iPhone Stuck in activation lock after DFU restore

[eww7633]

So seems like they have a process then, why not have it available to consumers as well (even for a price perhaps)? Is it that a personal user's $700 device just not important enough?

I'm not sure I can elaborate on why it isn't available for regular customers. Education and enterprise customers have to purchase the devices under the name of the company, and the process is in place because plenty of businesses and schools issue phones, then the person quits or gets fired, and that person cannot or will not unlock the device. So Apple has to provide them some way to remove the iCloud account from the device so that it can be reused.

Now for a regular consumer, just because you have the receipt, doesn't mean that you are the owner anymore. I don't have a problem with this process not being available to the regular consumer. Don't forget your Apple ID, and there won't be an issue.

 

[Solver]

I'm sorry that I didn't go into detail of the problem, but since there are so many people suspecting me, so I'm going to tell you more.

Account A stands for the Apple ID which I normally use.
Account B stands for the Apple ID which I used to test a bug (to be mentioned below)

First, I use account A on the iPhone for normal use, and I do remember any of the details of this Apple ID.

When I saw a bug on the Internet, which said there's a bug on iOS to toggle "Find my iPhone" without password, I created account B for test. (I'm sure some of you have heard of that bug, which could turn off Find my iPhone locally on iOS) I first turn off Find my iPhone on account A in a normal manner, and login account B on iPhone, and use the bug to toggle off Find my iPhone. Then I logout account B and login account A again. From then on, I could still use my iPhone with account A without any problem, including purchasing apps, music etc.

A few days ago, when I DFU restore my iPhone, it suddenly asked me to enter details of account B (Why I know it was account B is because iTunes show up the Apple ID partially, and that made me think of it). Now I'm stuck at account B and could not activate it.

In summary:
You tried to bypass the Apple security for “Account B” so you could log in with “Account A” and now you need to know the information for “Account B” to make the phone work again.

 

[C DM]

I'm not sure I can elaborate on why it isn't available for regular customers. Education and enterprise customers have to purchase the devices under the name of the company, and the process is in place because plenty of businesses and schools issue phones, then the person quits or gets fired, and that person cannot or will not unlock the device. So Apple has to provide them some way to remove the iCloud account from the device so that it can be reused.

Now for a regular consumer, just because you have the receipt, doesn't mean that you are the owner anymore. I don't have a problem with this process not being available to the regular consumer. Don't forget your Apple ID, and there won't be an issue.

By that logic if a customer loses the only car key they have for their car (or it gets stolen), the car manufacturer/dealership should just tell them "too bad, your car is now a big piece of metal that you can't use, and thanks for your money".

 

[eww7633]

By that logic if a customer loses the only car key they have for their car (or it gets stolen), the car manufacturer/dealership should just tell them "too bad, your car is now a big piece of metal that you can't use, and thanks for your money".

Not quite, because you can without a doubt prove that you are the owner of the vehicle, because the vehicle has a title.

With an iPhone, just because you have a receipt, doesn't mean you actually own the device. There isn't an irrefutable way for you to prove that you own it.

I'm not sure why the burden falls on Apple to resolve this for you. You did not have to enable activation lock. There is a process to recover a lost password. You can even put in a recovery email address. But when you forget the most important piece of information, which is your Apple ID email address, that's on you.

You literally only have to remember one thing, and weren't able to. Not really Apples problem if you ask me.

 

[C DM]

Not quite, because you can without a doubt prove that you are the owner of the vehicle, because the vehicle has a title.

With an iPhone, just because you have a receipt, doesn't mean you actually own the device. There isn't an irrefutable way for you to prove that you own it.

I'm not sure why the burden falls on Apple to resolve this for you. You did not have to enable activation lock. There is a process to recover a lost password. You can even put in a recovery email address. But when you forget the most important piece of information, which is your Apple ID email address, that's on you.

You literally only have to remember one thing, and weren't able to. Not really Apples problem if you ask me.

Ownership establishment aside (although I would say there are still ways that can be done, as even simple possession of a receipt is almost always enough of an indication), all someone has to do is not lose a car key which is pretty simple in most cases, yet it happens and the manufacturer will replace it despite some stupidity on someone's part to lose the key.

 

[ninety5eclipz]

But you can still prove the car is yours with a title. There is no way to prove a phone belongs to you. Even with a receipt. Who's to say this guy didn't trade his phone to someone for a different color (maybe a friend)? Then steal it back after the new owner set up his account. Just because he bought it doesn't mean it's his now. I'm not saying this guy did it. Just using it as an example. Put yourself in the situation. If you traded your phone and then the phone was stolen back. would you want this person to be able to gain access and claim the phone as his? Your Apple ID is your key to your device. You have every opportunity to make a copy of that key. (Write your info down in multiple secure places/give it to a family member). Set up your account properly with recovery email address and valid security questions and you will have no problems.

 

[C DM]

Basically it's just not worthwhile for Apple to help personal consumers (based on their system so far). That's unfortunate (even if a valid situation of that type might be or at least should be quite rare in reality).

 

[ninety5eclipz]

Basically it's just not worthwhile for Apple to help personal consumers (based on their system so far). That's unfortunate (even if a valid situation of that type might be or at least should be quite rare in reality).

If that's the way you want to see it then yes. The way I see it is that this is a great system that is meant to curve the theft of one if the most, if not, the most stolen line of product today. If my device was stolen, I'd rather it be used as a paper weight than know someone is out there enjoying my hard earned money. Bottom line....secure your device and remember your credentials.

 

[C DM]

If that's the way you want to see it then yes. The way I see it is that this is a great system that is meant to curve the theft of one if the most, if not, the most stolen line of product today. If my device was stolen, I'd rather it be used as a paper weight than know someone is out there enjoying my hard earned money. Bottom line....secure your device and remember your credentials.

I really doubt that with some sort of decent ownership check even with just a receipt or something similar that anyone that steals or finds a phone would be able to get anywhere with Apple since in 99.9% of those situations they won't have even the basics (receipt, etc) to even imply ownership.

 

[ninety5eclipz]

I agree. They wouldn't and shouldn't be able to get anywhere. That is why this system is working. With ios 6 there was no security like this. Even if a phone was passcode protected and you didn't have the passcode you could still format the phone and take ownership. You can't do that anymore as long as iCloud is activated. Again though. This should not fall on apples shoulders. Even with a receipt for proof of purchase. Why should they play judge just because their name is on the product? Anyway this topic is going no where and obviously people have different views on activation lock. I for one am a fan and believe the service has done more good than harm.

 

[Nevaborn]

Glad to see this working as intended. So so many of these oh I have forgotten my id and password threads.

 

[charlituna]

It was like this:

I talked to Genius for a while, and then he asked me to provide the receipt. Upon I showed them, he walked away for a while. When he came back, he told me he had no way to help me with this.

He probably went to ask a manger if there was anything they could do.

But there isn't. Frankly just because you bought it doesn't mean you own it. You could have given it to a friend as a gift then gotten pissed and stole it back. They have no way of knowing.

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if you really have absolute proof it's your device I don't see why Apple can't have a recovery system from leaving your expensive device in a brick form just because you forgot your user information somehow. Makes little customer care sense from a company like that for an important and expensive device like that.

The absolute proof is knowing that information. As I said, just because you bought it doesn't mean you own it.

Given that an Apple ID is a key element in the Apple ecosystem it seems a tad off for them to assume that everyone is going to forget that information. How many emails do folks generally have that they can't remember which one was their id. And how many folks don't stop to think 'hey I'm not using that email anymore I should do something to change that' or out in security questions they can't remember the answer to. Probably not that many in the long run

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I'm sorry that I didn't go into detail of the problem, but since there are so many people suspecting me, so I'm going to tell you more.

Account A stands for the Apple ID which I normally use.
Account B stands for the Apple ID which I used to test a bug (to be mentioned below)

You set up a test account and didn't record the info some where? Yeah that's Apple's fault.

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Not always. My Apple ID is a word, not an e-mail address.

In iTunes perhaps but from day one of iCloud it has had to be a full email

 

[C DM]

He probably went to ask a manger if there was anything they could do.

But there isn't. Frankly just because you bought it doesn't mean you own it. You could have given it to a friend as a gift then gotten pissed and stole it back. They have no way of knowing.

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The absolute proof is knowing that information. As I said, just because you bought it doesn't mean you own it.

Given that an Apple ID is a key element in the Apple ecosystem it seems a tad off for them to assume that everyone is going to forget that information. How many emails do folks generally have that they can't remember which one was their id. And how many folks don't stop to think 'hey I'm not using that email anymore I should do something to change that' or out in security questions they can't remember the answer to. Probably not that many in the long run

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You set up a test account and didn't record the info some where? Yeah that's Apple's fault.

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In iTunes perhaps but from day one of iCloud it has had to be a full email

"Just because you bought it doesn't mean you own it." Wow...I guess no one owns anything at all. I never realized that, that's a whole new worldview right there.

 

[charlituna]

"Just because you bought it doesn't mean you own it." Wow...I guess no one owns anything at all. I never realized that, that's a whole new worldview right there.

Nice job of taking something out of context so you can give a jerk reply. Pretty sure everyone else read the whole thing and understood my meaning. Perhaps one of them can explain it to you.

 

[sbailey4]

Not quite, because you can without a doubt prove that you are the owner of the vehicle, because the vehicle has a title.

With an iPhone, just because you have a receipt, doesn't mean you actually own the device. There isn't an irrefutable way for you to prove that you own it.

I'm not sure why the burden falls on Apple to resolve this for you. You did not have to enable activation lock. There is a process to recover a lost password. You can even put in a recovery email address. But when you forget the most important piece of information, which is your Apple ID email address, that's on you.

You literally only have to remember one thing, and weren't able to. Not really Apples problem if you ask me.

Nah that is crap. If you have the box, the receipt, the device and the phone# is registered with a carrier with you as the billing recipient and you have ID proving your identity I would pretty much say that is proof of ownership. However taking an $831 device and "testing a activation bug" probably is not the smartest thing anyone should do. Never said why the device was DFU restored either. Still sounds fishy. However what if in fact this was a valid issue that when the FMP was turned off using the so called "bug" and rendered the device bricked, why wouldn't the warranty cover it?

 

[charlituna]

Nah that is crap. If you have the box, the receipt, the device and the phone# is registered with a carrier with you as the billing recipient and you have ID proving your identity I would pretty much say that is proof of ownership.

We are dating. I buy you an iPhone, even get you apple care plus cause you are clumsy. Which is auto registered under my name. I give it to you as a gift. Aren't I a great girl friend. Because it was a gift morally you 'own' it even though the receipts, Apple Care etc are in my name.

Then I find out you are cheating on me. But I don't confront you until after I lifted my gift out of your bag while you were in the bathroom. Little do you know that I have your phone when I summarily boot you out for the cheating hussy you are.

Now you figure out what's up and you remotely wipe the phone but leave it on your account. So now I have a 'bricked' iPhone. I take it to apple and show them the receipts etc. Since we use the same carrier I put my SIM card in it since that is all the 'carrier information' they have access to (put my sim in a test phone and see that the number is the same as the one registered with my Apple ID etc). They aren't likely to question it is different than the one in the box because they burn and swap sims all the time if they try to activate a phone and it doesn't work.

So now I have 'proven' it is my phone and they should remove the activation lock for me. But in fact when I gave it to you as a gift, morally and in many states even legally, I gave you ownership so I have no right to that phone.

 

[Miz.Michele]

I tend to believe some of the stories. I have a ton of passwords and use a password manager. I make up really strong passwords. I also have a ton of email accounts just because - -lol. Without the password manager I'd be sunk. I have given my family members my older iPhones with find my iPhone activated but I am kind of paranoid to use it on my brand new phone. I've had the phone crash twice (likely my doing).

Still, I must admit do know my apple ID and the email account associated with it and also recognize that there are some people that are just not too savvy and just have no clue so I really think there should be some type of recovery option.

After reading some of these horror stories, I've printed out all my user names and passwords, which I hate to do and have them in a secure place. Just in case.

 

[sbailey4]

The absolute proof is knowing that information. As I said, just because you bought it doesn't mean you own it.

Likewise just because you are locked out doesn't mean you don't. No one is saying its Apples fault , just that they should assist with recovery if in fact ownership is proven. I don't think that is asking to much for a device as expensive as iPhone is. In fact if you want to use FMP you have to use activation lock, no other option. So one could say that's Apples fault for not providing an option to turn off activation lock without turning off FMP functionality. Anyway I think it was a great addition and really believe it works for stolen devices no question, just that they should use their backdoor for regular folks who get into these kinds of situations ONLY if they can prove ownership. And yes if you bought it and have receipt, boxes, the device all in your possession and phone# registered with carrier in your name that should be sufficient proof.

 

[Miz.Michele]

We are dating. I buy you an iPhone, even get you apple care plus cause you are clumsy. Which is auto registered under my name. I give it to you as a gift. Aren't I a great girl friend. Because it was a gift morally you 'own' it even though the receipts, Apple Care etc are in my name.

Then I find out you are cheating on me. But I don't confront you until after I lifted my gift out of your bag while you were in the bathroom. Little do you know that I have your phone when I summarily boot you out for the cheating hussy you are.

Now you figure out what's up and you remotely wipe the phone but leave it on your account. So now I have a 'bricked' iPhone. I take it to apple and show them the receipts etc. Since we use the same carrier I put my SIM card in it since that is all the 'carrier information' they have access to (put my sim in a test phone and see that the number is the same as the one registered with my Apple ID etc). They aren't likely to question it is different than the one in the box because they burn and swap sims all the time if they try to activate a phone and it doesn't work.

So now I have 'proven' it is my phone and they should remove the activation lock for me. But in fact when I gave it to you as a gift, morally and in many states even legally, I gave you ownership so I have no right to that phone.

I guess there really are people out there like what you describe. Jeez.

 

[charlituna]

Likewise just because you are locked out doesn't mean you don't. No one is saying its Apples fault , just that they should assist with recovery if in fact ownership is proven.

If it is your phone then you signed into iCloud. Which means you should know the account email because you put it in there. And when you did you agreed to certain terms including but not limited to the fact that it is YOUR responsibility to keep the email, security questions etc up to date.

Apple has systems to assist you in resetting the password if you have followed all the rest.

 

[sbailey4]

We are dating. I buy you an iPhone, even get you apple care plus cause you are clumsy. Which is auto registered under my name. I give it to you as a gift. Aren't I a great girl friend. Because it was a gift morally you 'own' it even though the receipts, Apple Care etc are in my name.

Then I find out you are cheating on me. But I don't confront you until after I lifted my gift out of your bag while you were in the bathroom. Little do you know that I have your phone when I summarily boot you out for the cheating hussy you are.

Now you figure out what's up and you remotely wipe the phone but leave it on your account. So now I have a 'bricked' iPhone. I take it to apple and show them the receipts etc. Since we use the same carrier I put my SIM card in it since that is all the 'carrier information' they have access to (put my sim in a test phone and see that the number is the same as the one registered with my Apple ID etc). They aren't likely to question it is different than the one in the box because they burn and swap sims all the time if they try to activate a phone and it doesn't work.

So now I have 'proven' it is my phone and they should remove the activation lock for me. But in fact when I gave it to you as a gift, morally and in many states even legally, I gave you ownership so I have no right to that phone.

Yes you are a great GF! In fact I would not be cheating on you if you bought me an iPhone with AppleCare so it would be a non issue However technically since you purchased it you would be the owner. In that case either you morally accept it was a gift and leave it be OR when you gift it you give the receipt and boxes etc along with the device.

Now I have the device, the receipt the orig box and the phone is registered on MY Verizon acct and I been paying the bill each month. So even though you forked over the cash I would be the owner since I had all the evidence. You on the other hand don't have the goods except the device which you just admitted that you stole while I was showering. You go to Apple and say unlock please and they say sorry you don't have a receipt and this device is registered on sbailey4 Verizion acct, come back with sbailey4 and make sure he brings an ID and the orig receipt and we will take care of it for you. Thanks have a nice day.

 

[PNutts]

In iTunes perhaps but from day one of iCloud it has had to be a full email

Bingo. That's my point. Apple calls them both Apple IDs. Maybe I'm too easily confused.

We are dating.

I tried that once on a bus and it didn't go well.

The scenario you described isn't far off from one that was posted here on MR awhile back. Guy left psycho girlfriend and it was locked to her account. He couldn't get her to respond and remove it.

 

[sbailey4]

If it is your phone then you signed into iCloud. Which means you should know the account email because you put it in there. And when you did you agreed to certain terms including but not limited to the fact that it is YOUR responsibility to keep the email, security questions etc up to date.

Apple has systems to assist you in resetting the password if you have followed all the rest.

OK OK i give. I am not defending the OP as the story sounds a bit shady to me. So its totally the users fault and Apple should tell them to screw off and buy another device because they didnt follow the recommendation to create recovery emails and use password tools to keep track of their stuff. We dont care who owns the device because now someone has to purchase another one and that helps our bottom line. Steve over in sales will be glad to help you with your new purchase , have a nice day

 

[C DM]

Nice job of taking something out of context so you can give a jerk reply. Pretty sure everyone else read the whole thing and understood my meaning. Perhaps one of them can explain it to you.

It really wasn't out if context as you said it more than even once with the statement standing on its own. If anything nice job exaggerating perhaps.

In any case, yes I think we all know what you are saying, but that still doesn't make it right or good really, or at least that it can't or shouldn't be improved.

 

[C DM]

If it is your phone then you signed into iCloud. Which means you should know the account email because you put it in there. And when you did you agreed to certain terms including but not limited to the fact that it is YOUR responsibility to keep the email, security questions etc up to date.

Apple has systems to assist you in resetting the password if you have followed all the rest.

Likewise with a car it's up to you to make copies of a key and whatnot but should you lose yours and have no other copy then would it be acceptable for the manufacturer to just try to help you find it instead of making another key for you (for a fee probably,
and of course provided ownership is proven). Of course that wouldn't be even remotely OK. But for a fairly expensive device like an iPhone that's all good.