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I want to back up my deceased father's iPhone
- Thread starter Drag'nGT
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There are interesting links in that article.
So I would begin by the following 4 digits:
1234
1111
0000
1212
7777
1004
2000
4444
2222
6969
9999
3333
5555
6666
1122
1313
8888
4321
2001
1010
Then birthdays in format MMDD (so 0101, 0102 until 0131, 0201 until 0229)
Then years in format 19xx
So what were they able to do for you? Transfer the phone to your iCloud account? What about the passcode?
Just do 100 codes per day and you will be good to go in a 10 days. Shouldn't take too much time.
Just don't forget what one actually works because it will ask again when you go to change it.
Just don't forget what one actually works because it will ask again when you go to change it.
The only issue is even without the wipe after ten fails, it will still make you wait increasing amounts of time after each failed attempt.
I have to agree with this approach. I'd contact Apple Legal with a death certificate (I wouldn't both with a store; they won't know how to deal with that sort of thing). My boyfriend's mom passed away almost two years ago without a will, and that's how we got most things taken care of. Thankfully she didn't have a cell phone! The only issue we ran into was her IRA account. Those are hard to just transfer to a family member.
That's a good idea - try the death certificate route first and see if that works.
Do you know his iCloud password? Sign into it on your computer/iPhone and go through his picture stream that way
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Apple doesn't have the ability to brute force iPhones
oh, they do. tell them what happened and see if you can show proof of purchase for the device, doesn't matter where it was bought. and if you had the same address and its shown on the proof, and show your id, maybe they won't say no at first. or talk to a manager.
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no, the time gets extended again and again. i've seen code locks with thousands of days on them.
Nah, they don't. They do not have the ability to brute force iPhones and haven't for quite some time.
you do mean overriding the iCloud lock even after you do a restore correct?
yes they can.
thats the only way to get into the phone without knowing the 4 digit code.
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Apple has pretty much denied previous requests from people to have devices/accounts opened/transferred after death. Recent reports show they were unwilling to even consider without a court order. And that is near impossible (unless for criminal reasons) as Apple updated their iCloud terms and conditions to remove that liability. All they are willing to do now is to delete the account and content:
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Apple can't immunize itself from obeying court orders be they civil or criminal by modifying the iCloud TOS. If Apple receives a subpoena, they either have to turn over the information to a court or move to quash it.
If a probate court awards you an iPhone, then Apple has to recognize you as the legal owner of the device.
Whether or not that clause in the iCloud TOS would work depends on the state. And someone would have to litigate it in order for there to be any case law interpreting it. THEN you would know if that clause would be upheld by a court.
Apple can put any language they want in their TOS. Whether or not the language would be upheld by a court depends on the laws of the states that are involved.
I'm sorry for your loss OP. You say your father's last backup was in 2013, so I assume you have access to the computer running iTunes where he performed this backup?
If he used a passcode on that backup then there is a good chance that it is the same passcode he used for the phone. To test that, get another iPhone (hopefully you have one of your own) and try to restore your father's backup onto your iPhone. If it asks for a passcode then you're in luck.
Important: BACKUP EVERYTHING FIRST! Backup YOUR phone because you'll be attempting to restore someone else's backup on it. Backup the backups! Copy the original files on your file system some where else. If you have Time Machine great, but just having a duplicate copy elsewhere is ok.
You should first try some obvious 4-digit codes like birth years, dates of your dad, you, siblings, wife etc that he might have used. If they don't work you'll have to try every possible combination. With 4-digits, that's 10,000 tries. A lot try manually, but you can use a script to do this while you sleep.
I did this very thing myself because I forgot the passcode to an old iPhone 4 I no longer use but I wanted to get at data still on there. In my case I went through about 250 attempts before I got to my passcode for a backup. Then tried it on my old phone and it worked.
Hopefully, this is all on a Mac. If so you can use Apple Script to do the entire thing.
Open the Application "Script Editor", paste the following script into it and run it. If you don't have "Script Editor" you may have to install Xcode and the developer tools. You'll also probably have to change some of the quoted text in the script to match the GUI labels shown to you. This particular script will try every possible combination between 0000 and 9999. If it finds one that works, it'll display a popup with it. Be prepared to leave the computer running a long time for it to go through all 10k tries if it needs to.
Note, the script itself just simulates a person clicking buttons and entering text on iTunes as you would if you manually tried to restore a backup and enter a password when prompted.
If you are not on a Mac, then you can try a similar GUI scripting tool for Windows.
If he used a passcode on that backup then there is a good chance that it is the same passcode he used for the phone. To test that, get another iPhone (hopefully you have one of your own) and try to restore your father's backup onto your iPhone. If it asks for a passcode then you're in luck.
Important: BACKUP EVERYTHING FIRST! Backup YOUR phone because you'll be attempting to restore someone else's backup on it. Backup the backups! Copy the original files on your file system some where else. If you have Time Machine great, but just having a duplicate copy elsewhere is ok.
You should first try some obvious 4-digit codes like birth years, dates of your dad, you, siblings, wife etc that he might have used. If they don't work you'll have to try every possible combination. With 4-digits, that's 10,000 tries. A lot try manually, but you can use a script to do this while you sleep.
I did this very thing myself because I forgot the passcode to an old iPhone 4 I no longer use but I wanted to get at data still on there. In my case I went through about 250 attempts before I got to my passcode for a backup. Then tried it on my old phone and it worked.
Hopefully, this is all on a Mac. If so you can use Apple Script to do the entire thing.
Open the Application "Script Editor", paste the following script into it and run it. If you don't have "Script Editor" you may have to install Xcode and the developer tools. You'll also probably have to change some of the quoted text in the script to match the GUI labels shown to you. This particular script will try every possible combination between 0000 and 9999. If it finds one that works, it'll display a popup with it. Be prepared to leave the computer running a long time for it to go through all 10k tries if it needs to.
Note, the script itself just simulates a person clicking buttons and entering text on iTunes as you would if you manually tried to restore a backup and enter a password when prompted.
If you are not on a Mac, then you can try a similar GUI scripting tool for Windows.
Code:
on bruteForce(password)
tell application "System Events"
tell process "iTunes"
tell window "iTunes"
tell splitter group 1
tell scroll area 2
click button "Restore Backup..."
end tell
end tell
end tell
delay 2.0
tell window "Restore From Backup"
click button "Restore"
end tell
delay 2.0
tell window "Enter Password"
keystroke password
click button "OK"
end tell
delay 3.0
repeat while exists (static text "Restoring iPhone from backup..." of window "iPhone")
log ("repeating...")
delay 1.0
end repeat
delay 3.0
if exists static text "iTunes could not restore the iPhone “iPhone 5” because the password was incorrect." of window 1 then
tell window 1
log ("failed")
click button "OK"
end tell
else
log ("It worked with " & password)
display dialog ("It worked with " & password)
end if
end tell
end tell
end bruteForce
set digits to {"0", "1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9"}
tell application "iTunes"
activate
end tell
repeat with a in digits
repeat with b in digits
repeat with c in digits
repeat with d in digits
bruteForce(a & b & c & d)
end repeat
end repeat
end repeat
end repeat
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Chiming in as an estate and tax attorney. That clause doesn't matter if he deceased had a durable power of attorney set up. I have brought documents signed by the deceased client and had iCloud or other online account information transferred into a new name without issue. Also: the accounts become part of the estate. Part of the job of the executor is to gather assets like online identities. Filing the paperwork and getting above the not-so-intelligent Apple store employees is the hard part.
But what about the increasing delay b/t attempts that occurs on the new iPhones?
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AFAIK power of attorney dies with the person. So after death, all that matters legally is who is the executor of the estate or the trustee if there are trusts. Durable POA does not survive death, at least in the states I am familiar with.
The information in this article is how I understand the law at least in all of the states I am familiar with.
http://info.legalzoom.com/still-power-attorney-someone-dies-24156.html
Durable POA survives incapacitation but does not survive death. After death, only the executor of the estate or the trustee if there are trusts have legal authority over the deceased's assets.
So the attorney you are quoting doesn't know what he is talking about?
If so, this is sad that an attorney is giving bad advice.
I only know about a few states so the laws can be different in other states. In the handful of states I am familiar with, that is how it works. POA, durable or not, does not survive death. After death, decisions about the estate can only be made by the executor of the estate (at least if the asset is a probate asset) or the trustee if an asset is held in the name of a trust. Some assets in some states are exempt from probate, but it varies by state.
Frequently the person who is given durable POA is also named executor in the will. But if not, then the probate court has to appoint an executor. My guess is that they would be very inclined to name the person who held POA during life as the executor, but idk b/c everyone I know uses revocable trusts as will substitutes. You name yourself as the trustee of your revocable trust during your life and then you name a successor trustee should you become incapacitated or die. Any assets not held in the name of the trust are made payable/transfer on death. For those assets POD/TOD, you give someone durable POA should you b/c incapacitated.
That way you avoid the costs of probate on death. You never want to have to have your loved ones go through probate if you have assets. It is costly and it delays them getting access to your assets. But once you die, the person who had POA during life has no authority anymore. After death, the executor of the estate under the supervision of the probate court has authority to dispose of the probate assets, the trustee has it for any trust assets and the bank, brokerage, etc. where the assets that are POD/TOD are held disburses those assets according to the POD/TOD designation upon being presented with a death certificate.
Typically, the smartest thing to do is to put all of your assets in a revocable trust and/or make them payable on death/transfer on death in order to avoid the costs of probate. There are some exceptions to that, for instance, a primary residence. In states where they recognize a tenancy in the entirety b/t a husband and wife it is generally better to own your home as a TIE rather than put it in the name of a trust. Also, you may not get property tax breaks on your primary residence if it is held in the name of a trust. Joint tenancy with right of survivorship is another way to hold real estate that avoids probate but there could be issues with creditors of one of the joint owners if you hold title that way.
But again, all of that depends on the state you live in and if you are married and live in one of the few community property states, it gets really complicated.
And of course, if you are very wealthy there are more complicated vehicles you can use - like irrevocable trusts - but idk much about those. I just know for most of us who are middle to upper middle class, you are doing your loved ones a big favor by using a revocable trust, TIE, JTw/S and POD/TOD accounts instead of a will to dispose of your assets after death. In community property states it is more complicated. But at least in the states I am familiar with, POA doesn't survive death.
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No but they were both Ivy League institutions.
As I said to you in that other thread, show me where anything I have said is wrong. You haven't been able to come up with anything. Instead you are following me around the board making snide comments that do nothing to address the issue the OP posted about.