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Can Apple override Activation Lock?

P

pmontanarella

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 12, 2012
321
7
Vancouver, Canada
Hi all,

I will be bringing my iOS 7 running device to the Genius Bar tomorrow for a non-software related issue. I've called the store and they said if the issue is not related to having iOS 7 and I got the beta legally then it's fine. However, I was thinking that I will also have to personally deactivate Find my iPhone before replacing my iPhone because otherwise the person who may then get my iPhone as a replacement phone wouldn't be able to activate it. I guess this isn't a big issue now but when iOS 7 goes public it would become a big issue, which leads me to my main point. Do you guys think Apple Store Geniuses can override Activation Lock when the prepare iPhones for replacement? Or will it just become standard to deactivate Find my iPhone before giving in your phone?

Pietro
 
pmontanarella said:
Hi all,

I will be bringing my iOS 7 running device to the Genius Bar tomorrow for a non-software related issue. I've called the store and they said if the issue is not related to having iOS 7 and I got the beta legally then it's fine. However, I was thinking that I will also have to personally deactivate Find my iPhone before replacing my iPhone because otherwise the person who may then get my iPhone as a replacement phone wouldn't be able to activate it. I guess this isn't a big issue now but when iOS 7 goes public it would become a big issue, which leads me to my main point. Do you guys think Apple Store Geniuses can override Activation Lock when the prepare iPhones for replacement? Or will it just become standard to deactivate Find my iPhone before giving in your phone?

Pietro
Click to expand...


Well if you're sure that they will replace your phone, why don't you just downgrade to 6.1.4 and save everyone some trouble? But I'm pretty sure they can downgrade the phone themselves for now if needed. Also, if it's a hardware issue, I'm sure they'll take it through repairs/refurbishing process and they will have to thoroughly test the phone before they can resell the phone so I'm sure they would fix that in the process.

My advice though, is just to downgrade so if there's some problem when you take it in, they would be able to test your device and ensure that there are no future problems if they do indeed replace your phone.
 
pmontanarella said:
. Do you guys think Apple Store Geniuses can override Activation Lock when the prepare iPhones for replacement?
Click to expand...

No, they can not. Then again, who says they recycle storage. They may not which solves that issue.

It's also possible there is a way for the Cupe engineers to do it. But they will never give that kind of power to retail staff.
 
charlituna said:
No, they can not. Then again, who says they recycle storage. They may not which solves that issue.

It's also possible there is a way for the Cupe engineers to do it. But they will never give that kind of power to retail staff.
Click to expand...

No, I'm sure they would be able to completely deactivate a device, but they wouldn't do it without proof of purchase/ownership.
 
you can turn off activation lock...

settings>icloud>find my iphone

(posted in another thread by someone else)
 
chrf097 said:
No, I'm sure they would be able to completely deactivate a device, but they wouldn't do it without proof of purchase/ownership.
Click to expand...

If you own it then you should be deactivating it yourself. So more like they won't unless it is post swap in their 'morgue'

----------
flatfoot99 said:
maybe it will be apple protocol to not accept it without it off?
Click to expand...

That's possible as well. But I suspect the reason for the original question was the infamous 'I bought this from a guy off Craigslist and its locked up' scenario. To wit I suspect the answer is SOL at least in terms of the Genius Bar since they wouldn't likely be given a master key and that will be deemed an unswappable issue (since if they did swap for it that would defeat the point of the whole system)
 
This may not help, but in a similar situation I told the Genius if the phone needs swapped I wanted my old phone wiped first. He told me he could not do that per his store policy but he would always return the old phone to me before swapping to see if there was anything I wanted saved. Then I could personally make any setting changes and wipe it myself.
 
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