Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

GizmoDVD

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Oct 11, 2008
2,654
5,428
SoCal
Anyone know how to remove this? Someone else's device is showing up in my iCloud and he's from a different state.
 
Anyone know how to remove this? Someone else's device is showing up in my iCloud and he's from a different state.

Go to supportprofile.apple.com login and find the device and remove it there. Did you buy the device on ebay?
 
Devices not listed. It was my old MBA which I sold. I formatted the drive and everything though.
 
... It was my old MBA which I sold. I formatted the drive and everything though.

Did "everything" include deauthorizing that MBA in iTunes, so it would not be included in your devices under your AppleID?
Formatting the drive doesn't deauthorize that system. You have to do that while you still have it.
You COULD deauthorize all devices, then re-authorize only those that you now have.
 
Did "everything" include deauthorizing that MBA in iTunes, so it would not be included in your devices under your AppleID?
Formatting the drive doesn't deauthorize that system. You have to do that while you still have it.
You COULD deauthorize all devices, then re-authorize only those that you now have.

I will give that a shot now!

Thanks
 
Outside of calling apple support (iTunes support). Can you explain better where you are seeing it?
 
Outside of calling apple support (iTunes support). Can you explain better where you are seeing it?

I'm having the same exact issue.

It's in the Devices list in Find My iPhone.

If you're using iCloud.com, login, click Find My iPhone, then Devices (on the top of the page). You'll see a list of devices.

This has nothing to do with iTunes and everything to do with the Find My Mac feature.

What ****ing confuses me is this: I formatted my iMac and installed Snow Leopard on it before I sold it. So how the **** is iCloud still finding the iMac?

And before you say it: yes, I tried "remove from account". However, the iMac reappeared (because it came back online). A major WTF here. If I issue an Erase signal, will this work? If so, how the **** would it work? I mean, it was on Snow Leopard, and the person I sold it to presumably installed Mavericks or whatever under his own account. There should be no trace of my iCloud account on there.
 
What ****ing confuses me is this: I formatted my iMac and installed Snow Leopard on it before I sold it. So how the **** is iCloud still finding the iMac?

"Find my iWhatever" is for devices that disappeared behind your sofa, devices that you left in a hotel, and for devices that were stolen. In the last case, since Apple can't know that you reformatted the device before selling it and it wasn't the thief reformatting it after stealing it, you'd really want it to be shown.
 
I'm having the same exact issue.

It's in the Devices list in Find My iPhone.

If you're using iCloud.com, login, click Find My iPhone, then Devices (on the top of the page). You'll see a list of devices.

This has nothing to do with iTunes and everything to do with the Find My Mac feature.

What ****ing confuses me is this: I formatted my iMac and installed Snow Leopard on it before I sold it. So how the **** is iCloud still finding the iMac?

And before you say it: yes, I tried "remove from account". However, the iMac reappeared (because it came back online). A major WTF here. If I issue an Erase signal, will this work? If so, how the **** would it work? I mean, it was on Snow Leopard, and the person I sold it to presumably installed Mavericks or whatever under his own account. There should be no trace of my iCloud account on there.

Bingo.

Weird thing is, it's for a laptop I sold months ago and it only recently started showing up (had it not been turned on since that point)?

I unauthorized and reauthorized all my iTunes accounts (that I use)...still there.

I removed it from my account (using a previous link, it wasn't even shown though tons of older Mac equipment was). I logged in to Find my iPhone, removed it (since it was offline), and it came back on.

I even remotely wiped the damn thing and it showed up a day later (assuming it's a Time Capsule backup that was reinstalled).

Is there nothing that can be done? Seems silly that once I reformatted the HD that someone it will still track. I have no way of contacting the new buyer, and even if so, how to even tell him to remove it from my account seems weird.

How often will this happen for those people that sell used iPhones to Gazelle and such? It's gotta be annoying.
 
"Find my iWhatever" is for devices that disappeared behind your sofa, devices that you left in a hotel, and for devices that were stolen. In the last case, since Apple can't know that you reformatted the device before selling it and it wasn't the thief reformatting it after stealing it, you'd really want it to be shown.

I completely understand the purpose of the feature.

What I want to know is how do I remove a device I have sold?
 
So I did quite a bit of research on this and it's going to disappoint as it's really stupid how it works.

Basically if you didn't clear out/remove find my device on the device when you had it, you are screwed. When the device is offline, you can remove it. But as soon as it comes back online, it will reappear on your list.

Only method is remote wipe as this will disassociate the device from your icloud account. Otherwise whomever has the device still has access to your iCloud account which is why Apple forces you to do a remote wipe if you no longer have the device (to ensure the new owner of the device cannot use forgot my password, buy things, and/or see your email, etc)

That really makes sense. I think if it's a MBA, doing a remote wipe will only remove your user account not actually completely reset the unit from scratch. However, I don't know for sure.

Here is the apple explanation of the whole thing:

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2702?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
 
So I did quite a bit of research on this and it's going to disappoint as it's really stupid how it works.

Basically if you didn't clear out/remove find my device on the device when you had it, you are screwed. When the device is offline, you can remove it. But as soon as it comes back online, it will reappear on your list.

Only method is remote wipe as this will disassociate the device from your icloud account. Otherwise whomever has the device still has access to your iCloud account which is why Apple forces you to do a remote wipe if you no longer have the device (to ensure the new owner of the device cannot use forgot my password, buy things, and/or see your email, etc)

That really makes sense. I think if it's a MBA, doing a remote wipe will only remove your user account not actually completely reset the unit from scratch. However, I don't know for sure.

Here is the apple explanation of the whole thing:

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2702?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

Remote wipe makes the Mac in question useless without a pin. I don't think they can even reinstall an OS. So you essentially Brick that persons Mac.
 
Remote wipe makes the Mac in question useless without a pin. I don't think they can even reinstall an OS. So you essentially Brick that persons Mac.

Remote erase is different then remote lock.

It's just the apple document (the one that I linked) states specifically that is what you should do if it's sold or given to someone else. It also states don't enter a phone number or any message. It specifically states it will not be locked afterwards and can be activated and used. So, no, doesn't brick it.
 
Remote erase is different then remote lock.

It's just the apple document (the one that I linked) states specifically that is what you should do if it's sold or given to someone else. It also states don't enter a phone number or any message. It specifically states it will not be locked afterwards and can be activated and used. So, no, doesn't brick it.

So I can remote wipe even though it says it needs a pin to install?
 
This is so completely retarded. I erased my iMac, put Snow Leopard on it, and sold it. How the **** is it still tied to my iCloud ID? Am I stuck with the iMac on my Find My iPhone forever because I didn't know to log out of iCloud before erasing?

**** you, Apple.
 
This is so completely retarded. I erased my iMac, put Snow Leopard on it, and sold it. How the **** is it still tied to my iCloud ID? Am I stuck with the iMac on my Find My iPhone forever because I didn't know to log out of iCloud before erasing?

**** you, Apple.

Honestly just call them. What you did according to their own documents should have cleared you. According to the document, just signing out of iCloud is enough or unchecking the "find my device" in iCloud settings should have removed it.

This is reminding me of the messages crap on the iphone. Where once you registered your phone number and get away from iphone there is no way you will receive SMS. Everyone will hit iMessages instead.
 
Honestly just call them. What you did according to their own documents should have cleared you. According to the document, just signing out of iCloud is enough or unchecking the "find my device" in iCloud settings should have removed it.

This is reminding me of the messages crap on the iphone. Where once you registered your phone number and get away from iphone there is no way you will receive SMS. Everyone will hit iMessages instead.

They'll charge me if I don't have AppleCare, right?

Might just go to the Genius Bar. Hope they'll help me out.
 
They'll charge me if I don't have AppleCare, right?

Might just go to the Genius Bar. Hope they'll help me out.

Only if you are past the 1 year mark. But I think this is an iTunes issue and not a hardware issue. I say try them first (they probably won't help, but might be able to point you in the right direction). Go here and fill out your question.

https://ssl.apple.com/emea/support/itunes/contact.html

Of course genius bar is definitely a great place to start too as I'm sure they deal with these issues all the time.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.
 
I had a similar issue with my old first generation 64GB Cellular iPad Mini. I did a factory reset and sold it, but forgot to take it off my iCloud and Find my Phone accounts.

So the buyer got home and couldn't do anything with it. Went through an evening of an irate buyer and me trying to free up the device for him. After doing a bit of research (i.e. Googling) I logged in to both Find My Phone and iCloud and removed it, and it worked.

I believe I Googled something like "What to do before you sell your iPhone" but it applies to all Apple devices.

However, from the looks of this thread, it appears you've already done this and it keeps coming back anyway. Doesn't the buyer have an issue with not being able to use his/her own iCloud/AppleID with the Computer? I guess being on Snow Leopard they wouldn't...
 
Anyone know how to remove this? Someone else's device is showing up in my iCloud and he's from a different state.

SOLUTION: You're probably not going to like it, but here goes:

The seller must send remotely erase the Mac (this would not work otherwise). Find My iPhone will require you to set a passcode to lock the Mac -- set it to something easy, like 1111. Give this number to the buyer so he/she can unlock the Mac.

***REMINDER: PLEASE contact the buyer PRIOR to doing this! As above, this ERASES the hard drive. So please let the buyer know and give him/her a chance to back up any data prior to you sending the remote erase signal.

The buyer will then use the passcode to unlock the Mac and reinstall the OS. Then -- this is important -- set up iCloud on the Mac and turn Find My Mac ON. This will link your Mac to your iCloud ID and unlink it from the seller's.

***NOTE: As far as I can tell, this will not work if the seller has not remotely erased the Mac first.
 
So I did quite a bit of research on this and it's going to disappoint as it's really stupid how it works.

Basically if you didn't clear out/remove find my device on the device when you had it, you are screwed. When the device is offline, you can remove it. But as soon as it comes back online, it will reappear on your list.

Only method is remote wipe as this will disassociate the device from your icloud account. Otherwise whomever has the device still has access to your iCloud account which is why Apple forces you to do a remote wipe if you no longer have the device (to ensure the new owner of the device cannot use forgot my password, buy things, and/or see your email, etc)

That really makes sense. I think if it's a MBA, doing a remote wipe will only remove your user account not actually completely reset the unit from scratch. However, I don't know for sure.

Here is the apple explanation of the whole thing:

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2702?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

If the device was erased Before the sale how would the buyer ever get into the email? Without the Apple ID this should be impossible.

----------

SOLUTION: You're probably not going to like it, but here goes:

The seller must send remotely erase the Mac (this would not work otherwise). Find My iPhone will require you to set a passcode to lock the Mac -- set it to something easy, like 1111. Give this number to the buyer so he/she can unlock the Mac.

***REMINDER: PLEASE contact the buyer PRIOR to doing this! As above, this ERASES the hard drive. So please let the buyer know and give him/her a chance to back up any data prior to you sending the remote erase signal.

The buyer will then use the passcode to unlock the Mac and reinstall the OS. Then -- this is important -- set up iCloud on the Mac and turn Find My Mac ON. This will link your Mac to your iCloud ID and unlink it from the seller's.

***NOTE: As far as I can tell, this will not work if the seller has not remotely erased the Mac first.

So for me my old iPad 1 appears twice in the device list in my find my iPhone because I set it up as a new device at some point without deleting it from iCloud. In that case it would be impossible to do what you suggested. In addition it is not online ever. I sold it to target for the upgrade voucher so I assume it never got sold to somebody who actually uses it.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.