Officials in three major cities have reported dramatic reductions in iPhone thefts since Apple introduced Activation Lock as part of iOS 7, preventing devices being re-activated without the original owner’s iCloud login. Reuters reports that the number of reported iPhone thefts has fallen year-on-year by 25% in New York, 40% in San Francisco and 50% in London …
Activation Lock was originally announced in June 2013 as part of iOS 7, resulting in theft reductions in the three cities of 19%, 24% and 38% respectively. Switching on Activation Lock by default in iOS 8 has further boosted these numbers as thieves are discovering that stolen iPhones are little more than pretty-looking bricks.
While it is technically possible to remove Activation Lock, this is not something a typical thief could achieve, and the company which announced the service, ChronicUnlocks, says that it will not carry out the $150 unlock on iPhones which are in lost mode.
Apple signed-up to a voluntary anti-theft commitment last April following government calls for smartphone manufacturers to do more to prevent the theft of mobile devices. Apple’s existing measures meant that the company was already in full compliance with the proposed measures.
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Mostly it’s because Craig Federighi goes out at night and leaves iPhone thieves bound and gagged in front of police stations. He is the hero Apple customers deserve.
Does this mean people in London & SF are more informed than people in NYC?
NY thieves are slow to catch on, it seems …
Or perhaps NY theives are smarter. As a decent thief would know that an iPhone 6 or 5S is still worth hundreds when in good shape but locked. Those parts have real value.
Maybe iphone thefts were higher in those other cities sooo you would see a more dramatic decrease in them as well.
Don’t talk bad about my city…thieves and all. lol
But many phones are still being stolen. The answer to that is for Apple to prevent – or allow the user to prevent – the phone from being powered off without the passcode or fingerprint. If the phone is kept on after being stolen, it can be tracked. As it is, thieves immediately power the phone off and it is lost to the owner. Even if it is bricked, the chances of it being returned to the owner are very slim. If the phones could be tracked, it would be a huge theft deterrent.
Neat idea.
that would be great! at least until the battery drains… still you get couple hours ti get your phone.
There was (maybe still is) a jailbreak tweak which allowed just that. When somebody tried to turn off the device while it was locked, it took a photo of the person using a front-facing camera, sent that picture and current device’s location to the owner’s e-mail and displayed a message telling the person that I have his photo and he better contact me and return the device to me. The problem is that even that (and any similar system that Apple would implement) could be bypassed by the long-press hard reset combo, which needs to stay in place for obvious reasons.
True, but this also means the phone powers back on with a hard reset. Still no way to turn it off, without entering in your code. Thus, when the phone reboots it can still be tracked.
Although, Apple could bypass the hard reset combo for phones that are in Lost Mode.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that exactly what ‘Lost Mode’ in Find My iPhone does?
It requires an Apple ID to unlock. It also allows you to display a message to the thief. Lastly, you can enter one approved number for contacting you – this will be the only number the phone can call.
But does it not prevent a theif from turning the phone off before the battery dies, like the above suggestion implies?
Great idea to reduce theft! Also if it can keep your data safe. The data is the big one for me!!