Error 53: Apple remotely bricks phones to punish customers for getting independent repairs
Iphone 6s that have been repaired by independent service centers are bricking themselves, seemingly permanently, with a cryptic message about "Error 53."
After much stonewalling silence, Apple has confirmed that Error 53 is invoked when the phone determines that it has been serviced by non-Apple personnel, and there is apparently no way to reverse the process. An Error 53'd phone is rendered permanently useless -- and the data on it is permanently inaccessible.
According to an Apple spokesperson, Error 53 is an anti-tampering measure designed to protect the integrity of the phone's biometric security system. The lockout is designed to protect users from trusting doctored fingerprint readers that might allow unauthorized access to their phones.
But the phones that Apple is remote-killing haven't been doctored: they've been fixed. There are many independent service centers for Apple's products where you can get your phone fixed more cheaply than the official rate. Independent service centers also thrive in places where there are no Apple service centers at all.
The debate over tamper-resistance and user security is at least as old at the idea of Trusted Computing. Back in 2002, Seth Schoen argued that the tension between user freedom and user protection could be solved with "owner override" -- a set of tamper-evident mechanisms by which a user can tell a computer that they approve of the modifications that the computer has detected.
Apple could certainly institute such a procedure, but they have chosen not to. Instead, Iphone customers are finding that their investments and data are being confiscated by a distant, high-handed corporation that gets to hide behind tens of thousands of words' worth of never-read, all-encompassing terms of service.
Freelance photographer and self-confessed Apple addict Antonio Olmos says this happened to his phone a few weeks ago after he upgraded his software. Olmos had previously had his handset repaired while on an assignment for the Guardian in Macedonia. “I was in the Balkans covering the refugee crisis in September when I dropped my phone. Because I desperately needed it for work I got it fixed at a local shop, as there are no Apple stores in Macedonia. They repaired the screen and home button, and it worked perfectly.”
He says he thought no more about it, until he was sent the standard notification by Apple inviting him to install the latest software. He accepted the upgrade, but within seconds the phone was displaying “error 53” and was, in effect, dead.
When Olmos, who says he has spent thousands of pounds on Apple products over the years, took it to an Apple store in London, staff told him there was nothing they could do, and that his phone was now junk. He had to pay £270 for a replacement and is furious.
‘Error 53’ fury mounts as Apple software update threatens to kill your iPhone 6 [Miles Brignall/The Guardian]
Post by chickadee77 on Feb 5, 2016 18:58:13 GMT -5
I've never understood the Apple cult. I'm not opposed to their products, but the fervor of their customers about everything else sucks and only Apple is awesome is a huge turn-off for me. So bizarre.
Yeah this is so frustrating. I live 3 hours from the closest Apple Store. My screen has been cracked for months. I can't get down there to get it fixed. I hate it so much. I didn't love the android os and switched to Apple. I've been generally happy with it.
Yeah this is so frustrating. I live 3 hours from the closest Apple Store. My screen has been cracked for months. I can't get down there to get it fixed. I hate it so much. I didn't love the android os and switched to Apple. I've been generally happy with it.
You can absolutely get the cracked screen fixed by someone else. This only refers to when third party repair people try to mess with the touch sensor, because Apple detects that as someone trying to access your secure information.
Yeah this is so frustrating. I live 3 hours from the closest Apple Store. My screen has been cracked for months. I can't get down there to get it fixed. I hate it so much. I didn't love the android os and switched to Apple. I've been generally happy with it.
You can absolutely get the cracked screen fixed by someone else. This only refers to when third party repair people try to mess with the touch sensor, because Apple detects that as someone trying to access your secure information.
But there's absolutely no need for them to willy-nilly brick phones over this. there are ways, I'm absolutely positive, for Apple to confirm that it's a repair, rather than an 'attempt' to access.
the reality is that if they really wanted to be good to their customers, they'd brick them if they were actually REPORTED LOST OR STOLEN to the carrier. which they won't do. because it would make them worth nothing after they've been stolen, so the number of thefts would plummet. As would the number of people re-buying after a theft or loss. You'll notice they're not doing that.
I've never owned an an iPhone and I doubt I ever will. I love my galaxy s6.
QFT.
'cept I have a Note 5. which I love so very very much. Now that I have a stylus, using my finger feels... clunky. I honestly don't know if I can revert to a non-stylus lifestyle.
I'm not sure why Apple became such assholes over their phone.
because they can. because people will still buy them, even if they aren't superior technology, even if they're more expensive, even if the company intentionally disables them for... getting them fixed.
I've never owned an an iPhone and I doubt I ever will. I love my galaxy s6.
QFT.
'cept I have a Note 5. which I love so very very much. Now that I have a stylus, using my finger feels... clunky. I honestly don't know if I can revert to a non-stylus lifestyle.
we're phone twinsies, momi! Love my Note 5, and the Note 3 I had before it... Which replaced the IPhone 4 that sucked balls. #samsungforlyfe
Yeah this is so frustrating. I live 3 hours from the closest Apple Store. My screen has been cracked for months. I can't get down there to get it fixed. I hate it so much. I didn't love the android os and switched to Apple. I've been generally happy with it.
You can absolutely get the cracked screen fixed by someone else. This only refers to when third party repair people try to mess with the touch sensor, because Apple detects that as someone trying to access your secure information.
But if it's an iPhone 6, they don't just replace the screen. They replace the whole front, which would include the touch sensor button- I'm not sure if this would cause the Error 53. The 6s have new screens. For some reason it's cheaper to get it done by Apple.
Related --I will never buy another HP printer. I used Office Depot brand replacement ink. It locked up and never worked again. It was only 9 months old. Google told me it was the non HP ink --HP designed it to do this.
We got a new Keurig at work (yes, I know. Not my choice) and it won't accept K cups that aren't official K cups. I was pretty pissed. This is like 1000 times worse.
I tried switching to an Android phone but I hated it and went back after a year. I don't want to support Apple but I really do like their products better than any others I've tried.
I get to use a wide variety of devices for my job and my favorite brand, by far, is Samsung. They do some proprietary things that are slightly obnoxious, but nothing on the scale of Apple.
Also, not all Android devices are created equal. I wasn't a fan of the HTC or Droid phones.
I get to use a wide variety of devices for my job and my favorite brand, by far, is Samsung. They do some proprietary things that are slightly obnoxious, but nothing on the scale of Apple.
Also, not all Android devices are created equal. I wasn't a fan of the HTC or Droid phones.
I had a Samsung Galaxy and I just did not like it. It was constantly freezing up on me or doing weird things. I never did get used to the way everything was organized and arranged. I also dropped it (with a protective case and screen protector) shortly after I got it and the screen cracked. I have dropped my various iPhones a zillion times and it has never once cracked. I couldn't wait to get back to an iPhone.
This seems like a good place to share this. On one of the more recent updates to iOS and iTunes, all of my downloaded music disappeared from both my iPhone as well as my iTunes account. Not the stuff I bought, but the CDs I had loaded to iTunes, all gone. I was lucky in that I had another laptop on which I had not yet updated iTunes, so I was able to resync on that to get my stuff back.
They will not get sued because they are insulated from wrongdoing through the use of arbitration agreements.
I had that fear but i don't think arbitration agreements protect them from Anti-Trust suits.
Nope, they protect them from private antitrust suits. Supreme Court case, Italian Colors v American Express from 2013. Company can abuse its monopoly power to force people into waiving their rights to sue them for a use of monopoly power.
I want to set Elena Kagan's dissent to music, it is that good.
Post by earlgreyhot on Feb 6, 2016 11:44:54 GMT -5
I love my iPhone...have had the 3, 4, 5 and now 6. It's not perfect but I've had no major problems...with any of my apple products and there have been lots. I'm conflicted about it, but I love how they feel...and since they've integrated the Mac OS and the iOS life I love it even more.
It does suck that they are able to remotely brick a phone, but since my phone is linked to my money, well I appreciate there are ways to protect it.
Though there should be a away to undo it if you are able to go to the Apple Store and prove your identity.
They will not get sued because they are insulated from wrongdoing through the use of arbitration agreements.
So true. Do you know if they could be sued for limiting 3rd party service? Car manufacturers can't make my car stop working if I go to Joe mechanic. They can render my warranty null and void and I can't sue if they do that because of arbitration.
I have lots of apple, but refuse the iphone. They're finally catching up to 2016 stuff but eh. I also love how people are ride or die for their products.
They will not get sued because they are insulated from wrongdoing through the use of arbitration agreements.
So true. Do you know if they could be sued for limiting 3rd party service? Car manufacturers can't make my car stop working if I go to Joe mechanic. They can render my warranty null and void and I can't sue if they do that because of arbitration.
Typically arbitration agreements prevent you from suing for any problem that arises in connection to your phone. I cannot imagine that there is any loophole in Apple's that would allow any consumer to ever sue them for anything.
Car companies haven't figured out water tight ways of enforcing arbitration agreements. Apple gets you by having the cell phone companies write a provision into your cell phone contract about what you agree with respect to Apple and by putting it into the terms and conditions of the operating system. It's harder for car manufacturers to force people into arbitration because of how they are sold and resold. That doesn't mean your car or aspects of your relationship with the seller are not covered by an arbitration agreement, but that industry hasn't completely figured out a watertight way of protecting themselves against everything like the industries that have a more direct relationship to the consumer.