Activation Lock

tardman91

tardman91

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 21, 2009
1,030
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Tampa Area, FL
Long story short - My brother has the iPhone 5S (that he paid for) that his ex-fiance left behind along with the ring after he caught her cheating. The phone is locked though, and he doesn't know the password. The chances of getting her to sign in and deactivate Find My iPhone are slim to none. I know how to DFU restore a phone which would have taken care of the issue in the past, but is there any way to get around the activation lock that either the carrier or Apple could help out with, or that I could do on my own? I'm no stranger to hacking iPhones pre iOS 6. Or is he screwed and is he going to have to reach some kind of deal with her. His only shred of hope is that she wants her pictures and stuff from the phone. Bitches be crazy! :rolleyes:
 

eyoungren

eyoungren

macrumors Core
Aug 31, 2011
21,176
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ten-zero-eleven-zero-zero by zero-two
tardman91 said:
Long story short - My brother has the iPhone 5S (that he paid for) that his ex-fiance left behind along with the ring after he caught her cheating. The phone is locked though, and he doesn't know the password. The chances of getting her to sign in and deactivate Find My iPhone are slim to none. I know how to DFU restore a phone which would have taken care of the issue in the past, but is there any way to get around the activation lock that either the carrier or Apple could help out with, or that I could do on my own? I'm no stranger to hacking iPhones pre iOS 6.
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No.
tardman91 said:
Or is he screwed and is he going to have to reach some kind of deal with her. His only shred of hope is that she wants her pictures and stuff from the phone. Bitches be crazy! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
^^^You have answered your own question.

Sorry, he's screwed on this unless she cooperates.
 
C

CEmajr

macrumors 601
Dec 18, 2012
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Charlotte, NC
If he paid for it then could go to the Apple Store and provide them with the receipt that he purchased it and they might remove the lock for him.
 
TWO2SEVEN

TWO2SEVEN

macrumors 68040
Jun 27, 2010
3,520
637
Plano, TX
Is it passcode locked too?

Maybe there are some blackmail worthy pictures on there... ;)

Only joking of course.

As eyoungren stated, without her cooperation he can sell it as non functioning (for parts, etc).
 
1

156457

macrumors 6502
Jan 28, 2008
457
0
UK
Apple Stores do not have the ability to bypass activation lock. You could ask her to login to iCloud.com from a computer and under the Find my iPhone section just press the 'x' next to the phone and it will remove the account from the phone, without her having to meet you or be near the phone.
 
bmac4

bmac4

macrumors 601
Feb 14, 2013
4,112
1,290
Atlanta Ga
Activation Lock

Why did she even give the phone back if she was mad enough that you guys don't think she would take the activation lock off? The last girl I broke up with just took everything I had ever let her borrow. Never saw any of it again.
 
tardman91

tardman91

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Original poster
Oct 21, 2009
1,030
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Tampa Area, FL
bmac4 said:
Why did she even give the phone back if she was mad enough that you guys don't think she would take the activation lock off? The last girl I broke up with just took everything I had ever let her borrow. Never saw any of it again.
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I dunno. :confused:
 

A

ApfelKuchen

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Aug 28, 2012
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tardman91 said:
:::snip::: I know how to DFU restore a phone which would have taken care of the issue in the past, but is there any way to get around the activation lock that either the carrier or Apple could help out with, or that I could do on my own? I'm no stranger to hacking iPhones pre iOS 6. Or is he screwed and is he going to have to reach some kind of deal with her. His only shred of hope is that she wants her pictures and stuff from the phone. Bitches be crazy! :rolleyes:
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It's not mentioned, but I assume he does not have access to the email address used for the Apple ID? If he does, password reset, voila!

If his name (rather than hers) is on the Apple ID account, then he can call Apple about a password reset, even if he can't get into the email account.

There's nothing you can do at all, other than help your brother navigate Apple's system. The point of Activation Lock is just that - even if you found a way to wipe it (none I'm aware of - it'd be all over the headlines), Apple's activation servers will not allow a re-activation. And the phone company has no part in any of this - it's all on Apple's side.

In the end, this is a human problem, not technical. Whether it's a change of heart, or some adept horse-trading, she has to sign it out of Find My iPhone. The photos might not even be leverage - if there's an iCloud backup, she could restore that to a new phone.
 
richwoodrocket

richwoodrocket

macrumors 68020
Apr 7, 2014
2,127
111
Buffalo, NY
I just went to the Apple store and asked if they could remove the find my iPhone activation lock on devices brought in. They said there's no way to do it even with proof. They even had me turn off find my iPhone on my iPhone when they replaced the screen. Idk why they would need it off.
 
Newtons Apple

Newtons Apple

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Mar 12, 2014
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richwoodrocket said:
I just went to the Apple store and asked if they could remove the find my iPhone activation lock on devices brought in. They said there's no way to do it even with proof. They even had me turn off find my iPhone on my iPhone when they replaced the screen. Idk why they would need it off.
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Yep, that is what I thought. I bet Apple corp would do it for the NSA. :eek:

If it were under warranty, about 5 seconds in the microwave . . . . .:rolleyes:
 
Totally

Totally

macrumors 6502a
Feb 22, 2012
742
258
West Coast = Best Coast
Without her putting in the icloud password, the phone is worth it's weight in parts.

You won't get it activation unlocked at the apple store. You can't do it yourself. I bet the apple 'geniuses' can't even do it. She can do it, if she exists ^

Rant time: Why do you people keep making these threads? If you go back in the forums a few days, you can find another one where people gave the exact same answers - See Edit 2 at the bottom

@ Mods can you please delete all these threads?

Edit: I brought my iphone to the apple store just to ask what apple would pay me to trade it in, I had to deactivate the Find My Iphone feature, so good luck ^

Edit 2: If my point wasn't clear enough, here's another thread address the EXACT SAME TOPIC with a post made 2 days ago... http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1723455
 
Last edited:
richwoodrocket

richwoodrocket

macrumors 68020
Apr 7, 2014
2,127
111
Buffalo, NY
Totally said:
Without her putting in the icloud password, the phone is worth it's weight in parts.

You won't get it activation unlocked at the apple store. You can't do it yourself. I bet the apple 'geniuses' can't even do it. She can do it, if she exists ^

Rant time: Why do you people keep making these threads? If you go back in the forums a few days, you can find another one where people gave the exact same answers - See Edit 2 at the bottom

@ Mods can you please delete all these threads?

Edit: I brought my iphone to the apple store just to ask what apple would pay me to trade it in, I had to deactivate the Find My Iphone feature, so good luck ^

Edit 2: If my point wasn't clear enough, here's another thread address the EXACT SAME TOPIC with a post made 2 days ago... http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1723455
Click to expand...

It seems like there's at least one new thread like this every day. I agree with you. The mods should delete the thread and be done with it. There's more than enough on the forum already about this.
 
8

869639

macrumors 6502
Jan 2, 2014
327
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Earth
Even for simple things as repairs at apple store, they do ask you to turn off Find My iPhone either on the device or by logging into iCloud.com -- Apple made the Activation lock to prevent theft, so they aren't just going to pony up the requests from people who simply walk into the store....lets face it, criminals would find a way to produce/reproduce receipts etc just to get around it and for that Apple has simply put their foot down....and it makes sense...how many people don't remember their email password? Ok maybe there is good precent that don't, but then you can also reset the password which isn't a mission impossible...and it goes on to prove the identity of the email account holder and the device owner.
 
gnasher729

gnasher729

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Nov 25, 2005
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CEmajr said:
If he paid for it then could go to the Apple Store and provide them with the receipt that he purchased it and they might remove the lock for him.
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The whole idea is that they can't. If they can remove the lock for a legitimate owner, they can remove the lock for a thief with a clever story.

Newtons Apple said:
Yep, that is what I thought. I bet Apple corp would do it for the NSA. :eek:
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Makes the argument even stronger that you don't want Apple to have that ability.
 
A

aristobrat

macrumors G5
Oct 14, 2005
12,244
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Newtons Apple said:
If it were under warranty, about 5 seconds in the microwave . . . . .:rolleyes:
Click to expand...
I recently had an iPhone 5 replaced at the Apple Store. It was so smashed that it would not turn on (the same end result after microwaving it, I'd imagine).

Even though it couldn't turn on, the Apple system told the Genius that Find My iPhone was still enabled and they made me logon to icloud.com and remove the phone (ie remotely disable it on the smashed phone) before they would give me the replacement.

Weird.
 
I7guy

I7guy

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Nov 30, 2013
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aristobrat said:
I recently had an iPhone 5 replaced at the Apple Store. It was so smashed that it would not turn on (the same end result after microwaving it, I'd imagine).

Even though it couldn't turn on, the Apple system told the Genius that Find My iPhone was still enabled and they made me logon to icloud.com and remove the phone (ie remotely disable it on the smashed phone) before they would give me the replacement.

Weird.
Click to expand...
Makes sense that they would not want to replace a stolen phone.
 
A

ApfelKuchen

macrumors 68040
Aug 28, 2012
3,141
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Between the coasts
aristobrat said:
I recently had an iPhone 5 replaced at the Apple Store. It was so smashed that it would not turn on (the same end result after microwaving it, I'd imagine).

Even though it couldn't turn on, the Apple system told the Genius that Find My iPhone was still enabled and they made me logon to icloud.com and remove the phone (ie remotely disable it on the smashed phone) before they would give me the replacement.

Weird.
Click to expand...
Nothing weird about it. It's a theft deterrent. Most theft deterrents are inconvenient. If nobody stole iPhones, life would be simpler.

Activation Lock was designed to keep people from wiping a phone after they stole/found it. They made the system highly secure, which means they couldn't give tens of thousands of employees, cell phone dealers, and authorized repair shops a way to get around it.

Part of Apple's standard repair process is to wipe and Restore iOS - in part, to protect our privacy - wipe first, fix afterwards. In addition, a lot of repairs require that iOS be restored (even if replacing a screen may not). And if they decide to give/send you a replacement rather than repair yours on the spot, they can't refurb the one they got from you unless you unlock it first.

Is it weird for Apple to want to make sure that none of those things is a problem?
 

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