What's the worst thing that can happen when you enter the wrong passcode on your iPhone? Ask this woman from China who is the mother of a two-year-old boy.
Ms. Lu, who lives in Shanghai, made the mistake of leaving her iPhone with her son to watch educational videos. It ended up being locked out for 25 million minutes, or 48 years! Her child repeatedly entered incorrect passcodes on the iPhone, which caused it to lock out.
“I couldn’t wait 47 years and tell my grandson it was his father’s fault!” Lu joked to the South China Morning Post.
However, being locked out of your iPhone for 48 years isn't the end of the world. Instead of waiting decades to re-enter the correct passcode on your iPhone, things can be quickly fixed by restoring your device to its factory settings, according to the Apple Care technician Lu contacted after the incident in January.
He said there have been similar cases in the past where iPhones were locked for 80 years. However, in Lu's case, she is still looking for a way to get her iPhone back without losing her pictures and contacts.
But instead of laughing at the story, users should pay attention to the underlying issue. It can happen to any iOS device, as it is designed to lock itself for a period of time when someone enters an incorrect passcode multiple times. And the timer increases with each failed passcode attempt. It is still unclear how many attempts the kid made to scale the timer to 25 million minutes!
So, if you have a young child at home, you should keep backups all the time, especially when the device is being used as a tool for your work. It's no big deal in the age of the internet. And it will definitely save you a lot of hassle if something similar happens to you.
