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I'm in two minds about this, I am glad that there is no way around activation lock, but of course it produces waste if nobody else can use it. It would be grea
by NoPicklez 3y ago
I'm in two minds about this, I am glad that there is no way around activation lock, but of course it produces waste if nobody else can use it.
It would be great if they could engineer a solution in that the device is activation locked and be factory reset and reused.
There was a discussion around activation lock somewhat preventing thefts due to the risk that the device becomes activation locked. But I don't know how truthful that is. As stolen devices are often sold to unsuspecting users with activation lock enabled.
- itake 3y agoMy iPhone was stolen in Kenya. I watched the thief take my iPhone to multiple used iPhone resellers via Find My iPhone, trying to sell my Activation locked iPhone to whatever shop that would accept it.
- theshrike79 3y agoThere are anecdotal stories of thieves just dropping a snatched phone when they see it's an iPhone. It requires very specific skills to dismantle it to resell-able parts - and even those are hard because the components are linked and can't be sold separately.
- thefz 3y ago> My iPhone was stolen in Kenya. Then as a deterrent, device lock does not work much.
- Nifty3929 3y agoIt will as this becomes known.
- zakki 3y agoFor the impact someone should compare before and after activation lock is launched.
- nicolas_17 3y agoActivation Lock was launched in 2014 with iOS 7. It did reduce theft.
- nneonneo 3y agoYes, many studies were already done on this topic. For example, in the six months after Activation Lock was introduced on iPhones, thefts in San Francisco dropped 38%, compared to the 6 months prior. https://archive.nytimes.com/bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/19/antitheft-technology-led-to-a-dip-in-iphone-thefts-in-some-cities-police-say/ https://archive.nytimes.com/bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/1...
- itake 3y agoI am also happy that the thief does not get much benefit for their crime. The thief may not have known which phone manufacturer I had before they blindly reached into my pocket. If all phone manufactures had device locks, maybe less people would steal phones.
- manvillej 3y agoI think forcing a factory reset while retaining information that it was stolen is a way better idea than just bricking the device. I have no doubt that apple looked at though and decided this was easier better for them than their customer. Because now the customer needs to get a new laptop whether the laptop is recovered or not. It also eliminates a secondary market increasing demand.
- seanmcdirmid 3y agoPlease no. Making my MacBook less attractive to thieves is something I paid extra for. There is peace of mind in knowing my laptop is just a brick without me, it makes it more possible to recover it. But I can see thieves making the case that it would be less wasteful to let stolen laptops be more fence-able.
- NoPicklez 3y agoAbsolutely not, I don't want my information retained on that device at all, I want it gone if I'm not getting the device back.