Have an iPhone 6 or 6S? Have you repaired it? DON'T UPDATE

"Mercedes Streeter" (smart) 02/08/2016 at 12:42 • Filed to: Apple

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I have an iPhone and am the go to gal for all types of mobile phone repairs. Break your screen? I got it. Proximity Sensor died? Pfft piece of cake. However, Apple’s newest update further demonstrates how much you don’t actually own your iPhone.

iOS 9.2.1 apparently adds a feature for the phone to check itself for third party hardware. And if it detects third party hardware (say, something as simple as a home button you got replaced), the phone permanently bricks and Apple will refuse to help you. Apparently, repairing your own phone (or having a non-Apple tech repair it) is a breach of Apple’s lovely 56 page terms and conditions. So congrats, you now have a borked phone.

And if that wasn’t enough salt in the wound, Apple has stopped signing iOS 9.2, so you can’t even downgrade your iOS.

Here are some flames for your time. :)

EDIT: For clarification, right now it just seems home button repairs are the cause!

El Rivinado > Mercedes Streeter 02/08/2016 at 12:49

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This is why I rarely update and why I stick to my cracked IPhone 4S

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Mercedes Streeter 02/08/2016 at 12:49

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Its this kind of thing that makes me angry

HammerheadFistpunch > Mercedes Streeter 02/08/2016 at 12:54

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Sup.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Mercedes Streeter 02/08/2016 at 12:56

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And here I was thinking I’d really like an iPhone 6s because of that lovely camera. Guess I’ll stick to shitty plastic nightmarish Samsungs with more bloatware than an octogenarian’s computer, or a well-made HTC with bloatware and shitty support.

jariten1781 > Mercedes Streeter 02/08/2016 at 12:56

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I thought it was solely if the home button was replaced and not revalidated. There were supposedly people stealing them and swapping the home button to get around TouchID or whatever it’s called to get them open.

At least that's what the only power Apple user I still know said a couple days ago when we were chatting. (All other power users have jumped ship in my circles.)

Mercedes Streeter > jariten1781 02/08/2016 at 13:01

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So far, it’s just people saying that they replaced their home button, but I would not be surprised if more issues start popping as a result of this.

Mercedes Streeter > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 02/08/2016 at 13:01

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Get a Nexus. Android is best on a Nexus phone :D

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 02/08/2016 at 13:02

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Bro. Moto X pure. Nexus 5S or 6P. Bloat free stock android!

bob and john > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 02/08/2016 at 13:02

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why not a sony Xperia? its got some bloat, but no-where NEAR the amount samsung stuff in its phones.

Mercedes Streeter > El Rivinado 02/08/2016 at 13:03

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I jailbroke iOS 9.2.1 last night (TaiG are crooks, trying to charge $10+for Cydia in a Beta release) because of Apple’s crazy software ecosystem. I lost the drive that had all of my music on it...and all my PC wanted to do was wipe the phone and start fresh. Ah, no thanks. I’ll backup my music from my phone instead.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Mercedes Streeter 02/08/2016 at 13:04

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Hello ‘dere

tromoly > Mercedes Streeter 02/08/2016 at 13:05

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According to the Hackaday article , the main reason is because it would be possible for a malicious TouchID sensor to bypass a bunch of security things and give access to those who shouldn’t have access to the phone.

Personally I am all for replacing broken phone components yourself (have done it in the past quite a bit), but if it’s something like this that has high security implications I don’t necessarily disagree with what Apple’s doing.

jariten1781 > Mercedes Streeter 02/08/2016 at 13:08

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The way he described it (and this is totally word of mouth, I haven't researched it at all since I gave up on Apple forever ago) it sounded just like having to go to a dealer to get chipped replacement keys or a new ECU paired to the car since it's a security thing. If that's true it's obnoxious but not really to the 'OMG they're doing an anti-consumer thing that's never been done before' level.

Mercedes Streeter > tromoly 02/08/2016 at 13:08

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I don’t think your phone should be permanently bricked for it. Possibly restrict some functions until you can get an OE home button? Sure. But completely brick the phone?

Stapleface > Mercedes Streeter 02/08/2016 at 13:09

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I can’t star this enough.

I actually like the iPhone, as for the most part they just work. But if you’re going with an Android phone, the Nexus series are the pinnacle IMHO. Virtually no bloatwear, and it works as it’s supposed to, all of the time. And when something doesn’t work? It’s almost always the fault of a shitty app.

Mercedes Streeter > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 02/08/2016 at 13:09

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Woah, I was not aware that Blackberry was still in the smartphone game. It’s running Android too!

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Mercedes Streeter 02/08/2016 at 13:11

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This one is, and it’s a pretty phenomenal phone (also, many $$$). Though I have to say I prefer BB10 OS to Android and hope they will put their own OS on it eventually.

Mercedes Streeter > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 02/08/2016 at 13:13

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I think BB might be moving away from their own OS. As of current, BB has less than 1% of market share here in the USA, so they’re trying everything to gain.

Steve in Manhattan > Mercedes Streeter 02/08/2016 at 13:16

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Got a 6S ... wonder if my Lifeproof case with the battery in it counts. But at least I can drop the phone into the toilet with abandon.

certified cool guy > HammerheadFistpunch 02/08/2016 at 13:19

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jk

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Mercedes Streeter 02/08/2016 at 13:20

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I think their doing this for several reasons:

-To let people know their still around, with a phone that the public today will actually buy.

-To get people looking at BB’s again.

-To promote themselves as a premium manufacturer.

-To keep the lights on long enough to have a shot at a comeback.

Seeing as they have a (small) faithful following and already have invested the $$ in their own OS (which can run Android apps), I don’t think they’ll give up BB10 entirely. There isn’t really any reason why they couldn’t offer Android and BB10 versions of their phones, as long as both will work with the hardware. And their version of Android is very much their own anyway.

Chasaboo > Mercedes Streeter 02/08/2016 at 13:20

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Windows phones rule!

tythegeek > Mercedes Streeter 02/08/2016 at 13:22

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The real question is why do people keep buying stuff from a company that abuses their users so badly? I just don’t get it, Apple keeps doing this crap over and over and they keep selling like mad.

Probenja > certified cool guy 02/08/2016 at 13:23

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TBH this is a pretty cool feature:

Mercedes Streeter > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 02/08/2016 at 13:24

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Oooh that’s a splendid idea! Offer the same phone but with two software versions: Android and BB10. That way, Android fans can still get their hands on a BB phone, while diehard BB fans can also continue using the BB ecosystem.

Mercedes Streeter > Steve in Manhattan 02/08/2016 at 13:25

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From the sounds of it so far, it’s just third party home buttons...which is like every affordable home button ever made. When Apple makes even a stupid battery repair cost $60+, of course very few people will bother going OEM.

Mercedes Streeter > tythegeek 02/08/2016 at 13:27

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I...I am guilty of this lol

I have an iPhone 6, yet know wholeheartedly that I would be much happier with an Android. I think the only reason I stick with Apple is because of fond childhood memories.

Sadly, the Apple of my childhood isn’t the Apple of my adulthood.

CB > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 02/08/2016 at 13:32

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Motorolas don’t have that much bloat. My Moto G had almost nothing.

CaptDale - is secretly British > certified cool guy 02/08/2016 at 13:32

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I tried it. Windows worked fine until I had a need for a real phone.

ttyymmnn > Mercedes Streeter 02/08/2016 at 13:34

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Others have already chimed in on the fact that it’s only on the touch sensor, and I agree with Apple on this one. However, it would have been nice if Apple had told everybody up front. It may well have been buried in the EULA, which nobody every reads, but this is something that should have been in bold print up front, on top of the list of changes in the new version.

tromoly > Mercedes Streeter 02/08/2016 at 13:41

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To play Devil’s Advocate on this, what if you weren’t the one who replaced the button/sensor deal, but someone who stole your phone? Reducing functionality is not going to keep them from getting into your phone, there will be a workaround developed. It’s not you the person who replaced the button on your own phone Apple is worried about, its those who have stolen phones and are breaking into people’s information that they want to curtail, just unfortunately the other 98% of people have to live by the same rules.

Mercedes Streeter > ttyymmnn 02/08/2016 at 13:44

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I want to be on Apple’s side, I just don’t think bricking the whole phone is the way to do it. I mean, they can just limit the phone’s services (no Apple Pay, can’t buy anything on iTunes/App Store, etc) and retain base functionality...so at least the user has a somewhat usable phone until they can get the OE part installed.

Mercedes Streeter > tromoly 02/08/2016 at 13:51

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Good point. But I’m not understanding why this is such a huge deal.

If the touch sensor doesn’t work, the phone is supposed to default to a regular old 4 digit (or optional complex) password like before iPhones had TouchID. So, assuming that iOS 9.2.1 is able to detect if you have a third party sensor, it should instead default to simply locking the phone behind your password, not bricking the whole phone. Thus, malicious home buttons also don’t work.

Unless I’m mistaken, in order to use TouchID, you must also set a password. That is, unless Apple has removed that two factor security in previous updates.

deekster_caddy > jariten1781 02/08/2016 at 14:18

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I would assume something like this is directly related to TouchID. If you replace the home button do you also replace the TouchID sensor?

tromoly > Mercedes Streeter 02/08/2016 at 14:20

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Valid points, I haven’t owned an Apple product in a couple years so can’t personally comment on their security fallbacks. I’m wondering if the precautionary bricking is Apple not wanting another Fappening-type event happening, they’ve had enough bad PR about their security as it is.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > HammerheadFistpunch 02/08/2016 at 14:24

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Got my first Android today, and I quite enjoy it.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > certified cool guy 02/08/2016 at 14:24

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Just upgraded from that to Android, don’t even joke like that.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > Mercedes Streeter 02/08/2016 at 14:25

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Glad I went for the Nexus 5X!

spanfucker retire bitch > Mercedes Streeter 02/08/2016 at 14:26

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There’s actually a very good reason why it does that, and it involves the chain of trust for hardware components. On PCs and laptops it’s known as the TCG or Trusted Computing Group standard. Things like Secure Boot (a setting in your computer’s UEFI, but not Apple’s EFI) utilize a hash of all of your hardware to validate it during booting up of Windows to make sure nothing tries to MITM (Man in the Middle) itself into the boot order.

It’s made even more secure if you have a TPM 1.2 or 2.0 module, as that, when combined with Secure Boot enables Measured Boot that stores the information within the secure zone inside of the TPM Module.

Ever since Apple started offering the fingerprint scanner, their phones have included a piece of hardware that works similar to a TPM known as a “Secure Enclave.” The SE makes sure that all components of your phone - from the software stack to the hardware stack - is signed and checked against a known good hash. If anything in that changes, it comes back as being maliciously modified. It’s not giving you the error because you used third party components specifically, it’s because it can’t verify the hardware as being a valid component. It’s broken the chain of trust.

jariten1781 > deekster_caddy 02/08/2016 at 14:27

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It sounds like the entire home button/touchID/associated cabling is all tied together. Replacing them fails some hardware security check. Don’t know if it’s a software pairing check or it’s actually hard written in the hardware nor do I know if the actual sensor is embedded in the home button or not.

Mercedes Streeter > spanfucker retire bitch 02/08/2016 at 14:52

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I understand that. :) Thankfully, my phone has not obtained any damage yet, but I’ve had a few iPhone owners ask me about this.

But I just don’t like how the resolution to this is to brick the phone until an OEM part replaces the third party part. I think a better workaround would be to completely deactivate the touch sensor and force the user to use their password. TouchID uses a password in case the touch sensor doesn’t work. But in this case, users aren’t given the option. The phone won’t boot, can’t get a firmware restore, and can’t even get reset in DFU mode.

I wonder what home buttons cost through Apple? :(

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 02/08/2016 at 14:55

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you’d rather have it be that someone could swap a touch sensor home button, and just gain access to your secure sequestered authentication, including Wallet and Apple Pay?

If the home button fails, getting it repaired by an Apple Authorized Service Provider, it works fine. Third party non-verified parts are the problem, and as a security measure, they fail to verify, as a secure system should.

spanfucker retire bitch > Mercedes Streeter 02/08/2016 at 14:56

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Actually the problem seems to be less the component used, and who does it. Apple has some way of resetting the secure enclave if you go through their stores, so that the chain of trust is maintained. Apparently even if you used OEM parts, but did it yourself you might still run into the same problem as the hash is still modified.

There’s a blogger or journalist or something (I forget their name) that apparently got the error despite having their home button replaced at an actual Apple store.

Also, the Error 53 is apparently a vague fucking error as it bricks some phones but not others. At least in the 10 minutes or so that I’ve read about this error.

/notaniphoneowner

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. 02/08/2016 at 14:58

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I’m talking about just the screen.

Mercedes Streeter > spanfucker retire bitch 02/08/2016 at 15:00

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Oh god, now that’s absolutely a shitstorm. So then in that case, I wonder if it’s something that was changed in iOS 9.2.1 that causes this to happen?

I’ve been a lifelong iPhone owner, though once my iPhone 6 gets retired (it’s currently experiencing battery failures), I think I’m going to get a Nexus. :)

spanfucker retire bitch > Mercedes Streeter 02/08/2016 at 15:03

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Honestly, I’m not sure what it is specifically about the update that would cause it. I suppose it’s possible that the update enforces a stricter check on the hardware or something - only apple would know.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 02/08/2016 at 15:14

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What about the screen? if the screen is replaced, and the touch sensor is replaced with it, it has to be re-verified and re-paired the right way, or any third party hacker-grade finger print scanner could be installed to make the whole point of biometric security, device encryption, and data protection of your financial and identity information a moot damn point.

Giving out the tools to just anyone to do the re-pairing and re-verification process is also insecure.

That is like hiring the guy down the street to re-key all the doors in your house, including your safe that holds all of your personal information, and just trusting that he isn’t a burglar and identity thief, because he says he isn’t. No, you take it to a proper professional.

It is like you’ve never heard of the concept of security before.

If it were easy for anyone to bypass, it wouldn’t be secure in the first place.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Mercedes Streeter 02/08/2016 at 15:15

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The nexus just lacks the premium feel I like. I’m loving my aluminum phones (lumia 925 then an htc one m7). There is an Xperia I rather like but I don’t know how easy those are to root/flash.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. 02/08/2016 at 15:18

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I didn’t see Mercedes’s edit saying that it was just the fingerprint sensor. The fact that Apple won’t help is kinda a dick move though.

Mercedes Streeter > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 02/08/2016 at 15:24

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My favourite smartphone ever is still the iPhone 4. I LOVE glass as a building material in a phone. I’m extremely delicate with my phones, so their fragility was never something I worried about.

I still regret selling my mint iPhone 4.

Plus, I adore the glass mods!

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Mercedes Streeter 02/08/2016 at 15:51

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I absolutely love the size and form factor of the 4 and 4s. Too bad they’re so antiquated nowadays.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > CB 02/08/2016 at 15:52

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They don’t have much premium materials, either. Love my aluminum

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > bob and john 02/08/2016 at 15:52

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I do really like the premium feel of Sony’s handsets. If they’re easy to root and flash Cyanogenmod or ParanoidAndroid I might go for it.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/08/2016 at 15:53

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So much plastic tho :( and feckin’ huge

MPA > Mercedes Streeter 02/08/2016 at 16:24

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My laptop hasn’t been able to connect to the apple servers to download software for some time now - I tried all their fixes. nada. I think it maye be related to my running the beta versions of the OS, but I’m too scared to wipe my phone out in case that’s not the fix.

Pisses me off that it can’t say why it can’t really connect.

bob and john > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 02/08/2016 at 17:07

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as far as I can tell, its just normal andriod with a couple of sony’s own apps that you cant delete.

I really really like mine. i dont mod or root it or anything, but its pretty good. the older Z3 (they are up to Z5 now i think) already had a stupid huge battery.

certified cool guy > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 02/08/2016 at 17:23

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Krazygames top kek

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > deekster_caddy 02/08/2016 at 21:00

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Yes, the sensor is part of the home button.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Mercedes Streeter 02/09/2016 at 05:30

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i don’t have an iPhone , so no problem here

;)