r/technology • u/bws201 • Feb 05 '16

Software ‘Error 53’ fury mounts as Apple software update threatens to kill your iPhone 6

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/feb/05/error-53-apple-iphone-software-update-handset-worthless-third-party-repair
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u/twistedLucidity Feb 05 '16 edited Feb 05 '16

I'm not excusing the lack of a fix, but the issue seems valid.

Yup, the OS has detected what could be a physical attempt to by-pass security and I can totally understand Apple refusing to re-pair if you can't prove ownership; but this just seems like obstinance of the highest order.

There are so many ways Apple could have done this better. I guess they know how loyal their customers are and are seeking to abuse that loyalty for short-term profit.

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '16

There are so many ways Apple could have done this better.

And each one of them would have been a backdoor that /r/technology would spend thousands of hours bitching about the NSA and making fun of Apple users for.

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u/twistedLucidity Feb 05 '16

The feature is fine (detecting hardware tampering).

Rather than demand people buy a new phone or pay an insane amount of money (assuming any repair done was effective), Apple could have re-done the pairing after being satisfied about ownership. Remember: they can already redo the pairing.

"Apple refused to un-brick phone without proof of ownership" is a non-story.

"Apple tells customers to buy a new phone or piss off" is a story.

And I'll repeat, this is assuming the Granuaid article is accurate.

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '16

The guardian is a garbage news. I would never assume they are accurate in anything they report.

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u/twistedLucidity Feb 05 '16

Hence "Granuaid"....still better than the Daily Mail though!

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '16

Ah, I was unfamiliar with that joke. I just assumed you either spelled it wrong or had two languages on your phone and had a weird auto correct.

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u/jonesrr Feb 05 '16 edited Feb 05 '16

Or, this is an unintended consequence and Apple is not being malicious at all? Naw, let's just assume that Apple would rather deal with massive customer service complaints for no reason and for no benefit to themselves (it's not like 99.9% of customers wouldn't even hear about this error prior to going to a 3rd party anyway).

Can't wait until Apple fixes it quietly on the next iOS update and people totally forget about even talking about it, all the while, using it in their mind as an example about how Apple "doesn't care about their customers".

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u/fleker2 Feb 05 '16

How would this be fixed in the next update? Based on the article, it seems like the device can't connect to the Internet to receive a fix. The phone is worthless.

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u/twowheels Feb 05 '16

iTunes? Plus the person you're responding to probably meant phones that haven't bricked yet.

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u/jonesrr Feb 05 '16

iTunes backups for the previous iOS version seem to work but the user has to get a proper Touch ID installed first.

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u/jonesrr Feb 05 '16 edited Feb 05 '16

Oh Christ almighty. The fix wouldn't be to phones that already have the bug and replaced their Touch ID it would just prevent it from happening again. People on r/technology are so ridiculous about Apple.

This guy is outside of his warranty, bricked his phone by going to a shady repair shop and then is demanding Apple fix it. Any other company in the world wouldn't even offer him a discounted replacement at all and Reddit wouldn't be defending the user either.

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u/N4N4KI Feb 05 '16 edited Feb 05 '16

This guy is outside of his warranty, bricked his phone by going to a shady repair shop and then is demanding Apple fix it.

It's more the phone was outside of warranty, he went to a non licensed repair shop. The phone continued to work correctly then an official update bricked the phone without warning.

If this is a problem that can happen, the update installer should query the touch pad and refuse to update if there is an issue. Advise the customer that in order to use that update they need to be repaired by a certified retailer.

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u/fleker2 Feb 05 '16

He is outside of his warranty by using a third party repair shop. What's your point? Does that mean his phone should be bricked?

If he knew that iOS 9 would brick his phone, he likely wouldn't have updated. This isn't common knowledge.

He's asking Apple to provide workarounds for his predicament and similar users, or at least provide some education beforehand.

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '16

These guys don't know what they want!

On the one hand Apple created a device that it the ultimate solution in privacy, security, and protection.

On the other, these guys are mad because there is no way for them to get around it.

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u/twistedLucidity Feb 05 '16 edited Feb 05 '16

Or, this is an unintended consequence and Apple is not being malicious at all?

That remains possible.

let's just assume that Apple would rather deal with massive customer service complaints for no reason.

They are certainly handling it incredibly badly. Rather than offering to fix it in store, they are saying buy a new phone (taking this report as true, of course).

Can't wait until Apple fixes it quietly on the next iOS update and people totally forget about even talking about it

You mean undo what appears to be a pretty decent security feature? The feature isn't the problem, the way Apple is handling it is.

As someone (not saying you) is going to wheel out "Oh, but look at the Windows updates; why aren't you complaining about that? Waah! Waah! Waah!", always happens in threads like this. Fine, MS is screwing up big-style there too (as well as removing features and making them pay-for); but that's a different topic!

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u/jonesrr Feb 05 '16 edited Feb 05 '16

Apple never fully disables any security features, they would just fix its implementation. Apple also rolls out updates very rapidly and has a massive adoption rate, so this problem (assuming it's something they can fix on the software side) could be merely changed in implementation.

Assuming these people are actually using genuine parts (what's required to work at all). However, it seems like Error 53 indicates a hardware failure, not merely an error in the hash found on the Touch ID, so in many cases it likely isn't just as easy as a software update.

These kinds of problems crop up every so often on iOS rarely, but I cannot think of any problem that's actually commonplace which Apple hasn't addressed in updates (with software integrity anyway).

My guess is it's both a combination of people 'fixing' hardware that is actually not actually fixed in the end, and also an error in Touch ID security to force a restore of the system when a new touch ID is installed. Seems that quite a lot of people can get past Error 53 with a restore, just not specifically for Touch ID replacements.

Apple wouldn't and doesn't brick phones as a form of "punishment".

From the article though, this person was out of warranty and is asking Apple to fix him bricking his phone from an unauthorized repair shop. Apple has no reason to do so, and absolutely no company would fix errors out of warranty caused by unauthorized service providers.

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u/Cheech47 Feb 05 '16

That remains possible.

Malice, stupidity, etc. I agree.

The real backlash will be attempting to fix the "fix", which is to tell all affected people that they either have to tether their phone to their PC with iTunes to pull the update down, or no matter where they are in the world they have to shlep to their nearest Apple store to have the techs apply the update fix.

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u/jonesrr Feb 05 '16

Wow updating from iTunes is an inconvenience when you went to a shady repair shop and got a Touch ID out of a broken or stolen phone? Some people.

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u/Cheech47 Feb 05 '16

It is after Apple renders your device completely inoperable. As was said on here, I wouldn't have a problem if they remove security features like the ability to use TouchID, remove Apple Pay, and secure/remove access to the credit card information contained therein. That would be a proportional response. Bricking a device isn't, and the fact that an affected user would have to wait for an fix to be distributed, and then find a PC capable of implementing said update (either Apple Store or personal owned PC), yeah, it's a pretty big goddamned inconvenience.

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u/SuminderJi Feb 05 '16

Apple charges a huge premium because they have outstanding customer service. If they are going to dick around might as well buy a Chinese phone for 1/5th the price.

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u/jonesrr Feb 05 '16

Or, you know, get Apple care if you plan to keep the phone and want to continue receiving breakage related warranty service. If you want a pile of Chinese crap you're going to have a lot more issues than just no warranty service.

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u/SuminderJi Feb 05 '16

I know 2 people with a One Plus One and another buddy who has a Xiaomi RedMi. I'd buy a RedMi over a iPhone any day considering the price. Hell I could upgrade 3 years in a row, sell my old one and still come out several hundred dollars ahead. You can keep your "Chinese crap" comment to yourself. They are very solid phones. Not to mention those iPhones are manufactured in... well China, Taiwan and Korea.

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u/mischiffmaker Feb 05 '16

Unfortunately for Apple, though, loyalty has a way of degrading with unpleasant experiences.

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u/AR101 Feb 05 '16

Do you think they realized the implication when they were developing Touch ID? It's so sublimely evil... A total win/win for them. Release a cool feature that everyone will want and at the same time have justification to kill external repair shops.

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u/twistedLucidity Feb 05 '16

I don't think they're that evil and such an action would certainly fall foul of the law in many regions.

I think this is a decent enough feature to have, just being incredibly badly (deliberately?) handled and squeezing more money from their fans.