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Christopher11

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 10, 2007
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My neighbor Glenda, very sweet lady, has a sister who has passed away. She inherited an iPhone, it looks like an iPhone 6. She doesn't have the password. I'm posting for her, wondering, what is the best way to proceed?
 
No one here is going to tell you, even if there is a way. Not saying your lying, but it would be all too easy too. Plus a couple years back, the fbi couldn’t even get into one.
 
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There’s no way other than Apple. Glenda needs to provide proof of purchase / her sister’s death certificate and her own identification papers to Apple and even then probably there’s no way to unlock it for her.
 
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I see. Yeah, I'm just trying to help a friend. But that's fine, I'll delete the thread. There must be a protocol, when a person is deceased.
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A longtime member like yourself should know these threads don’t go well lol
Actually, I wouldn't know. I've never had a neighbor who had a sister who died, and left her an iphone. I'm not sure why you wrote 'lol'. But anyway, thanks to everyone for the response. I can see why it should be difficult; they are too easy to steal. So it's a trade off, but probably worth it.
 
I see. Yeah, I'm just trying to help a friend. But that's fine, I'll delete the thread. There must be a protocol, when a person is deceased.
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Actually, I wouldn't know. I've never had a neighbor who had a sister who died, and left her an iphone. I'm not sure why you wrote 'lol'. But anyway, thanks to everyone for the response. I can see why it should be difficult; they are too easy to steal. So it's a trade off, but probably worth it.

I did not mean your particular situation, I meant the “getting into a locked phone” thread. No disrespect meant towards your neighbor.
 
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Very interesting! Thank you. It's intriguing to me that DriveSavers won't reveal how they are doing it... I wonder if they'll make a bundle. Cool, will share with neighbor, thank you.
 
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Well, Tim Cook fought the FBI and won so there is no official way to unlock a password-locked iPhone.

Law enforcement has tools like GrayKey that can do it, but as a normal citizen you’re never going to get your hands on one.

You might have luck on getting her iCloud data, however. But I think you’d need a court order...
 

I think that tool won’t work if it’s one of the newer models and the device is already on the latest version of iOS. It will deactivate the lightning port, by default, for any such external mount attempt until the lock code is typed in.

Very interesting! Thank you. It's intriguing to me that DriveSavers won't reveal how they are doing it... I wonder if they'll make a bundle. Cool, will share with neighbor, thank you.
 
I wonder what Apple would / could do if you provided all the necessary documentation to show you hadn't stolen the phone, and it was now legally yours (e.g. proof that she left all her processions to the individual). I mean can/would Apple be able/happy to completely reset the phone, wiping all the data, so the new owner could at least use it? Given the price of todays phones, it would seem a waste if one was now locked forever with no-one able to make use it.
 
It would probably be for the best if she couldn't unlock it. As a phone, it's not going to have much life left and as someone's personal item it could be full of stuff that the deceased had no intention of anyone else looking at.
 
I wonder what Apple would / could do if you provided all the necessary documentation to show you hadn't stolen the phone, and it was now legally yours (e.g. proof that she left all her processions to the individual). I mean can/would Apple be able/happy to completely reset the phone, wiping all the data, so the new owner could at least use it? Given the price of todays phones, it would seem a waste if one was now locked forever with no-one able to make use it.

I think the number of people in this state will be so less compared to people stealing phones and trying to unlock them that apple would rather choose to take the hit on that.
 
It would probably be for the best if she couldn't unlock it. As a phone, it's not going to have much life left and as someone's personal item it could be full of stuff that the deceased had no intention of anyone else looking at.

I agree. Although I think the unlock process, if at all possible, will erase everything on the device.
 
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