Hopefully this will be the case. The market for stolen phones is bound to shrink if they can only be sold for parts.
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Increased Theft of Apple Devices 'Driving Force' Behind Rise of Larcenies in New York City
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Hopefully this will be the case. The market for stolen phones is bound to shrink if they can only be sold for parts.
Only once word gets out to the point they folks bother demanding to turn on and activate the phone before they pay. Still not happening yet which is why eBay is still hot. Once folks get the clue they will stop buying anything that can go on iOS 7
I wonder how many stolen iPhones turned up as a result of "stop-and-frisk". Would be great to know the demographics of these thieves so people knew what to watch out for, or would that be crimethink?
No, people pay $300 knowing they're activation locked and that won't change until Congress or ebay starts cracking down on them.
But the way it is now a new customer gets your stolen phone and you buy a new one, its a quick way to gain marketshare which is why phones are made to be this way.
How can you gain market share, if that's the general way that "phones are being made" and everyone is doing it?
I am just surprised that as soon as Bloomberg saw this as a problem he did not outright ban Apple products....
Just the super-sized 64GB iPhones.
I was in the Soho store a few weeks ago and witnessed someone rip an iPhone off the table and RUN out of the store with it, closely followed by a NYPD officer. Me of course, being the the nosy person I am, soon followed them outside. There I found the man surrounded by at least 20 police officers, pinned to a pole in handcuffs. Sad that someone finds themselves desperate enough to do something like that, but makes for quite the entertainment!
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I largely keep my iDevice(s) out of sight while I commute.
Should I ever replace the retina iPad Mini, I will continue to do so. I've seen a lot of people on the subways and buses using their Apple products while being watched by other passengers.
I largely keep my iDevice(s) out of sight while I commute.
Should I ever replace the retina iPad Mini, I will continue to do so. I've seen a lot of people on the subways and buses using their Apple products while being watched by other passengers.
I want to find an iPhone case/cover that will disguise my iPhone as a Samsung product. This will be the best way to avoid my Apple product from being pilfered in NYC.
What the point? Once the phone is remotely wiped, it'll be located or wiped out when it's turned on again. The theft will turn on the device some time after that to use or at least to attempt something with it, right? I always have all my i-device tracked profiles saved, so even though they're offline, I can still remotely order the wipe just in case.
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Original purchase receipt, iCloud backup or i-tune backup in your computers. They're recorded the history and SN of the devices. Go straight to Apple store is another solution.
Only 75% Users with Activation Lock
Only 75% iOS devices in NA have activation lock (in iOS 7). So the rest with older iOS may have to do more to protect their devices. Before iOS 7, I used to turn on "track my iPhone" and use 4-digit pin to restrict turning on/off "Find My iPhone" and restrict deleting of iCloud account by selecting "Don't Allow To Change" for "Account" in Settings/General/Restriction.
Only 75% iOS devices in NA have activation lock (in iOS 7). So the rest with older iOS may have to do more to protect their devices. Before iOS 7, I used to turn on "track my iPhone" and use 4-digit pin to restrict turning on/off "Find My iPhone" and restrict deleting of iCloud account by selecting "Don't Allow To Change" for "Account" in Settings/General/Restriction.
I agree. I'm also curious how the now 78% adoption of iOS7 will impact the actual number of iPhones stolen.
There's a bit more educating required regardless. I spoke to someone today who mistakenly thought the Activation Lock feature was part of the new phone hardware (5s/5c) not the OS software itself, and so even after updating to iOS7 still hadn't added a passcode.
(Since prior to iOS7, the passcode was really only good for preventing immediate access to your data and was literally more trouble than it was worth in most cases. It didn't do a bit of good to actually discourage theft.)
When I outlined the benefits of the new system, they turned on their passcode straight away.
I'm guessing the telltale Touch ID ring on the 5s is already acting as a kind of built-in deterrent. Thefts may not ever drop to zero, but it should help turn the tide.
eBay should be banning the listing of devices that are activation locked. There's no reason for any phone to be sold with an activation lock unless it's stolen.
I was trying to think of a legitimate reason for selling an activation locked iPhone, but I couldn't think of one because at some point the iPhone must have been stolen.
Ebay is worthless. There isn't an option for reporting an item as stolen. They want you to contact your local police and have the police contact ebay for further information.
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Interesting...
Networked devices, whether they be smartphones of laptops, must identify themselves on the network, so shouldn't the cell companies and local data plan providers be able to track the devices and render them useless? Is a national registry and stolen device database really that hard to maintain and use, or is it that the providers want to keep access open to anyone that wants a contract and do not want to help police the theft? I find it interesting that the police in New York seem to blame Apple rather than the companies that allow stolen devices to operate on their network.
Networked devices, whether they be smartphones of laptops, must identify themselves on the network, so shouldn't the cell companies and local data plan providers be able to track the devices and render them useless? Is a national registry and stolen device database really that hard to maintain and use, or is it that the providers want to keep access open to anyone that wants a contract and do not want to help police the theft? I find it interesting that the police in New York seem to blame Apple rather than the companies that allow stolen devices to operate on their network.
That wasn't the question. If your iPhone is locked because you forgot your passcode and Apple Id, and you _do_ convince Apple that it is yours, can they unlock it? The idea is that _nobody_ can.