iPhone 6 Bricked during ios 11.3 update - error 56

My iPhone 6 was working perfectly until I attempted to install ios 11.3 via the OTA update.

It is now bricked, stuck in DFU mode.

Attempting to recover the device via iTunes failed on multiple computers, using different cables, etc.

Other posts allude to hardware fault with regards to the touch id sensor. Given the age of the device, I don't it makes sense to pay to have the unit opened, and a repair attempted.

My chief complaint is that it was working fine until the update. This feels like something was purposely added to 11.3 to obsolete old devices.

Anyone else experienced something similar?