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Thieves Snatch 300+ iPhone X Models From San Francisco Apple Store

I've never heard of Apple deactivating stolen phones. It's something that the police have been bugging them about since the beginning, and AFAIK Apple's never implemented that.

Plus, the thieves have no idea what they got. They all may be carrier locked with non-valid IMEIs, GSM-locked, or fully unlocked full price. That's going to be a tough sell.
 
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“In a shocking turn of events, the thieves return all of the iPhones back to UPS after reading a slew of negative comments about the notch and removal of the home button posted in the MacRumors forums. Fear of abnormal battery drain is also said to be a factor in their decision.”
 
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Topher227 said:
Why even bother.... short of parts, the devices would get Activation Locked...... like, the ultimate Activation Lock.
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Still the buyer doesn’t know that until long after they’ve forked over the money.
 
Wreckus said:
Damn thieves. Feel bad for those who had reservations to get their iPhone X tomorrow at that store.
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If you read the full article on other sites, someone from Apple has commented that the pre-ordered phones WILL be honored, but the walk-ins are pretty much out of luck.
 
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Aml216 said:
I guess I’m a little more surprised that one Store was getting 300 Xs
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There were probably more than 300 people in line there. Many of them buy more than one phone.
 
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zorinlynx said:
Apple is probably going to block the stolen serial numbers on the activation servers.

The thieves will end up with 300 paperweights. I wish I could be a fly on the wall when they figure out their stolen booty is worthless!
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They are going to sell them not use them. At high prices too considering the short supply.
 
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ronno said:
They wouldn’t have to know the exact anything. Just wait outside the Apple Store.
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You know can track UPS flights. Once it leave Louisville to whatever destination. You'll know when it arrival in your city, so all do it wait after that.
 
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This could have been corporate espionage by Apple competitors, I’m sure they can disassemble those 300 units and steal trade secrets for years.
 
Apple or the various carriers will get a ping whenever these phones pop up if they're in range of a tower. Apple obviously has the IMEIs and ESNs for all the phones, and even though they don't provide a way to disable stolen devices I wonder if they internally track them.

They could also just turn on lost mode on all the phones, I suppose. That would make fencing them awkward for sure.
 
They may sell it to ppl who don’t know they are getting bricked phones. Perhaps it was just done out of malice also. And not for profit.
 
just.jon said:
Bingo. The thieves will get their cash, but the poor schmucks that buy them will be stuck holding the bag.
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Hopefully Apple will track these phones back to the thieves before they sell them all.

It would be more work than it’s worth to Apple, but they could track every phone and meet with each person who purchased a stolen device to make sure only the thieves get screwed.
 
zorinlynx said:
Apple is probably going to block the stolen serial numbers on the activation servers.

The thieves will end up with 300 paperweights. I wish I could be a fly on the wall when they figure out their stolen booty is worthless!
Click to expand...

So who would risk buying from private sellers? Makes all swappa and eBay deals sketchy
 
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