Date Bug Causes iPhone To Unexpectedly Crash Upon Reaching December 2
Some iPhone devices are affected by a bug that causes the device to crash unexpectedly. The bug activates upon reaching December 2. This bug, reminiscent of the Y2K issue, can be temporarily fixed by disabling all notifications then setting the date to before December 2 according to MacRumors. Apple released iOS 11.2 to permanently fix this issue.
Phone users report that upon the crash, the phone displays a black screen with a spinning wheel and then goes back to the lock screen. Completing the temporary fix was not easy for some users. It took less than 30 seconds for some iPhones to stay operational before crashing. There was also no telling how long the phone would stay awake before crashing. The person trying to change the necessary settings must be quick enough to access the phone settings menu, disable the notifications, and then change the date. An iPhone with an active FaceID or passcode uses up more time. Users usually need to go through the process several times before successfully completing these steps.
In some cases, the phone needs to be plugged into a Mac or PC and update via iTunes and reach the settings to change the notifications. The phone’s temperature also rises whenever it crashes.
Users observed that local iPhone apps with daily or repeat reminders cause this issue. The issue is limited to devices that are running iOS 11.1.2.
Locations that first reach December 2 were affected first. Most of the users who first experienced and reported this issue are from Australia. The next ones who experienced the same issue were from Asia and the Middle East. The U.S. reached December 2, and devices running iOS 11.1.2 experienced the same issue.
Apple released iOS 11.2 with a guide on how to permanently fix this issue. iPhones running iOS 11.1.2 must be updated to iOS 11.2 right away to avoid this issue.
It has only been few days since Lemi Ergin found the security flaw on Mac OS High Sierra 10.13.1. On another report from MacRumors, the bug allows root superuser access without asking for additional credentials. Apple was also quick to remedy the issue by releasing an update.
