Apple has released an update which has seen a lot of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus users receive an Error Code 53, which essentially bricks the phone.
What is this error?
Error 53 is the result of having your iPhone TouchID Sensor (The home button) replaced using non genuine parts. This error is designed to improve security of Apple devices by not allowing 3rd party TouchID sensors, or in fact anything but the original one that came with the phone. As Apple store your fingerprints on the iPhone, 3rd party parts could allow people to extract information or fool the iPhone into unlocking. The reason for the error, is the TouchID sensors serial number is linked the the phones motherboard, so when it detects a foreign part it locks down.
Can it be fixed?
The official line from Apple is that because it is caused by non genuine parts, it voids the warranty and even if you choose to pay Apple to fix it, they will be unable to because it has 3rd party parts in it.
However, we might have found a way to resolve this issue:
- You need to do a drain of the phone, this is where you remove the phones battery. Follow a YouTube tutorial or seek assistance from your mobile phone repairer, leave the battery out for about an hour.
- Reassemble the phone
- Turn it on and try to set it up, or restore from iTunes
- When asked to setup TouchID say “Setup later”, if you try this it is likely you will get an error
- Once you are into the phone, perform a hard reset, by holding down the home button and the lock button at once, until the phone restarts, as soon as this happens release the buttons.
- Try to now setup the TouchID and it should go through without an error
This method has been tested and is successful in fixing this error, we would love to hear your feedback!