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potentmf

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 6, 2016
173
107
Thieves stole more than $370,000 worth of Apple’s hot new phones from a UPS truck.

Well, that's one way to skip the iPhone lines.

Three "husky" men in hoodies driving a white Dodge van broke into a UPS truck Wednesday while it was parked outside a San Francisco Apple Store.

It was delivering 313 of Apple's new iPhone X devices, according to a police report. The theft happened between 11:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. PT.

The total value of the stolen merchandise was estimated to be more than $370,000. The iPhone X, which becomes available in stores Friday, starts at $999 apiece. The suspects haven't yet been caught.

Each phone was cataloged with a description and serial number, which meant the police report was one of the "fattest" Sgt. Paul Weggenmann had ever seen, he said.

People who planned to pick up their preordered iPhones at the Stonestown store will still get their devices on time, a person familiar with the matter said.

Stealing iPhones has long been a lucrative business, but Apple's "Find My iPhone" and remote lockout feature have caused a drop in stolen devices. For enterprising thieves, the key is getting an iPhone before those services have been set up.

What makes this theft especially notable is that it comes just before the launch of the iPhone X, one of Apple's most high-profile products in years. Apple bills the gadget as the "future of the smartphone."

The device may end up becoming the hottest Apple has ever sold. Customers preordered more than twice as many iPhone X units in the first four days than the previous record holder, the iPhone 6, according to data from Slice Intelligence. It set that record despite reportedly sparse supplies, which have pushed some preorder deliveries to mid-December. Nov. 3 availability for the iPhone X disappeared within minutes when preorders began early Oct. 27.

As for the theft, the UPS driver had locked the cargo area after parking outside the Stonestown Galleria mall in the southwest Lakeside neighborhood of San Francisco, according to the police report. A janitor spotted the suspects unloading boxes from the UPS truck and into a Dodge van and snapped a photo.

"It's suspicious they were able to get that large a haul on that day," he said.

The theft was earlier uncovered by local San Francisco television station, KTSF.
 

naturalstar

macrumors demi-goddess
Mar 9, 2012
2,858
5,836
Why people? Is it really worth it?

At least those who pre-ordered will still be able to get their devices on time.
 
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Stridr69

macrumors 6502
May 8, 2012
271
315
Those phones will be bricked from the get go. I'm sure that the IMEI #'s are already recorded and if someone tries to activate said stolen phone it won't activate. They'll make nice paperweights though....
 
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cannono

macrumors 65816
Oct 21, 2014
1,008
1,145
The real story is that only 313 iPhones are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars...
 

AppleZombie

macrumors 6502a
Oct 27, 2012
698
749
SoCal
Those phones will be bricked from the get go. I'm sure that the IMEI #'s are already recorded and if someone tries to activate said stolen phone it won't activate. They'll make nice paperweights though....

What about overseas? Will they still be blocked?
 
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