A bizarre trend of drilling holes in the new iPhone 7 began all because of a YouTube video. Find out why people are doing it, and what happens when they do.
It happens every year. A new iPhone comes out and alongside it, a trolling claim of hidden features and secret little-known hacks emerge as well. This year it comes in the form of a “do-it-yourself” YouTube video that has people willingly damaging their devices in hopes of making them better.
If you’re thinking WTF, you’re on the right track. The iPhone 7 officially released September 16, and unbeknownst to some, the new Apple phone doesn’t use your standard 3.5mm headphone jack anymore. As part of the plan to make the device slimmer and more water resistant, (and because Apple is always doing some weird shit to turn an extra accessory profit) the company removed the headphone jack from the iPhone 7. Users must now plug into the phone with the new lightning cable headphones that come with the device or use an adapter for their old headphones.
While the change isn’t as life changing as the move from the 30 pin USB cable to lightning cable, it’s still a bit of a pain in the ass. And so, of course, people are complaining.
Enter the troll….
The day after the iPhone 7 officially released, YouTuber and self-proclaimed technology smasher, Taras Maksimuk a.k.a TechRax, posted a how-to video to “help” those who “ don’t want to get $159 wireless AirPods or have to insert your headphones into an adapter every time you listen to music.”
In the video, dubbed "Secret Hack To Get Headphone Jack on the iPhone 7," TechRax discusses the inconvenience the missing iPhone 7 headphone jack is bringing to many users, followed quickly by claims of a “solution.”
We then see TechRax placing a brand new iPhone 7 between a woodworking vise and securing it there. The iPhone screen starts going nuts, moving between app screens -- likely due to the vise “touching” the screen. TechRax assures viewers that if this is happening, it’s “perfectly normal” and means you’re on your way to “getting a new headphone jack.”
For those who continue watching, TechRax then proceeds to pull out drill with what we assume is a 3.5mm bit on in, and starts drilling a hole in the end of the brand new iPhone 7.
God, help us…
During the drilling process, the iPhone 7 screen, as you can imagine, is going berserk, and at one point appears to be experiencing some kind of kernel panic.
Once the drilling is complete, TechRax pulls out a pair of 3.5 mm headphones, inserts them into the “new” headphone jack, and assures the viewers that now they will be able to just sit back an enjoy the music.
While it seems like most folks would have enough sense to know this video had to be a joke, especially considering TechRax’s YouTube page features 7 other videos of him destroying iPhone 7s in various ways, apparently the subtle humor was lost on some.
Lesson to the wise:
If you or a loved one are thinking about drilling a hole into your iPhone 7, ask yourself this question. WTF is wrong with you????
WATCH: Secret Hack To Get Headphone Jack on the iPhone 7 (YouTube)
Twitter Reacts To Drilled iPhone 7 Headphone Jack Hoax
Please don't drill a hole in your new iPhone 7 https://t.co/VB0svOGeLh
— Bruno (@bibear) September 27, 2016
IS THIS TRUE ? Can people be really this dumb ?
I wonder if this https://t.co/CSh2UCN35D is an infosec problem? After all he social engineered people to destroy their own data (and phones)
— Marin Ivezic (@infosec) September 27, 2016
