But in an odd way.

Reporting from TechCrunch we see that Apple has gone ahead and made an update (9.2.1) for their iPhone devices with 3rd-party-replaced Home Buttons and Screens.

In case you missed the gaffe, any person who had a 3rd-party shop replace their screen or home button and then attempted to do the latest iOS update (primarily via iTunes) they received an error 53 during the update, and an extra Apple-branded extra: a bricked phone.  Literally bricked.  You couldn’t go back.  You couldn’t go forward.  You couldn’t even start your phone.  Their devices showed “Connect to iTunes” permanently.  Connecting their device to a PC with iTunes reported “Error 53” for infinity.  There was simply NOTHING they could do.

Apple has gone back and released a software update which will get you back to a working state, with one caveat: you will LOSE TOUCH ID.

I mean, that’s not a great outcome, since Apple touted Touch ID as the next big thing; but at least you won’t lose your $500+ iDevice to shenanigans because you didn’t want to shell out $150+ for a new screen or home button.

Apple continues to claim ignorance on this, stating that it was supposed to be a “factory test and not intended to affect customers” (According to TechCrunch reporters).  I don’t believe that for a second.

If Apple isn’t getting your repair money (either because you had a 3rd party do it, or did it yourself) then you don’t have any right to your iDevice anymore. I disagree with the TechCrunch claim that “Apple is absolutely right to disable TouchID”.  Once I purchase a device, it is my device.  Period.  I don’t really care what Apple (or the cell provider) claims.  It is my device.  Either give me the utility to supposedly re-authenticate against the supposed “secure enclave” or don’t break it.  If it worked before the update, it should continue to work after the update.

I slammed Google over this recently with Android Pay.  Specifically Google claimed that the new Android Pay REQUIRED phones to be completely secured with locked bootloaders and that custom ROMS would never get Android Pay to work properly.  This was absurd from any Android enthusiast – Google Pay worked fine with custom ROMS, unlocked bootloaders, everything.  It was a change that broke a lot of things, and I have (and will continue to) shun Google over it.

The same applies with Apple here: give back the functionality that the device had; you have NO reason to break someone’s expensive equipment because you didn’t get a piece of the repair-pie.

The technology world is a shit-show lately.