Apple’s security check in new iPhones and iPads can disable the devices

Apple has finally acknowledged the issue and informs that certain iPhones are being disabled after the new update. “I then tried updating my iPhone via iTunes, and the unpleasant message of an Error 53 came across my screen, and now my phone only shows the connect to iTunes logo”, said an unsuspecting iPhone user on Reddit. When faced with the error, Apple apparently can’t undo the issue, and instead instructs customers to buy a new device.

However, as third-party software has been installed on the device, this breaks Apple’s terms and conditions for the handset, forcing users to fork out for the cost of a brand new phone.

If you have replaced the display and/or the home button from a third-party service centre, your Touch ID will not be validated as “original” and it will trigger the iOS security to “kill” the iPhone permanently.

According to an Apple statement, Error 53 is the result of a “mismatch” between components, and is created to protect consumers. “If a customer encounters Error 53, we encourage them to contact Apple Support”, they added.

Today’s Guardian article described freelance photographer Antonio Olmos’ difficulty with just such a situation: Olmos was covering the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe recently when he dropped his iPhone and went to a local fix shop because “there are no Apple stores in Macedonia”. With a subsequent update or restore, additional security checks result in an ‘error 53′ being displayed. Users are right when they say if it is only the sensor that has the problem; the phone should still be usable.

“The problem occurs if the repairer changes the home button or the cable”, iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens told the Guardian. But he was able to get a replacement device at an Apple store. “But, if the sensor can’t be trusted, clearly the whole phone should not be bricked – it should simply disable Touch ID and Apple Pay”.

In a reply to The Verge, Apple has stated that phones are being bricked because of “security checks created to protect our customers”.

It is said to happen when the home button, responding to finger print ID, gets repaired by someone who is not an official Apple technician.

If you have an iPhone 6 (or plan on copping the iPhone 7 when it’s released), make sure you only get it repaired at an Apple store.