Snapshot from Apple website.
Apple officially acknowledged iPhone bricking '1970 date' bug on Monday, saying that an upcoming iOS update will prevent the issue from occurring in the future.
Last week, it was discovered that setting your iOS device system date and time back to January 1st 1970 would crash your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, effectively bricking the device.
AppleCare has been flooded with people bringing in their devices after trying out this bug. Apple has officially acknowledged the problem on its Apple Support website. "Manually changing the date to May 1970 or earlier can prevent your iOS device from turning on after a restart."
The company says it will release an upcoming software update to prevent this issue from affecting iOS devices in the future. If you have this issue, contact Apple Support.