Activation Lock

[tardman91]

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!

 

[eyoungren]

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.

No.

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!

^^^You have answered your own question.

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

 

[CEmajr]

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]

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).

 

[tardman91]

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.

Is this a really possibility?

 

[Newtons Apple]

Is this a really possibility?

I do not think they will.

 

[TWO2SEVEN]

Is this a really possibility?

You may get lucky at the store, but I doubt it. Never hurts to try.

 

[Newtons Apple]

I have my doubts if the Apple store even has the ability to do this.

 

[T5BRICK]

I have my doubts if the Apple store even has the ability to do this.

They don't have the ability, or at least aren't willing to do it as far as I know.

 

[156457]

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]

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]

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.

I dunno.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

:::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!

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.

 

[bmac4]

I dunno.

Image

She was the one who screwed up. She should have to fix this. Maybe she will have a change of heart soon.

 

[blueroom]

Chalk it up as a loss and move on.

 

[richwoodrocket]

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]

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.

Yep, that is what I thought. I bet Apple corp would do it for the NSA.

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

 

[Totally]

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... https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1723455/

 

[Applejuiced]

Chalk it up as a loss and move on.

Yep.
Better to get stuck with a useless phone than with a useless chick.
He'd be better off in the end

 

[richwoodrocket]

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... https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1723455/

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.

 

[869639]

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]

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.

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.

Yep, that is what I thought. I bet Apple corp would do it for the NSA.

Makes the argument even stronger that you don't want Apple to have that ability.

 

[aristobrat]

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

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]

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.

Makes sense that they would not want to replace a stolen phone.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

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.

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?