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Randomly found an iphone 4s or 5? in backyard... Puzzled

tymaster50 said:
so it's a 4S since there's no sim card. Look on the back of the phone or plug it into iTunes. Since nobody called about it I say you just restore it, it's obvious the phone isn't that important to the guy. And does it say the carrier name at the top? If it's just bars and a 3G indicator the phone is pretty much dead anyway.
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The Verizon 4S has a SIM card for global use. If there's no SIM card then it's just an IPhone 4.
 
3rd Rock said:
You forgot the most important difference is that the iphone 5 has the 4 inch screen and the 4s has the 3.5 inch screen. Dah..real easy to see :p
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And the data/ charger port is totally different...also very easy to see.
 
If this story is true and not just someone trying to work out how to hack a locked iPhone, I imagine someone probably stole it and then realised it was locked, so threw it over the fence....
 
Ok... I will actually help you without all of the moral high ground grief...

It sounds like you have a 4 or 4S.

You say it's Verizon and there is no SIM. Are you saying there is a SIM slot with no SIM inside or are you saying there is no SIM slot period?

If there is a SIM slot, it is a 4S. IF there is no SIM slot, it is a 4.


Now... to get past the passcode. There is no way to break in and see the personal info. But if you want to wipe out the password to use the phone or resell it, then just restore the phone in DFU mode.

--------------------
To put the iPhone into DFU mode so you can do an iTunes firmware restore follow these steps:

Step One
Open iTunes and connect the iPhone to your Mac.

Step Two
Press and hold the Home button and the Sleep/Wake button at the same time.

Step Three
After exactly 10 seconds release the Sleep/Wake button. Continue holding the home button until you iTunes pops up a message telling you that it has detected an iPhone in recovery mode.

The iPhone screen will remain black.
-----------------------

Even if you restore it back to factory settings, Verizon has almost certainly blacklisted the phone from use on their network. The only way it can be used now is to "flash it" to Cricket or Metro PCS. Or just use it as a WiFi device (iPod) without cellular.
 
Someone's blatantly tossed it cus they thought they were getting tracked. Blame breaking bad.
 
Sounds like a domestic issue. Couple walking down the street, man can't stop checking his social feeds. Wife repeatedly tells him to put away his phone. Eventually she grabs his phone and launches it over 5 backyards and lands in a neighbors yard only to be found by someone washing their dishes.
 
Props to you for attempting to return the iPhone to its owner. Given the same situation, I would return it to a Verizon store manager. You may opt for more detail, if so desired. It appears that there is not much more which you can do.
 
You could post fliers around your neighborhood. Ask for identifying information (I.e the serial number which they should have.)

I agree with the previous poster though who said someone probably stole it and then tossed it in the yard when they were confronted with the passcode. So it might not have been lost in your neighborhood.
 
If you're really adamant about returning it, you can try taking to a verizon store and asking for a manager. They wont give you the owners information but they can contact the owner themselves. Just give them your number and tell them you'd like the owner to call you once the phone has been returned, this is to make sure verizon employee doesnt keep the phone for themselves.
 
ksue said:
So, I recently became good friends with my neighbor who just moved next to me two months ago. Currently I'm the one of his few and only friends he has made and has over since he's been here. So he called me the other day asking if I had left an Iphone at his house, and oddly enough, I was missing an old Iphone I was using as an Ipod, however when he gave it to me it definitely wasn't my old iphone but a pretty new looking one either 4s or 5. We have no idea whose it is or how it got in his backyard. He said he was doing the dishes and looked up out the window into the backyard and his dog had it in her mouth. We've asked the neighbors, gardeners... can't think of who els it could belong to.
So, point of this thread- the iphone is "passcode locked" and we're trying to figure out how we can somehow break into it to get like a friend's number to get it back to the owner. Any suggestions?
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Well if two good samaritans could just leave the phone switched on, maybe....just maybe you'd get a call on it, which you can answer.

Terrible story skills there bro.
 
Exactly. If it sounds too good to be true it probably is. My bet is that the OP is trying to get access to a stolen phone.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Jtludwig said:
The Verizon 4S has a SIM card for global use. If there's no SIM card then it's just an IPhone 4.
Click to expand...

I was wondering why no one brought that up for so long

Jtludwig said:
And the data/ charger port is totally different...also very easy to see.
Click to expand...

I think the Two-Tone back is the easiest identifier if you ask me. But yes, it is easy to tell the difference when you actually have it in your hand.
 
Leave it plugged in/powered on. Wait for a call/text. If nothing happens in a week or two, keep it.
 
I have nothing else to say besides how can you not tell the difference between the 4S and 5? If it's longer than an iPhone 4/4S, it's a dead giveaway. If the back is glass, it's a dead giveaway, 30 pin connector? Dead giveaway...sure, both phones from the front at a distance can be mistaken for one another, but..

It just puzzles me. Sorry for going off topic..
 
Op dont listen to these people, restore and sell it, big market for apple products.
 
Dont restore it

Dont even restore it, if you do that you remove the guys ability to use the find my iphone app he has installed. Just keep it charged, be human, and wait for a phone call, after a day or two just bring it into verizon or the police. Only other thing would be to plug it into itunes and see what the phone number for the phone is, using that information call verizon and say the owner of 555-555-5555 has lost their phone, please contact them and let them know i have it, if it hasnt rang at all, thats a sign it is already shut off
 
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