Earlier today, Apple issued a patched version of iOS 9.2.1 that restores iPhones disabled by Error 53, which gained notoriety a couple of weeks ago after a report by The Guardian.

Matthew Panzarino writes:

Today, Apple is issuing an updated version of iOS 9.2.1 for users that update their iPhones via iTunes only. This update will restore phones ‘bricked’ or disabled by Error 53 and will prevent future iPhones that have had their home button (or the cable) replaced by third party repair centers from being disabled. Note that this is a patched version of iOS 9.2.1, previously issued, not a brand new version of iOS.

As I hoped, Apple has fixed iOS’ behavior so that iPhones will no longer be bricked by Error 53. From the company’s statement to TechCrunch:

We apologize for any inconvenience, this was designed to be a factory test and was not intended to affect customers. Customers who paid for an out-of-warranty replacement of their device based on this issue should contact AppleCare about a reimbursement.

Good profile by Brad Stone, Adam Satariano, and Gwen Ackerman, with some interesting details about the iPad Pro’s original schedule and Srouji’s background.

A little over a year ago, Apple had a problem: The iPad Pro was behind schedule. Elements of the hardware, software, and accompanying stylus weren’t going to be ready for a release in the spring. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook and his top lieutenants had to delay the unveiling until the fall. That gave most of Apple’s engineers more time. It gave a little-known executive named Johny Srouji much less.

Srouji is the senior vice president for hardware technologies at Apple. He runs the division that makes processor chips, the silicon brains inside the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Apple TV. The original plan was to introduce the iPad Pro with Apple’s tablet chip, the A8X, the same processor that powered the iPad Air 2, introduced in 2014. But delaying until fall meant that the Pro would make its debut alongside the iPhone 6s, which was going to use a newer, faster phone chip called the A9.

This week, Federico and Myke discuss the Amazon Echo, Tim Cook’s letter to the FBI and Apple executives on The Talk Show.

A solid episode of Connected this week, with an interesting discussion on software quality and Apple’s focus. You can listen here.

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I’m a big fan of 2Do, and today’s 3.8.1 update packs some neat additions that heavy users of the app should check out.

Besides new settings for due dates and default collection lists, 2Do now comes with new search presets for dates, which will allow you to create smart lists for tasks due today, tomorrow, this week, and more. You can also look for tasks that have been completed within a specific date range – useful to build filters to see how much you’ve been productive in, say, the past week.

There are enhancements for automation with URL schemes, too: you can now perform quick searches without creating a smart list every time (imagine the possibilities with Workflow and Drafts here), and – this is something a lot of users were asking for – the URL scheme has a new parameter to pick an existing project/checklist to add a new task to.

2Do keeps getting more powerful on each release. You can get version 3.8.1 here.

No new information or interesting tidbits from this brief profile of Apple’s CEO and CDO on Vogue, but I liked this bit from Ive at the end:

“Both the hand and the machine can produce things with exquisite care or with no care at all,” says Ive. “But it’s important to remember that what was seen at one time as the most sophisticated technology eventually becomes tradition. There was a time when even the metal needle would have been seen as shocking and profoundly new.”