Everybody loves to hear about hidden secrets in their devices, from the secret Flappy Bird clone inside Android Lollipop to the various funny responses given by AI assistants when you ask them the right question. But this is one Easter egg you definitely do not want to hunt.

Apparently originating at anonymous message board 4chan, the below image has been doing the rounds on social media and across the web, encouraging iPhone users to set their system time to January 1, 1970, in order to see a special retro Apple start-up screen. In fact, doing this will kill your device and make it unable to boot.

Putting aside how suspicious the suggestion of this Easter egg is (1970 is years before Apple was even founded, let alone releasing Macintoshes), it certainly appeals to our sense of discovery. But those who followed the advice were shocked to find their phones dead, beyond the reach even of an iTunes restore.