Hopefully this post isn't against the rules, but a dear friend of mine recently gave me his Apple Watch Series 5, but forgot to wipe his iCloud information from it first, and I was wondering if anyone knew how for me to reset the Apple Watch so I can pair it with my iPhone. Thank you!
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Bypassing Activation Lock
- Thread starter davemp88
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Ask him to remove the device from his iCloud account and deactivate find my.
Your dear friend can turn off Activation Lock, so next time you meet him remember to bring the watch (charged) with you. He'll need his Apple ID and the iPhone the watch is linked to to turn it off, so remember to tell him to bring that one (if he has more than one iPhone).
If he's lost the iPhone the watch is linked to, he can go to iCloud.com and log in with his Apple ID, then erase the Apple Watch remotely from the Find My list.
If he's forgotten his Apple ID and can't convince Apple to regain access, then your only hope is that your dear friend has kept the Apple Watch purchase receipt. With it he might be able to have Apple unlock the watch if you visit an Apple Store.
If the receipt is gone, well.. it's the thought that counts, right? Your dear friend still wanted you to have the watch, and that's a nice gesture even if the watch is useless. Remember to get him something nice in return!
You're welcome!
If he's lost the iPhone the watch is linked to, he can go to iCloud.com and log in with his Apple ID, then erase the Apple Watch remotely from the Find My list.
If he's forgotten his Apple ID and can't convince Apple to regain access, then your only hope is that your dear friend has kept the Apple Watch purchase receipt. With it he might be able to have Apple unlock the watch if you visit an Apple Store.
If the receipt is gone, well.. it's the thought that counts, right? Your dear friend still wanted you to have the watch, and that's a nice gesture even if the watch is useless. Remember to get him something nice in return!
You're welcome!
I'm sorry to hear that. Friendships are valuable. I'd certainly much rather have a friend than their Apple Watch.
If this is the case however, then you can return the watch to Apple as the Activation Lock can't be bypassed. Apple will recycle it and give the components and materials a new life. No receipt is required for this.
If this is the case however, then you can return the watch to Apple as the Activation Lock can't be bypassed. Apple will recycle it and give the components and materials a new life. No receipt is required for this.
There’s no way around activation lock unless he remotely erases the watch and removing it from his account. Try to contact him one last time and explain this to him and see if he is willing to do you one last favour.
I find it hard to believe theres no fail-safe for this kind of situation? Like how do I open the watch in DFU mode?
How do you lose touch with a dear friend?
Sorry, but you can see how your post sounds, no one is going to help other than the advice you're already been given.
Ah! That's the really fascinating part about Activation Lock.
You see, Apple's Activation Lock is a security feature, not a convenience feature, and as such it's designed to "fail secure", not "fail safe". In other words if it "fails" in any sense of the word - for instance through failure to provide the proper credentials - it assumes the worst has happened and remains secured.
In this case the "worst" would be that the watch was stolen, or simply ended up in the hands of a person who wasn't planning to return it to the original owner. Think of your (former?) dear friend for example. Imagine if before he had a chance to give the watch to you he had lost it, and it was found by someone he didn't want to have it.
Now imagine if Activation Lock could be bypassed, for example by using a DFU mode. Perhaps that DFU mode wiped the watch so no personal information would ever end up in the wrong hands. That would still mean that people who found an Apple Watch would be tempted to keep it rather than return it, since the watch is valuable and perhaps they have an older model (or no Apple Watch to begin with). That would be a serious flaw in a security feature intended to keep the watch safe - after all, if stealing something is pointless, it's less likely to happen.
Since the Activation Lock can't be bypassed or disabled without the right credentials, however, there's more incentive for people to return the watch to its rightful owner. It's really clever that way!
That is called an antitheft measure.
As others have said... that's the point of a security feature like Activation Lock.
It cannot be bypassed by anyone other than the owner of the product with the proper password.
It was designed to work exactly like this.
Though it sucks that you're on the wrong end of this situation.
No there isn't and that's a good thing! ;-)
You lost touch with a dear friend who just RECENTLY gave you his Apple Watch…
That’s unfortunate. Condolences.
But yeah, you’re not getting into the watch without him, thanks to Apple’s (most desirable) security
What a strange and surprising turn of events. One's dear friend presents them a beautiful gift, then immediately becomes unreachable! How unfortunate, OP.
Dear Friend might have died, which happens.
That said, there's no good way around the lock. You can sell it on eBay for parts, that's about it.
Poorly disguised story about a stolen Apple Watch. ?
You can get around the activation lock by opening the watch, remove the logic board, desolder the cpu and a few other chips and replace them with the same chips out of another watch that hasn't been activation locked.. Easy enough?. Your options have been outlined in the many informative posts in this thread and there isn't any way around it..
This is the best response here. Only true way to bypass it.
Hand it into the police station so they can return it to the rightful owner.