Locked-out iPhone user tells The Reg that Apple is scrambling to fix character-flaw passcode bug

Apple is reportedly moving to patch a strange edge-case bug that has left at least one iPhone user permanently locked out of his device. It has been reported that iOS engineers are preparing a fix after a 21-year-old university student, Connor Byrne, flagged the problem on Reddit and spoke to The Register about his lost access and the photos trapped behind the lock screen.

What went wrong

Byrne used a custom alphanumeric passcode on an iPhone 13 that included the caron/háček (ˇ) from the Czech keyboard. The character, it has been reported, was removed in iOS 26 — and with it, the keyboard no longer accepts the glyph Byrne used in his passcode. The result: a working phone that won’t open for its owner unless he wipes it clean. Heartbreak in a pocket-sized package. Who would have thought a tiny diacritic could brick a phone?

What's next

It has been reported that Apple began work on a bug fix internally a few days after Byrne’s Reddit post and is aiming to include the remedy in an upcoming iOS 26 release. Allegedly, engineers acted quickly once the issue was flagged, though details of the patch and timing remain unclear. Apple spokespeople have reportedly not responded to requests for comment.

For Byrne, the fix is welcome but cold comfort. He told The Register he’s impressed by the speed — nine days, he noted — yet still plans to move to Android because of camera preferences. A fix may close this chapter, but trust, once dented, is hard to glue back together.

Sources: The Register