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iPhone Stuck in activation lock after DFU restore
- Thread starter peter08po
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See, the problem is plenty of people do blame Apple. I'm definitely in a position to see that. And quite frankly, I'm tired of hearing it at this point.
There is a way to assist people. Apple gives you a mechanism to reset your password if you forget it. If you don't know your Apple ID, there is a website that can assist you in finding it. They can't just tell you what it is.
All you guys saying that if you gift a bought phone then you don't own it.
Well have you tried unlocking a second hand iphone through a network without showing proof of purchase or contacting the ORIGINAL owner to do it?
No matter what, as long as you are the one who purchased it and can prove it then Apple should do something.
Since when does the Apple ID the phone is locked to prove ownership?
I just can't accept that Apple won't do anything full stop.
This stuff can and probably have happened. Surely there must be a law that covers a consumer on things like this.
Did you purchase the phone on a network contract registered to your name and address?
If so show them that, your government ID and proof of address.
Assuming the op was genuine and If I was he/she I would take this further or just say someone stole the phone you found it back but the thief's Apple ID is on it.
That's BS, how can you own a brick phone because you don't remember your Apple ID.
Well have you tried unlocking a second hand iphone through a network without showing proof of purchase or contacting the ORIGINAL owner to do it?
No matter what, as long as you are the one who purchased it and can prove it then Apple should do something.
Since when does the Apple ID the phone is locked to prove ownership?
I just can't accept that Apple won't do anything full stop.
This stuff can and probably have happened. Surely there must be a law that covers a consumer on things like this.
Did you purchase the phone on a network contract registered to your name and address?
If so show them that, your government ID and proof of address.
Assuming the op was genuine and If I was he/she I would take this further or just say someone stole the phone you found it back but the thief's Apple ID is on it.
That's BS, how can you own a brick phone because you don't remember your Apple ID.
Stuck in activation lock after DFU restore
If you gift anything you really no longer own it. You are transferring possession of something when you gift it. If you gift me a phone and I set it up should you be able to come back and claim it as yours?
Yes. Two weeks ago I bought an iPhone 3GS from ebay to use when I travel to Germany. He said it was previous att network. I have att. I called them and had it unlocked within 7 days without original owners info.
Again, just because you purchased it doesn't always make you the current owner.
Apple ID necessarily doesn't show proof that you own it. But not knowing your iCloud account doesn't show proof either and just more the reason for them to turn you away. Receipt or not. What about the 3GS I purchased as stated above? If he's still got the receipt should he be able to turn around and take the phone back as the legal owner after I purchased it?
Secure your device, remember your account info and purchase insurance to minimize damages.
If you gift anything you really no longer own it. You are transferring possession of something when you gift it. If you gift me a phone and I set it up should you be able to come back and claim it as yours?
Yes. Two weeks ago I bought an iPhone 3GS from ebay to use when I travel to Germany. He said it was previous att network. I have att. I called them and had it unlocked within 7 days without original owners info.
Again, just because you purchased it doesn't always make you the current owner.
Apple ID necessarily doesn't show proof that you own it. But not knowing your iCloud account doesn't show proof either and just more the reason for them to turn you away. Receipt or not. What about the 3GS I purchased as stated above? If he's still got the receipt should he be able to turn around and take the phone back as the legal owner after I purchased it?
Secure your device, remember your account info and purchase insurance to minimize damages.
How's this really different from people purchasing a whole lot of things over ages? They become owners and can deal with things as those things are their own. Perhaps the fact that there's some sort of gray area when it comes to phones or similar devices simply means that the whole approach to them needs to be refined, not that everyone just needs to live with it no matter how bad it might be or at least how much it can be improved.
You are holding the receipt but it has MY name on it. You stole it from me
But they don't have access to Verizon's system. They would have only the SIM card snd the number programmed in it as any kind of 'proof'. I put in my SIM card so that it's my number. Well if it's at least a 5. Earlier ones it's even easier since they lack access to look up such information
And those kind of things are exactly why the system was set up the way it was. Lawmakers etc wanted a system in place that can't be bypassed and that's what
Apple set up. The only way to turn it off is to know the account information. Full stop. If you are foolish enough to set it up and forget your account information that isn't a warranty issue that is merely the biggest 10T error ever and Apple doesn't have to do a thing about it
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You can't. Apple thought of this as a tactic a theft might use to get around the system. and their warranty service system is set up to know the serial is under registration and no swaps or repairs can be done until you turn it off.
In that case he WOULDN'T HAVE THE DEVICE in hand to ask Apple to unlock. Wow people what if I was standing on one foot facing north and my girlfriends 3rd cousin bought the device gave it to her great grandmother who gave it to my cousin who sold it on ebay to my neighbor who gave it to me for my birthday? How would we prove who the owner was? The point is not for every single cockamamie scenario you guys can come up with but a simple, I purchased this device last month, its registered to me on my carrier acct I have the phone, the box, the receipt and a record that I actually purchased it a month ago, can you help me out with the mistake i made?
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No the "Purpose of the system" was to prevent stolen devices from being used or sold by the criminal and to deter theft in the first place. NOT to screw over the actual owners of a device who forgot a login or didn't setup their AppleID with safety net.
Again the thief will not have any proof of ownership so would be unable to do anything with the device.
You say you entered random info and that's why you can't remember it? But further back you say you have signed in to the B account to test things, so you must know the info.
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That'd suck and all, but Apple offers 2-factor authentication. I have mine tied to texting my Verizon line. Even if my identity AND my phone were stolen, I could still re-gain access to my account once a new phone is activated on my line. Apple gives people plenty of options, but there's no excuse for forgetting your own email address. If you can't remember that, then you probably shouldn't own a smartphone or tablet.
Just like there's no excuse for losing one's only set of car keys, and yet it happens. Keep in mind, you don't necessarily have to forget your email address, you could get hacked and lose access to it, for example, which is certainly not that uncommon these days. Things aren't really just black and white, as the saying goes.
If people don't want to be responsible for remembering or writing down their account ID, I guess a DMD (Department of Mobile Devices) could be created so titles of ownership could be officially verified. Of course everyone would be required to pay yearly registration fees for each of their devices for use on public lands or to operate in public air. Proof of insurance would be optional.
My email address also uses 2-factor authentication, granting me re-entry upon reactivation of my phone line. Does it make it impossible for this to happen to me? Nope, sure doesn't. But it does make it so improbable that if it ever did happen, my AppleID would be the least of my worries.
Seriously, if you can't remember your own email address, then Apple owes you nothing. You paid a few hundred dollars for a device from them, not for idiot-insurance.
And, again, if you get hacked somehow and lose access to your email address or your Apple ID gets associated to another email address you don't control when that happen (let's say without 2-factor authentication, as most people don't use that, but perhaps even with it, as nothing is full-proof), what then? You didn't do anything to forget anything, but I guess it's all cool to just pour some salt (deny access to your phone making it a brick essentially) on top of an already bad wound (getting hacked and perhaps having your identity compromised and all that). Probable or not probable, but the situation is possible, and not having a protocol to deal with it (beyond "SOL") isn't exactly a good thing.
This situation is so rare (think 0.001%) that it'd probably cost Apple more in paperwork to come out with a protocol to deal with it than it would be to just lose that tiny portion of customers for life. Businesses exist to create profit.
I guess that would really depend on how rare it is--in a way if it's extremely rare then helping people on an individual basis wouldn't be that much of an effort for Apple in cases like that (given that they spend even more time dealing with more trivial things with people), and if it's not that rare, then having some sort of a protocol would likely make sense.
Stuck in activation lock after DFU restore
If it is attached to a line you own and you have AppleCare, why not just throw it in the toilet and replace through AC? If never used AC so don't know how it works. Still cost ~$200 but better than having an expensive paper weight.
Edit- Replied before I read the last post and was 205d
If it is attached to a line you own and you have AppleCare, why not just throw it in the toilet and replace through AC? If never used AC so don't know how it works. Still cost ~$200 but better than having an expensive paper weight.
Edit- Replied before I read the last post and was 205d
All of these threads made me think of a legitimate situation. My parents always shared an iTunes account for app purchases and both their phones were set up on it. I made a new iCloud ID for my mom when iOS 5 was released to keep iMessage, Photo Stream, etc separate from my dad's phone.
I honestly have no idea what the user ID or password is for it. She probably doesn't either since she never logs out of it. If she ever has to restore the phone one day she would be hosed.
Next time I visit I'll have to make note of the info.
I honestly have no idea what the user ID or password is for it. She probably doesn't either since she never logs out of it. If she ever has to restore the phone one day she would be hosed.
Next time I visit I'll have to make note of the info.
I too can think of legitimate situations. My own household has a situation actually.......
My wife doesn't use iTunes or any cloud services. I usually come home some random day with two new phones and hand her one as she "tries" to set it up herself. Halfway through it it usually handed back to me and takes a glow while for her to answer/remember even the correct email she uses for her Apple ID. More than once I've taken note of this only to find in the future she has started an entirely new account. This usually happens when she lets our daughters play with her phone, enter the passwords wrong too many times playing around, and instead of asking for help solving the issue, she just starts from scratch.
BUT with the new security she will at least need the original so Apple has somewhat stopped her from doing all of that.
Point being, I can see how some people do not care enough or think it is important enough to either write this information down or remember it as they never use it.
My wife doesn't use iTunes or any cloud services. I usually come home some random day with two new phones and hand her one as she "tries" to set it up herself. Halfway through it it usually handed back to me and takes a glow while for her to answer/remember even the correct email she uses for her Apple ID. More than once I've taken note of this only to find in the future she has started an entirely new account. This usually happens when she lets our daughters play with her phone, enter the passwords wrong too many times playing around, and instead of asking for help solving the issue, she just starts from scratch.
BUT with the new security she will at least need the original so Apple has somewhat stopped her from doing all of that.
Point being, I can see how some people do not care enough or think it is important enough to either write this information down or remember it as they never use it.
Nonsense. You may have an entirely different email address for iCloud. Especially if your primary email address is, for example, a gmail one, which is not acceptable for icloud. How could you not know this? This happened to my wife's phone, we had to set up an icloud address when she upgraded to iOS 7, an address she never, ever used or indeed still uses. Luckily I had it stored somewhere but if I hadn't we were screwed.
The reality is they already have one. Its just for educational or corp customers. So not like they have to reinvent the wheel. Just use what they already have for other customers like they do for educational and corporate ones.
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Thats not true. You can use any email address you want you dont have to have icloud. You can actually change your email to whatever you want by logging into AppleID if its something you dont want to use or cant remember. http://appleid.apple.com
No good. Because Activation Lock is server side, it is cross referenced to the system used to do the swaps and blocks any kind of repair or swap until you sign into iCloud.com and remove the lock. Can't remove it, they have to deny service. 100% of the time. No way for a manager to override it.
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That's not the issue that we talking about here. There are systems to change passwords etc if you know the email.
But if you don't know the email there is no way to turn off the lock or find that information. That is part of the security of the system.
The OP set up a test account to test for a bug and didn't bother to write down the email address he put in. Sloppy and dumb move particularly when testing a bug. Now he's locked out of his phone and stuck.
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