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Apple Stores Removing Security Tethers From iPhone Display Models

fischersd said:
Heh. Does it distinctly state whether the alarms will be sounding in the store or on the device? :)
Pretty easy bit of code to write to do that.

Edit: Also, with the base station at the back of the store, you know what the signal strength will be - these devices support 802.11AC, so also support the 802.11v feature "time in flight" - so they should be able to state distance from the base station - you get out the front door, the employees are also alerted.
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How does that work if someone turns off wifi and Bluetooth? Any risk of triggering false alarms as a prank or accidentally?
 
Really Apple? Day one of the Apple Store Steve said no tethers. He wanted you to be able to experience the products unrestricted. Then Angela or the other guy adds them after he is dead, then removes them under the guise of "innovation". Wow. Way to remarket an old idea.
 
NeilHD said:
The phone may be unusable if stolen, but if you needed a new screen or battery or something... then this seems like a good source of genuine spare parts!
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I suppose....
If to you the thought of stealing a $60 battery, then trying to find a shady repair shop that won't ask questions about why you want it removed from a locked display model & placed in your phone seems worth it, considering if you get caught- the value of what you stole would be calculated at the $650-$969 retail cost of the phone, NOT the $60 value of the battery you were trying to nab.
Also.... how did this hypothetical thief of yours afford an iPhone 7/7 Plus in the 1st place, if they can't afford a replacement battery, which runs roughly 5% the cost of the phone??
If your answer is: some quick, easy, lucrative theft; might I suggest that is similarly how they'd fund their new battery, rather than risky & silly scheme you suggest?
 
Chupa Chupa said:
I'm certain this is something Apple cleared with whoever underwrites its theft insurance policy, and also why Mac laptops won't get the same treatment.
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Theft insurance policy? Huh?

Mac laptops won't get the same treatment because whereas one puts a phone in their pocket regularly, nobody puts a laptop in their pocket. Therefore no need to unnecessarily remove the security devices.
 
Porco said:
I'm not sure it's true the devices would be unusable if stolen... maybe not fully useable as phones/internet devices, but as a camera, an iPod etc... ? What if a thief just turns location services off and Airplane mode on before they walk out? (Maybe Apple will add those to the 'restrictions' list in settings).
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If it's in airplane mode, it's pretty much unusable, right? Who is going to steal an iPhone to use as a camera, and jump through hoops to get the pictures off of it? And it can't be restored because of activation lock.
 
Abazigal said:
How does that work if someone turns off wifi and Bluetooth? Any risk of triggering false alarms as a prank or accidentally?
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Can you turn off wifi and bluetooth on the demo units? (they could easily not allow access to those settings - or have disabling them unavailable).

Heh. Or give the appearance that the wifi is actually disabled. (this is a demo unit after all).
 
MysteryMii215 said:
Apple has now made it easier to steal their iPhones from their stores!

Edit: (Note to self: Always read the entire article before commenting.)
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But isn't that the norm here? Comment before reading what you are commenting on and make the poster embarrass himself? The desire to bash Apple here far exceeds the desire to act intelligently. That's what makes this forum so popular to read and participate in.
 
Perhaps they should make an app for their store models that sets off an alarm if it goes a certain amount of feet from their base.

This is just asking for people to steal.
 
fischersd said:
Can you turn off wifi and bluetooth on the demo units? (they could easily not allow access to those settings - or have disabling them unavailable).
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I admit I haven't actually tried this myself, just thought that with the ease of bringing up control centre, toggling these settings on and off could be done quite easily, be it inadvertently or not.

Something I might want to try out the next time I visit my local Apple retailer, I suppose.
 
frumpy16 said:
I just watched a TV show recently that profiled cell phone theft. Phones are stolen in the US and shipped to Latin America where people use software/hardware tools to break the software locks and then they are sold throughout Latin America. I don't see why that M.O. wouldn't work with these display model phones. All that said, I'm sure Apple has robust security in their stores. Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it isn't there.
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They are most likely using Enterprise mode: If you are a company, you can buy for example 1,000 iPhones that are registered to your company. There is absolutely no way to register that phone in any other way, it will forever be registered to that company. In this case, the phones will be registered to Apple or maybe "Apple Retail".
 
nia820 said:
Perhaps they should make an app for their store models that sets off an alarm if it goes a certain amount of feet from their base.

This is just asking for people to steal.
Click to expand...
There is. It says in the article.
 
There's a reason the security tethers are there in the first place. Apple can place them into lost mode, but they are still losing hundreds of dollars in hardware.
 
Has it already been said that all phones are still alarmed via a beacon system? Too far away from the table and an alarm will go off on the device itself.

Also I highly doubt this will stretch to all stores. Angela and her team mean well, and I'm sure this system will be fine in some of the nicer stores...but not in stores where you can't even use the display iMacs because some lowlife has stolen the trackpads/mice.

Also stealing demo iPhones...LOL. Paperweights at best.
 
Wow. And I've always been amazed by how the Apple Pencils, which on more than one occasion I've picked up off the floor and returned to their trays, are totally unsecured.
 
Can't you just disable find my phone in settings or does the remote method in icloud over ride that function? I'm just thinking you turnoff findmyphone then secure erase the phone and then restore to your own account. Apple would need to disable your account or over ride the password. I'm just speculating.
 
This will stop the part-time shoplifter. However, there have been teams of professionals that have restored lots of stolen iPhone for overseas sales. Curious if the "stolen" flag now goes beyond the OS and into the iPhone 7 hardware rendering it inoperable?
 
There's a security measure I'm sure they built into their beacon technology that is within every Apple Store. Someone tries to leave with their device, they are alerted and or the device itself changes to demo mode/locks. But for the most part it's extremely low risk and allows people to actually "try" their devices prior to buying. Essentially the person could buy a phone, go home and buy a case online but without really knowing anything about it.. now with the try before you buy.. you can try a case and make sure it's exactly what you want. Apple makes extra on accessories too.
 
Just turn on Airplane mode and never turn it off, you'll have a nice iPod touch and camera.

Does the phone phone home if you plug it into your computer though? If you can still sync music to it with airplane mode and the device not phoning home...still 100% usable.
 
That is nice of Apple, but don't under estimate the lack of common sense by some out there.. Those who decide to walk out of the store with one will probably wonder why Apple lacks the common sense of securing the display phones, probably not realizing these stolen phones are useless and worthless.
 
It reminds me when I was a student at Exeter (England). The City Council painted some 500 bicycles green and dumped them all over the city for people to use for free, to pick them up and drop them off wherever and whenever they wanted. 24 hours later, every bicycle was gone... Desperately naive, sadly.
 
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