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Apple Watch Vulnerable to Theft With No Activation Lock

Col4bin said:
Ulike Apple to not anticipate this.
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They likely did but weighing it against other priorities and the potential impact of it (or lack of) they did what they did with a first generation of a brand new product for them. Happened and happens to plenty of products and companies--simple reality that has been there for ages really.

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iConnected said:
End of is an English colloquialism, my friend ;)

I shudder to think of the crimes that will be committed before this mater is deemed to be an "actual issue".
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Unfortunately it's more like degeneration of a language. But that's a whole different thing of its own.

As for the whole issue part of it--that's why it's not really an issue despite attempts to make it seem like it should be one, let alone is actually one.
 
rohitp said:
I'm just not that important. :eek:
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I dodn't think it's a case of being important or not. Calls do get missed even if the phone is in your pocket and trust me when I say it. And some calls or messages are the kind you wish you would have never missed (and I hope you never do)
 
There is nothing that stops a $20,000 Rolex from parting ways with it's owner and being worn on a new owner's wrist either. In fact, 99% of things worth more than the price of an iWatch have no theft deterrents either.
 
oplix said:
There is nothing that stops a $20,000 Rolex from parting ways with it's owner and being worn on a new owner's wrist either. In fact, 99% of things worth more than the price of an iWatch have no theft deterrents either.
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Precisely. You're making the counter argument yourself.

A $20,000 Rolex doesn't have any capabilities that could be applied as a theft deterrent.

The Apple Watch does. Despite costing less.
 
iConnected said:
:rolleyes:

Wikipedia: "Colloquial language may include slang, but mostly forms such as contractions or other informal words known to most native speakers of the language"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colloquialism

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/end-of
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:rolleyes: indeed

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iConnected said:
Precisely. You're making the counter argument yourself.

A $20,000 Rolex doesn't have any capabilities that could be applied as a theft deterrent.

The Apple Watch does. Despite costing less.
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More like it potentially could, but doesn't (yet). A Rolex could potentially have some more stuff built into it along the lines of a theft deterrent, but hasn't so far after all these years (decades really).
 
ThisIsNotMe said:
How is this limitation any different than a MacBook, iPod Touch, iMac, ect???
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On those devices you CAN connect to a WiFi network from the device itself... Still not true of the watch. See my earlier post on a practical way to make it a possibility, though.
 
C DM said:
More like it potentially could, but doesn't (yet). A Rolex could potentially have some more stuff built into it along the lines of a theft deterrent, but hasn't so far after all these years (decades really).
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So exactly like it doesn't, then. :D
 
I'll have the Sport, then…

I honestly don't get most of your non-chalant, shrug-it-off responses here in the forum, as if you weren't in the least bit surprised by this blatant lack of security…

Seriously? After Apple got us spoiled with AppleID locks on iOS devices, you were seriously expecting Apple to step their efforts down a few (!) notches?

I, for one, am seriously disappointed… And, since I am living in a crisis-ridden country, where crime is at a surprising low but more likely to go up than not, I would have to be out of my mind if I went out and about daily with a highly coveted €800+ piece of kit strapped to my wrist (especially during half of the year, seeing that our climate is rather mild and we tend to use short-sleeved clothing, duh). And I do not feel the least bit uncomfortable in flaunting my iPhone 5S around, as it doesn't have that big of a resale value.

So Apple just lost an Apple Watch collection customer, rather instantly. I may still get the Sport, but still… Apple will lose a lot of sales over this, mark my words.
 
sualpine said:
BREAKING: Gen 1 Apple product has reasons not to buy!
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First generation of a brand new product category for a company, that is more personal and fairly different from other products from that company, doesn't automatically come with everything possible under the sun and beyond!
 
Mainyehc said:
I honestly don't get most of your non-chalant, shrug-it-off responses here in the forum, as if you weren't in the least bit surprised by this blatant lack of security…

Seriously? After Apple got us spoiled with AppleID locks on iOS devices, you were seriously expecting Apple to step their efforts down a few (!) notches?

I, for one, am seriously disappointed… And, since I am living in a crisis-ridden country, where crime is at a surprising low but more likely to go up than not, I would have to be out of my mind if I went out and about daily with a highly coveted €800+ piece of kit strapped to my wrist (especially during half of the year, seeing that our climate is rather mild and we tend to use short-sleeved clothing, duh). And I do not feel the least bit uncomfortable in flaunting my iPhone 5S around, as it doesn't have that big of a resale value.

So Apple just lost an Apple Watch collection customer, rather instantly. I may still get the Sport, but still… Apple will lose a lot of sales over this, mark my words.
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Yes, I will mark your word and probably serve it back to you on a platter when the 50M Apple watch sale arrives in Dec 2016 to March 2017.

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iConnected said:
The bottom line here is that Apple COULD have made an industry leading statement here (define that how you will - watches, smart watches, etc) and built some great theft disincentives into the workings of the Apple Watch.

I don't care about comparisons with <insert your choice of mechanical watches, other smart watches, other Apple devices>.

They could have made this FAR less attractive to steal from day one.

And they should have.

End of.
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They already made a statement with the phone, that no one has even matched yet. Think they're already ahead of the game. Considering the immense effort it took to get this watch to market (and still there are delays), how long do you think Apple should have waited to make it available to have every feature in the world in the first version. Some people they could have made a statement by offering more sensors. But, hey, they have to live with it anyway. I've never got watches stolen in my whole life and my watches were a lot easier to steal than this watch and more expensive than all but the edition watch.

Maybe they wanted to do it initially, but because of time to market constraints, costs constraints, resource constraints, they couldn't. If it is a software issue, the current watch will get it eventually. If not, probably a future model will get it in a not too far future.
 
RollTide1017 said:
Neither do "regular" phones so what's your point? I didn't know we were setting the bar so low based on decades old tech, centuries old when it comes to watches. With that kind of thinking, maybe Apple should remove all security features on the iPhone to match those "regular" phones.

This is a new advanced piece of hardware that is trying to change the smart watch game. Activation lock and Find My iPhone should have been no brainers at this point for Apple. I'm not putting my data on a device that can not be secured.

The more I read about the Apple Watch, the more it seems like it was rushed to market, maybe they should have waited another year and worked more of the kinks out.

Data theft is a huge business these days and releasing a device without as much security as possible just seems lazy and a disservice to consumers (this goes to all smart watch manufacturers, not just Apple).
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Yeah, "no brainer", despite the fact that this is a new complex product with a new OS, new hardware and a new way to sell, which has been developed for years and is still in short supply at launch. You think it is "that" easy. They probably thought about doing it; but, seeing as the watch software already seemingly pushed the watch release (and delayed production), how much further should they have pushed the watches release to get that feature? Next year?

In a project like this, you do feature freezes as early as possible. You try not to over scope the project; otherwise, the millions of moving parts in the project with crush you. A few unique selling points are focused on intensely (for example, haptic, force touch, fashion, build quality, compact are key one on the watch), long term viability also has to be insured (Watch API, integration with ecosystem); everything else is pushed to a future release.
 
ksuyen said:
Fixed: Apple had 3 years to develop their own watch while other manufacturers rush out to market before Apple release theirs just so people like you could ignorantly and mistakenly claim that Apple had 3 years to copy other watches. :D
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Even though other watches were out years before Apple, right? Yes, they totally rushed :rolleyes:
 
Governments did not pressure manufacturers to implement a "kill switch" in mobile devices to combat theft. The state doesn't care about theft or even private property. The intention was to allow the state to turn off phones, specifically smartphones with cameras and microphones, so that it could control the flow of information through social media. It's also to prevent the public from documenting malfeasance by state agents.
 
Keirasplace said:
Yes, I will mark your word and probably serve it back to you on a platter when the 50M Apple watch sale arrives in Dec 2016 to March 2017.

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They already made a statement with the phone, that no one has even matched yet. Think they're already ahead of the game. Considering the immense effort it took to get this watch to market (and still there are delays), how long do you think Apple should have waited to make it available to have every feature in the world in the first version. Some people they could have made a statement by offering more sensors. But, hey, they have to live with it anyway. I've never got watches stolen in my whole life and my watches were a lot easier to steal than this watch and more expensive than all but the edition watch.

Maybe they wanted to do it initially, but because of time to market constraints, costs constraints, resource constraints, they couldn't. If it is a software issue, the current watch will get it eventually. If not, probably a future model will get it in a not too far future.
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^^^ this to everyone that's nitpicking.
Goodness gracious. No one is forcing you to buy the thing if you feel its a thief magnet. This is really an overblown issue here. where are you folks walking to/through/from that you feel you will get robbed or have it stolen? How about this, try getting off Facebook/Instagram/Twitter and pay attention to your surroundings, don't take it off and leave it on the table at Starbucks while you go to the bathroom, how about that. You know at least until they update the software to include a lock screen or something, maybe then you will feel better about leaving it behind in public?
 
deadandalive said:
Thanks for the step by step instructions letting people know why it is a great idea to steal my Watch
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fallacy. what youre advocating (keeping quiet) is called "security by obscurity" (google it). it doesnt work -- secrets get spread.
 
Keirasplace said:
Yeah, "no brainer", despite the fact that this is a new complex product with a new OS, new hardware and a new way to sell, which has been developed for years and is still in short supply at launch. You think it is "that" easy. They probably thought about doing it; but, seeing as the watch software already seemingly pushed the watch release (and delayed production), how much further should they have pushed the watches release to get that feature? Next year?

In a project like this, you do feature freezes as early as possible. You try not to over scope the project; otherwise, the millions of moving parts in the project with crush you. A few unique selling points are focused on intensely (for example, haptic, force touch, fashion, build quality, compact are key one on the watch), long term viability also has to be insured (Watch API, integration with ecosystem); everything else is pushed to a future release.
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Many people seem to not even consider that simple reality, and even when it's pointed out they often choose to ignore it because it doesn't fit in with what they want.

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Dr. Weezil said:
Governments did not pressure manufacturers to implement a "kill switch" in mobile devices to combat theft. The state doesn't care about theft or even private property. The intention was to allow the state to turn off phones, specifically smartphones with cameras and microphones, so that it could control the flow of information through social media. It's also to prevent the public from documenting malfeasance by state agents.
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So with Activation Lock the government can turn the phone off? That's a new one.
 
bbeagle said:
Why is only Apple Watch singled out?

EVERY smart watch and NON-smart watch - even those costing thousands of dollars more - operates in the same way. Lose the watch, or get it stolen, someone else can use it like it was theirs.

Every Rolex, Timex, Moto 360.... all work the same way. Why single out Apple Watch?
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But no one is going to steal a galaxy gear or pebble. But an apple watch is a hot item.
 
SirCheese said:
Even though other watches were out years before Apple, right? Yes, they totally rushed :rolleyes:
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Sure years, 2 years is also called years, right? :D Obviously my reference is only smartwatch unless you consider the black white screen with limited functions as one, then I just lol. That's definitely not what Apple watch copied (clue: they didn't).
 
Last edited:
We have Find My Phone for iPad and iPhone. Why not expand it for Apple Watch also.

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Glideslope said:
No, there are at least 6. The one on the wrist of a colleauge at work who is about to attend meetings from a remote desktop. ;)
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The desktop 6 feet under right? :D
 
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