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Security from theft.

cosmic68

cosmic68

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 26, 2007
488
113
Apologies if posted elsewhere, but is it known what measures are in place on watch for things like security/theft?

Obviously it's not passcode locked etc, but if stolen what control do you have does anyone know?

Cheers.
 
When you first put it on you will be required to unlock it, using either a passcode or your iPhone. It will stay unlocked until it senses that it has been removed from your skin.

When locked, there are options to wipe it after so many incorrect attempts at unlocking.

Obviously there's no Find My Watch functionality since it must be connected to your phone for Internet and gps.
 
Runt888 said:
When you first put it on you will be required to unlock it, using either a passcode or your iPhone. It will stay unlocked until it senses that it has been removed from your skin.

When locked, there are options to wipe it after so many incorrect attempts at unlocking.

Obviously there's no Find My Watch functionality since it must be connected to your phone for Internet and gps.
Click to expand...

Thanks, so if off wrist/not in skin contact is it 'locked'?
 
If someone mugs you for your watch, make sure you give them your phone too. You can track your phone with "Find my iPhone" and then hope to get both back.
 
Wear it on your wrist all waking hours and this shouldn't be a concern (you have more important things to worry about if you do in fact get robbed of it at gunpoint).
 
There a typo in your phone theft numbers. It wasn't 310,000 in 2013. It was 3.1 million for the period January 2013 to December 2014, with odds of having you phone stolen 1 in 10. Of course these numbers have dropped dramatically (almost 30% in San Francisco) since the new locking features were implemented:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2476612,00.asp

While a phone may be hidden in a pocket, a watch is much more visible. For Apple Pay you are only vulnerable for a day until it needs to be paired again. [I'm ignoring the issue that phone Apple Pay fraud is about 6%, against the normal 10%, since banks are allowing stolen credit cards to be added to a phone's wallet]. So you've sprung for the link band and you're wearing a very conspicuous Apple Watch. What's going to keep someone from robbing you, resetting the watch somehow, and using it?
 
So when I see someone wearing the $17k version, I'll be sure to chop their arm off so that the watch stays unlocked.
 
OK, Apple Pay is disabled when you remove the device so you don't have a day of exposure. But what keeps someone from pairing it with their own phone? What feature (such as those now being required on phones) makes the watch unusable with someone else's phone?
 
HDFan said:
OK, Apple Pay is disabled when you remove the device so you don't have a day of exposure. But what keeps someone from pairing it with their own phone? What feature (such as those now being required on phones) makes the watch unusable on another phone?
Click to expand...

At the very least they would have to restore it and personal data would be compromised.
 
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