8.5 or later)
  • Reboot your computer
  • Disable any antivirus and firewalls
  • Launch iTunes
  • Connect the device cable to a USB port on the computer (not to a USB hub), but DO NOT CONNECT TO THE DEVICE YET
  • Press and hold the HOME and SLEEP buttons at the same time for exactly 10 seconds, until the screen turns black, then release the SLEEP button but continue holding the HOME button. If an Apple logo appears while holding both buttons you held for too long; start over.
  • While still holding the HOME button connect the other end of the cable to the device
  • You should see a message in iTunes saying a phone in Recovery mode has been detected (it may take up to a minute for the message to appear). When you see that message release the HOME button and the device should restore. When asked DO NOT restore a backup; set up as a new phone.


This process uses a primitive boot loader in the phone's hardware and bypasses iOS completely, so it shouldn't even see the time the phone is set to. Please let us know if you try this and if it works. If it doesn't I won't suggest it again.

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Question marked as Best reply

Feb 11, 2016 6:39 PM in response to noah7smith

Well, Apple (and any manufacturer) makes decisions about how stupid their customers are. And I'm sure it never occurred to Apple that someone would do something like setting the time to the start of the Unix clock, so they never tested it. If you haven't yet, consider doing a DFU restore:

  • Install the latest version of iTunes on your computer if it isn't there already (note that the latest version requires Window 7 or later or OS X 10.8.5 or later)
  • Reboot your computer
  • Disable any antivirus and firewalls
  • Launch iTunes
  • Connect the device cable to a USB port on the computer (not to a USB hub), but DO NOT CONNECT TO THE DEVICE YET
  • Press and hold the HOME and SLEEP buttons at the same time for exactly 10 seconds, until the screen turns black, then release the SLEEP button but continue holding the HOME button. If an Apple logo appears while holding both buttons you held for too long; start over.
  • While still holding the HOME button connect the other end of the cable to the device
  • You should see a message in iTunes saying a phone in Recovery mode has been detected (it may take up to a minute for the message to appear). When you see that message release the HOME button and the device should restore. When asked DO NOT restore a backup; set up as a new phone.


This process uses a primitive boot loader in the phone's hardware and bypasses iOS completely, so it shouldn't even see the time the phone is set to. Please let us know if you try this and if it works. If it doesn't I won't suggest it again.

iPhone 5S bricked after changing time

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