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iPad Death should be a password exception @Apple

D

DaKaiser

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 11, 2015
3
0
My beloved brother passed away suddenly last Friday at the age of 43. No health problems. We are devastated. I spent well over an hour with Apple tech trying to get someone to allow me to bypass the lock code so we can download his photos. They can't give us an exception. When someone dies, they should allow this as one I think.

I don't know what to do. I have not tried anymore to get in because I don't want to lock the thing up and disable it. Is there ANYTHING I can do to bypass this so I can get his videos and photos?

It's an iPad mini. I can get into his iTunes/iCloud account because I set everything up for him. (Im a bit of a geek but he was computer challenged) He never did a backup because he didn't know how. I just assumed everything would be on his photo stream but I don't think he had that selected because I don't see any iPad photos on his phone, which I CAN get into.

So on his phone and on his iCloud I can't see IPad photos. I need to somehow bypass so I can get to his photos.

If anyone could help me i would appreciate it.
 
So sorry for your loss.

There is no back door on the iPad. Apple cannot actually get in, so there is no exception rule they can apply.
 
thewitt said:
So sorry for your loss.

There is no back door on the iPad. Apple cannot actually get in, so there is no exception rule they can apply.
Click to expand...

How do the police get in them then? There has to be a way. I don't want to lose all his photos. This is SO WRONG for families of those who have passed away!
 
DaKaiser said:
How do the police get in them then? There has to be a way. I don't want to lose all his photos. This is SO WRONG for families of those who have passed away!
Click to expand...

As I understand it, the police don't get in either.

I would not bother with the Apple Genius Bar. Contact Tim Cook directly at Apple. His email address is searchable with Google.
 
Since you have the apple id and password:
I would guess one way is to connect the iPad to his computer, hope he synced them at one time...
Anyways:
-Connect the iPad to his computer or the computer he synced to
-Back the iPad up using iTunes since it was synced you can back it up w/out needing the password
-Use the restore button on iTunes then restore the backup and then it will ask for a new iPad password
Here is more info:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204306


The other way:
If not then you can just connect the iPad to a power source and a known wifi spot. Leave it alone charring and make sure its connected to wifi for a day or two and it will upload a backup and photostream to the cloud unless he turned that off. You can see the last backups and photo streams in the other devices.

Good luck
 
http://a.msn.com/r/2/AAfnM4w?ocid=News

The above is an article on MSN news that shows how Apples encryption is deterring law officials from being able to solve crimes from murder victims to other things. The are admitting it's becoming a bigger problem as time goes on.

Edit: That story goes to the Washington Post where the article is behind the pay wall. Here's a cap from the MSN article.

Capture.PNG
 
I feel for the people that could be helped after death, but I'm quite happy that these phones can't be opened by anyone other than me. That's the ultimate form of privacy, and it should be up to no one to decide who sees my information other than myself. My wife can access my phone if I die, that's all that matters :)
 
I agree with the OP, so many people are affected by this and not only by Apple but Facebook as well as others i'm sure.
 
But what are they to do? Give up the privacy of the masses, just so a select few can retrieve photos? If I don't give my password to others, whoever they may be, it's because I don't want them to meddle with my phone. Not now. Not ever.
 
Try plugging the iPad into a PC. When an iDevice is plugged into a PC a drive appears in My Computer with all the photos and videos in that you should be able to just copy straight across with no problem.

ipad-photo-computer.jpg
 
JackieInCo said:
This works, even with a locked iPhone. I just tried it with my 6+ on my Surface Pro 3 and was able to look at all my pics. There are hundreds of folders on mine.
Click to expand...

yeap, but don't worry replying anymore... newbies tend to sign up to ask similar questions to get access to other iOS devices and most of the times its not a real story.
 
Carlanga said:
yeap, but don't worry replying anymore... newbies tend to sign up to ask similar questions to get access to other iOS devices and most of the times its not a real story.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reminder. I edited out my post above. It's still in your quoted message though.
 
Actually, my girlfriends father got his sisters iPad after she passed away. while the apple store said they couldn't unlock it since it was protected, they said he would need to go to court with a death certificate in order for them to unlock it. a very big hassle and probably costly but I guess its technically possible
 
Fzang said:
But what are they to do? Give up the privacy of the masses, just so a select few can retrieve photos? If I don't give my password to others, whoever they may be, it's because I don't want them to meddle with my phone. Not now. Not ever.
Click to expand...

Exactly, I couldn't agree with you more. IF I wanted someone to access my phone if I died today, I'd have someone I trust know my password. But I don't WANT my phone accessed if I die, so clearly the system is working as it should. While the OP feels he's entitled to photos (likely guilty he didn't have them himself), it's against the person's wishes to try and get into the phone.
 
chriscrowlee said:
Exactly, I couldn't agree with you more. IF I wanted someone to access my phone if I died today, I'd have someone I trust know my password. But I don't WANT my phone accessed if I die, so clearly the system is working as it should. While the OP feels he's entitled to photos (likely guilty he didn't have them himself), it's against the person's wishes to try and get into the phone.
Click to expand...
Indeed. Totally agree with you.
 
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