In practice, it never happens this way. Apple has detached activation protection from the device reset process that people are normally aware of (a factory res

In practice, it never happens this way. Apple has detached activation protection from the device reset process that people are normally aware of (a factory reset will NOT remove an activation lock, nor will it prompt you to authenticate and optionally do so). I guarantee there are recyclers that are scrapping piles of legally obtained Apple devices on a daily basis that were donated from private and corporate owners that neither have the knowledge nor extra time to remove activation locks on devices they no longer care about. I've seen it firsthand repeatedly.