For most people, this is a "You didn't know the consequences, so you never did it" kind of situation. I partially blame the process. The OOBE workflow gives you

For most people, this is a "You didn't know the consequences, so you never did it" kind of situation. I partially blame the process. The OOBE workflow gives you the option to not enable Find my Mac, so some percentage of users refuse. Not all Mac owners are fluent in Apple's walled garden. But to counter my last point, owning a mac requires a mild investment in learning, and a lot of buy-in for their ecosystem, including linking and locking it with an online account. Apple Store. Apple Music. Activation Lock / iCloud everything. Not all users are fully aware of that though, and OP's scenario is one of those journeys. But now that you know, this scenario is analogous to keeping a spare key outside your car. Someone can take it and install a new lock cylinder. If your laptop changes hands and someone wiped it and put an activation lock of their own on it. This is working as intended. There's no functional difference between selling it to that person because anyone can wipe a machine and put a new lock on it. The alternative includes setting up an activation lock of your own, or putting MDM on it. This is a feature of Apple's walled garden. You either go all-in, or you go against the grain and lose the benefits and get blindsided by an unforeseen experience. Personal thoughts: I manage Macs for a living, but never will buy one of my own. Not just the walled garden complaints above, but a 5 year old Lenovo with similar specs is a better technical investment than a 5 year old Mac. The Mac will be slower with 5 years of OS updates, meanwhile the Lenovo you won't really notice a difference. It's also less than half the price.