Third Party iPhone Home Button Repairs May Brick Your Smartphone

APPLE has issued urgent advice after a software update reportedly “killed” certain iPhone models.

There is now a mounting outcry from among iPhone 6 owners after a bug in the latest iOS 9 update lead to the so-called “Error 53”, which would effectively kill the device without any hope of getting it fixed.

Apple told The Guardian that iOS shuts the phone down as part of a safety concern.

“We take customer security very seriously and Error 53 is the result of security checks created to protect our customers”. When iOS detects that the pairing fails, touch ID, including Apple Pay, is disabled so the device remains secure. So, it’s possible that something could go wrong inside your device-like when The Daily Dot’s Mike Wehner noticed his Touch ID sensor was acting up-and that could eventually trigger an Error 53, even though Wehner didn’t actually do anything to cause it himself. Now, things such as non-working buttons, broken screens or power issues won’t prevent reselling it to Apple, 9to5Mac was the first to report.

A user reported on Reddit “I have replaced my iPhone 6 screen by a third party one, and have learned my lesson. Putting up an alert that just says “Error 53″ is nearly comically bad”.

Apple is recently receiving criticisms because of a security check that the company has incorporated in its latest iPhone and iPad units.

Apple advises anyone who has experienced the problem should contact them, visit an Apple store, or an authorised Apple provider.

It’s good that iOS checks to ensure that Touch ID matches up with the rest of your phone’s hardware because it does so to protect your personal information. With subsequent restores and updates, additional security checks usually result in error 53’s being displayed on the screen.

Some have suggested the move could go against laws on competition, as it means people will only be able to get their phone repaired by Apple, which is much more expensive. This will also disable Apple Pay to restrict any unauthorised transactions.

According to some commentators, the issue was mainly related to the fix of the fingerprint scanner which was embedded in the home button of the phone.