3YO Toddler Locks Dad’s iPad For 48 Years Despite How Impossible It’s Supposed To Be

2019-04-14 , 8:00 pm

Apple users would be more than familiar with this feature.

Android users will probably be familiar with it too because Apple is everywhere even if it isn’t in your pocket. Some of you are probably assholes who like to trigger it on purpose on your friends’ phones (like me).

This is a safety feature that disables your device if the passcode is entered wrongly. With every failed attempt, the wait time is compounded.

With that in mind, here’s a quiz:

How many failed attempts does it take to trigger this screen?

“try again in 25,536,442 minutes”

(Read as twenty-five million, five hundred and thirty-six thousand, four hundred and forty-two.)

In case you can’t read the picture, this father left his iPad in the hands of his toddler and it came back disabled for 25,536,442 minutes, by virtue of his 3-year-old being a 3-year-old.

So, how long is that? You could work it out the old fashioned way, or you could take a hint from the Broadway musical, Rent.

I don’t know what it’s about but they helpfully educate us that a year is 525,600 minutes long (which is accurate, by the way).

Dividing 25,536,442 by that gets you 48.585 years.

I wish I could say the man locked the device in a time capsule labeled 2067. The box will have high-tech components within to keep the tablet alive and kicking for 48 years, and his 51 year old son can open it and remember the power he wielded as a 3-year-old.

But no, the man had to take the easy way out:

He restored the iPad instead.

Damn, that iPad could have time travelled if not for this resourceful dad.

On lockouts and DFUs

Before continuing, I’d first like to point out that while the picture was not falsified, it isn’t the norm either.

The standard sequence of events when you consecutively enter the wrong passcode is as follows:

Inserting the wrong passcode 1 to 5 times: red notifications will pop up alerting the user that the passcode is wrong with no disabling.
On the 6th time, the device will be disabled for 1 minute
On the 7th time, 5 minutes
8th time, 15 minutes
9th time, 60 minutes
And finally, the 10th time locks you out permanently (or for 24 hours, then permanently on the 11th try, there is conflicting information on the Internet)

So as you can see, forever is the maximum wait time. 25,536,442 minutes is funnier, but there really shouldn’t be such an intermediate.

So what happened?

It turns out that this is a glitch that occurs with jail-breaking and changing of the iOS system.

But all right, regardless of whether it’s 48 years or forever, you’re going to want a way to fix your device, which is where DFUs come in (Device Firmware Update mode).

Practical Instructions to Save your Other Half Device

If your phone or tablet is disabled to the point where your only option left is forcing a reset, you should prepare to lose all your data unless you’ve backed it up somewhere. Entering the Device Firmware Update mode will only help you put your device back in working order.

After that, prepare for the reset by following the steps below:

If you don’t already have it, download and install iTunes on some computer somewhere, bought borrowed or stolen
Connect your iOS device to your computer and open iTunes
While your device is connected, force restart it
- This is the tricky part that requires a good sense of rhythm and nimble fingers. Again, go to Apple’s support page. for the details because they differ depending on your device as well.

With that, go out there and keep your devices out of the reaches of toddlers, pets and assholes. But know that if you fail, you’ll lose all your data with no hope of recovery.