Dangerous Digital Prank Targets iPhone Users
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Tricksters have targeted the iPhone users with a prank making the rounds on Facebook that could lead to your device being rendered useless.
The prank asks Apple iOS users to turn the clocks back on their devices to January 1, 1970 in order to "relive the magic" of the past with a hidden retro feature.
Unfortunately, there is no retro feature and doing so would "brick" the phone, causing the screen to freeze and no longer operate. iOS devices that are affected by this dating glitch are the iPhone 5s and newer models, as well as the iPad Air and above, iPad mini 2 and the sixth generation iPod Touch, ZDNet reports.
"Manually changing the date to May 1970 or earlier can prevent your iOS device from turning on after a restart," Apple said in a statement posted on its website Monday.
The company says it is working on a fix.
"An upcoming software update will prevent this issue from affecting iOS devices," Apple announced. "If you have this issue, contact Apple Support."
In case you or a nostalgia-loving friend already bricked your device, it's not the death of disco yet.
You can get it reset by braving the lines at the Apple store or physically removing the battery yourself. Check out the video below for help.
