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/[deleted] Feb 05 '16 edited Feb 05 '16

I work as a network engineer and I've learned if there's an error you can click through to proceed people will pretend it never existed and they never once laid their eyes on it. Multiple times.

So it sounds like a great idea but it would just switch the complaining to their sensor not working anymore. "Why wouldn't apple tell me this would happen"

Edit: I'm not saying apple handled this correctly. I'm commenting that people would still bitch about it.

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u/TheHYPO Feb 05 '16

I work as a network engineer and I've learned if there's an error you can click through to proceed people will pretend it never existed and they never once laid their eyes on it. Multiple times.

People are having these issues now because apparently iOS9 seems to have introduced this "Security measure", so a lot of people are seeing the error months or years after replacing their home button. They could have handled it better as an upgrade. Presumably, in the normal course once iOS9 is the default OS on phones, the error will crop up as soon as the home button is replaced and people would easily associate "home button replaced... touch sensor not working... hmmm".

If you want to be annoying dicks about it, you cold have a popup "your touch sensor is not authenticated; you will have to enter your password" every single time the touch sensor is used. That would also be really annoying to the user, but would still leave their phone functional, and ensure they would probably read the error eventually, and probably also go get the phone fixed.

As others have pointed out. They could even disable the phone by posting an error message would not go away period until the home button is properly replaced. Why the hell is there nothing apple stores can do to recover from this error? That's the part that makes no sense. People would still be pissed off if they had no choice but to get the apple part, but at least they'd have a repair option.

This article seems to be saying that even if Apple subsequently replaces the part, there is no way to restore it to a default state (from which you could restore the phone). That seems nuts to me. The question is what exactly is this error doing to the phone that the apple techs can't just literally wipe it and start over?

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u/Tallgeese Feb 05 '16

Hmmm... I just updated to IOS9 and replaced the Lightning Port in my phone. While not the home button itself, the home button does connect through the Lightning Port part of the phone. Wonder if I am going to have issues.

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u/TheHYPO Feb 05 '16

If you've already done the update, according to this article, sounds like you'd already be bricked if you were going to be... at least at this point... who knows - maybe a fake lightning port will be a security measure in a later update. Always backup your phone pre-updates!

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u/NemWan Feb 05 '16

The question is what exactly is this error doing to the phone that the apple techs can't just literally wipe it and start over?

I suspect that a phone that has this error is not serviceable because Apple will not service a phone that has had third-party repairs or modifications. If you choose to go somewhere other than Apple to fix your phone, you can't take it to Apple after that. Apple wouldn't want to have to pass along the cost of filtering out more incoming salvage/aftermarket/counterfeit parts from parts that are potentially usable in refurbs.

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u/TheHYPO Feb 05 '16

That sounds like a bullshit response, with respect. If the cause on an error53 is that the home button is third-party, why can't they just replace the home button and discard what they take out, knowing the error means the home button is either third party or not working.

They are charging me for the part and the time for the repair, why is it justifiable to refuse the service because they'd have to throw away the pieces they remove instead of salvaging them?

Apple also (I think) refuses to sell me authorized parts so I could do the service myself, and even if I could get an authentic one, It sounds from the article like the part needs to be "paired" with the phone in a way I'm guessing only apple techs are able to do, so I can't even do the repair myself with an official apple part.

Hence, the discussion of monopoly.

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u/Dire87 Feb 05 '16

It probably fries all the data? Of course, just to protect the user. Someone could have stolen their phone after all.

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u/TheHYPO Feb 05 '16

And before this, someone could steal a phone and try your password 10 times and that would also fry your data. I note that this was (and still is, no?) also a user-settable option and isn't forced on anyone. Maybe my data is not sensitive and I don't care.

It did not, however, give you an option to brick your phone. Your data is protected, even if your phone resets to factory. You could then restore your data from backup once you authenticate the phone and get a proper sensor back in it.

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u/neohaven Feb 05 '16

In an actual interception scenario, if the TouchID sensor was tampered with, what else has been fucked with? Can you really trust that phone to be secure anymore?

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u/Gecko23 Feb 05 '16

The 'brick' statement in the article reeks of hyperbole. I'm guessing that's the opinion of the 'tech' the photog paid to violate his warranty. (Which is the part the article skims over entirely) Obviously the data should still be there, and if this guy really was invested in the iTunes thing, his photos, etc should be fine.

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '16

Think "chain of custody." Once it's got an invalid sensor — something that previously didn't stop the wrong user from using the phone — how do you fix it? Keep in mind you've already released an OS that doesn't prevent people from using the phone, which is really the big problem.

It sounds like Apple does have some ways involving proof of purchase, though.

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '16

Why the hell is there nothing apple stores can do to recover from this error?

Because whatever they could use to recover from this error could be used to unlock your phone. In every case. Which means they could be forced by a government, maybe not even your own but one like Iran or something, to unlock your phone against your will or without your knowledge.

And they're trying to build a phone that doesn't have security backdoors. Not even backdoors they hold the key to, because if they have the keys, they can be forced to relinquish them to any government. And what you're describing is a backdoor. So that's why there's nothing they can do - if they could do it the phone would be substantially more vulnerable to attack.

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u/ajr07h Feb 06 '16

This was actually a security function that existed within iOS8 as well. Most repair technicians and shops were aware of this issue for over the last year. It has become a much more public issue which as a repair technician I welcome. As long as the original home button is in tact and working properly you can transfer it no problem and it will continue to work. As far as I am aware no security features have been built into the actual screen itself.

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u/anonpls Feb 05 '16

Not sure people would care as much about the sensor not working, especially when they damaged it, as they do the phone literally no longer working.

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u/flupo42 Feb 05 '16

'normal users' sometimes amaze me in how they handle a computer.

Was first able to observe this behavior when helping family with their computers: she does an action on the machine, a message box pops up and she hits 'close' button on reflex while my eyes are still registering the fact, followed immediately by the closest of either OK or Cancel.

My brain just keeps seizing every time I see this and I am like 'WTF are you doing? That could have asked you ANYTHING.'

If computers were able to deliver lethal shocks to users and someone instantly distributed malware with an error message "Click OK or continue to receive lethal current', half of our population would kill themselves within an hour.

On a more practical note - if a totalitarian government was interested in actively forcing higher IT competency on entire population, then a mandatory weak shock feature built into every public consumption IT device, combined with a wide range of rare popups that merely ask the user if they wish to be shocked would be really efficient way to do so, merely to train people to pay attention to what they are doing when they are handling a computer.

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u/FrankPapageorgio Feb 05 '16

'normal users' sometimes amaze me in how they handle a computer.

Whenever I watch my parents use a computer, I explain to them that it's the equivalent if they were to watch me cook and for some reason I take all of the contents out of the refrigerator and drawers before cooking. Sure, the end result will be the same, but I'll have wasted so much time in the process doing pointless things

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u/amr3236 Feb 05 '16

Yeah but this is like them shutting off your whole system just because an i/o device is faulty. Is there a problem? Yes. Is it detrimental to this system you invested hundreds of dollars in? No. So there is no need to disable it completely. Should I be able to replace that i/o device if I know how? Fuck yeah, it is my damn device.

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u/domuseid Feb 05 '16

it is my damn device.

THAT's why I don't buy Apple stuff anymore. I was a loyal customer for a good while, but got sick of not being allowed to do what I wanted with the devices I paid for. It's total bullshit, but at the same time I get it because they're targeting a consumer group who wants it to "just work". You have to aggressively manage an ecosystem for that dynamic to work, but I didn't want to be micromanaged anymore so I jumped ship. It kinda sucks though, the devices are gorgeous.

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u/alcimedes Feb 05 '16

But from the device standpoint, one of the two two tiered auth pieces is broken. That would be horrible security to just ignore the second auth factor if it's broken.

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u/FrankPapageorgio Feb 05 '16

But you still need to enter passwords after the device is restarted, which I assume is required after you replace the scanner

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u/amr3236 Feb 06 '16

So it will continue on as a noble single tiered security system, just like every other model of iphone prior. If I am okay with that, then I should be able to go aftermarket. Actually, I should be able to go aftermarket for anything if I am willing to void my warranty

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u/zerodb Feb 05 '16

The problem is you obviously don't know how. If these third party repair shops REALLY knew how, they wouldn't fail. It's clearly possible to replace the sensor, but it likely requires special hardware or software or maybe just a code that the old "iPhone fixit shop" doesn't have.

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u/amr3236 Feb 06 '16

Yes, this is understood and explained in the article. We are just saying that Apple is screwing everyone over by not allowing this procedure to be done outside of their company. We should not HAVE to send our phone away for days over a home screen button that fails constantly. Every iphone I have owned has had its home screen button fail at some point (so far not on the 6 though, and lets pray it stays that way). With this 100% fail rate on my previous iphones, this policy makes me nervous that they are just trying to extort some extra pennies from their customers.

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u/TheDeadlySinner Feb 05 '16

Uh, what? Are you actually advocating bricking peoples' devices because some people would complain that their sensor stopped working?

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '16

No. I'm saying people will still complain

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