This is Apple's 'Zombie Check' Tool Used to Reduce iPhone Repair Fraud

[HacKage]

The only way to bypass iCloud on phones is to replace the CPU, NAND, EEPROM and Baseband. If someone has bought a phone to steal these chips, replace them with faulty ones and return the handset, you can be certain that there will be no serial number able to be read from the device. It is also minimal effort to remove the components that relate to the lightning port, which will mean no test will work. All of these are under soldered on RF shields, there is absolutely no way that an Apple store tech will spot these having been removed or replaced, hence why the fraud value is still so high.

All this tool does is stop those who don't know what they're doing from cheating Apple. Anyone that knows what they're doing, and why they do this, cannot be stopped.

 

[Breaking Good]

Does anyone at Apple ever wonder if being so embedded in China is the way forward? It’s literally the place where they have to bend over backward for everything, including this. What if everyone just said no, enough. Play by the rules and until you do, we are not doing business with you. I know it’s too late for that now but did no one really think of this? Everyone just thought we are going to smooth sail to China, have them do our stuff for cheap and that’s it, they won’t try to benefit?

Both China and India are markets too big for any global company to ignore.

Both have a lot of poverty. But both also have a middle and upper class equal to or larger than the US

 

[PBG4 Dude]

Maybe this reduction coincides with the removal of the most used moving component of the iPhone, the clickable home button.

I have yet to break a home button on any iDevice. I know, “bad anecdote, no donut”, but my 2007 iPhone’s home button still works, along with every device I still own (iPad 1, iPad 2, iPad Air 1, iPad mini 2, iPP 12.9, iPP 10.5, iphone 4, iphone 4S, iPhone 6, iphone 7).

 

[Douglas B]

I have yet to break a home button on any iDevice. I know, “bad anecdote, no donut”, but my 2007 iPhone’s home button still works, along with every device I still own (iPad 1, iPad 2, iPad Air 1, iPad mini 2, iPP 12.9, iPP 10.5, iphone 4, iphone 4S, iPhone 6, iphone 7).

Same, they never failed me. And yet, I heard of them failing so many others. I was happy when they stopped moving.