Why assume that when most theft isn't a sophisticated heist, but of convenience?
It's clear Activation Lock is having a positive impact for buyers, but you can't simply sway all one way, since there will still be thieves that will know how to capitalize of iPhone theft in a post-activation Lock world. I'd even say it's likely some are making more money with less risk because they can buy from other thieves and then disperse the components through their channels, not unlike stripping down a car, albeit much easier and a lot more money for the both the weight and volume.
Yeah... the article doesn't break down iPhone thefts according to complexity... only that they are simply down.
Of course there will still be thieves stealing iPhones. iPhone theft dropped... it didn't disappear altogether. We can assume that since Activation Lock started... all they can do is sell them for parts.
It's funny... I was actually thinking about stolen cars earlier. I'm imagining iPhone "chop shops"
There's a knock at the door... "Hey buddy... I got a Lightning Connector and headphone assembly I'm trying to unload... you interested?"
Wow, Solipsism is still here after all these years? Been a while since i've posted anything here.
The vast majority of people that steal things want to make fast and easy money. Steal phone, sell phone. Profit. Taking time and effort to carefully disassemble tons of iPhone parts isn't worth the hassle for a basic thief. Not to mention they'd have to steal a ton of phones to make a decent profit.
Look on eBay and you'll see the vast majority of listings are from phones with broken screens. Then there's the bulk phone resellers that want to get rid of "BAD ESN/IMEI" phones and don't bother to scrap them for parts. Then there's sketchy chinese sellers with knockoff/generic replacement parts with descriptions like "brand new great condition OEM with defects". Then there are a minuscule amount of people selling trying to sell used but working non-knockoff screens for like ~$100, but even these have sneaky descriptions like "has chipped corner" in small print. Then there's a few companies like iFixIt that sell things at a significant markup to make money.
The vast majority of people don't bother repairing their iPhone themselves. Why buy a used screen of questionable quality for $100 and risk trying to do it yourself when you can go to Apple and get the real thing for roughly the same price or only slightly more?
As with cars, you'll never be able to eliminate theft completely, but these statistics do show that theft is indeed going down.
Wow, Solipsism is still here after all these years? Been a while since i've posted anything here.
The vast majority of people that steal things want to make fast and easy money. Steal phone, sell phone. Profit. Taking time and effort to carefully disassemble tons of iPhone parts isn't worth the hassle for a basic thief. Not to mention they'd have to steal a ton of phones to make a decent profit.
Look on eBay and you'll see the vast majority of listings are from phones with broken screens. Then there's the bulk phone resellers that want to get rid of "BAD ESN/IMEI" phones and don't bother to scrap them for parts. Then there's sketchy chinese sellers with knockoff/generic replacement parts with descriptions like "brand new great condition OEM with defects". Then there are a minuscule amount of people selling trying to sell used but working non-knockoff screens for like ~$100, but even these have sneaky descriptions like "has chipped corner" in small print. Then there's a few companies like iFixIt that sell things at a significant markup to make money.
The vast majority of people don't bother repairing their iPhone themselves. Why buy a used screen of questionable quality for $100 and risk trying to do it yourself when you can go to Apple and get the real thing for roughly the same price or only slightly more?
As with cars, you'll never be able to eliminate theft completely, but these statistics do show that theft is indeed going down.
Thieves don't disassemble the iPhones themselves. They probably know a repair shop that'll give them quick cash for a purloined iPhone.
Right, and I was dumb enough not to have the passcode on. I saw that disabling Find My iPhone required my Apple ID and I was stupid enough to believe that was enough. I used my iPad in my car for maps and I can't be fiddling around with the number pad every two minutes. I made an $800 mistake trusting that when Apple said someone needed my ID to erase or turn off F My IPhone that actually meant something. I turned on the passcode remotely the moment I knew it was missing— why even provide the option if they know it's a sitting duck to the first jailbreak savvy theif who comes along?
When you activate it for the first time, IT ASKS YOU TO SET UP A PASSWORD and warns you if it isn't a strong one.
I suggest when you get a new iPad you get a genius to help you set it up seeing as you seem to be incompetent.
Either that or setting up the worst case scenario imaginable, a tool used by trolls for years.
When you activate it for the first time, IT ASKS YOU TO SET UP A PASSWORD and warns you if it isn't a strong one.
I suggest when you get a new iPad you get a genius to help you set it up seeing as you seem to be incompetent.
Either that or setting up the worst case scenario imaginable, a tool used by trolls for years.
Yeah, I've been using Apple products for 25 years. Even geniuses can get careless. Not a troll though; this happened to me three months ago and it still stings.
Are you confusing passcode with password? My iPad lacked a lock screen passcode, and every four digit code is as strong as the next when you only get 10 tries. I had it temporarily disabled for convenience in the car because a) I planned to hide it in my trunk and b) I thought being able to lock and erase it remotely would be Good Enough. My Apple ID has an extent strong password and was correctly configured. The hitch is, the theif must have turned my pad off immediately and never connected to the internet again, because I used Find My IPhone as soon as I saw it was gone and it's still "pending erase" three months later.
Some people are saying the device can't be jail broken if it's secured with my Apple ID, so Find My IPhone can't be turned off. Is that true even with the lock screen wide open? That's my experience but I've never tried a jailbreak so I don't know the current workarounds in that regard. Enlighten me.
I understood that it is not that difficult to circumvent Apples activation lock. Apple locks devices via its IMEI number and this can be easily reprogrammed with new firmware or replaced by inserting a new chip. I also understood that Londen and Amsterdam have shops that do this full time.
Yeah, I've been using Apple products for 25 years. Even geniuses can get careless. Not a troll though; this happened to me three months ago and it still stings.
Are you confusing passcode with password? My iPad lacked a lock screen passcode, and every four digit code is as strong as the next when you only get 10 tries. I had it temporarily disabled for convenience in the car because a) I planned to hide it in my trunk and b) I thought being able to lock and erase it remotely would be Good Enough. My Apple ID has an extent strong password and was correctly configured. The hitch is, the theif must have turned my pad off immediately and never connected to the internet again, because I used Find My IPhone as soon as I saw it was gone and it's still "pending erase" three months later.
Some people are saying the device can't be jail broken if it's secured with my Apple ID, so Find My IPhone can't be turned off. Is that true even with the lock screen wide open? That's my experience but I've never tried a jailbreak so I don't know the current workarounds in that regard. Enlighten me.
Touch ID is the solution for you, I lock my iPhone 5s & 6 with a full strength password a touch is all it takes to unlock it, unless I forget to enter password after a restart.
I don't know about where you live but where I live the only way a driver is permitted to touch a phone or tablet while driving is when handing it to a passenger.
I use my phone with the controls on my steering wheel via bluetooth and Siri.
Touch ID is the solution for you, I lock my iPhone 5s & 6 with a full strength password a touch is all it takes to unlock it, unless I forget to enter password after a restart.
I don't know about where you live but where I live the only way a driver is permitted to touch a phone or tablet while driving is when handing it to a passenger.
I use my phone with the controls on my steering wheel via bluetooth and Siri.
Well yeah. My last year iPad didn't have touch ID. Which just made it all the crappier; if I'd Sikhs it a month before and shelled out for the new model, I'd have been covered.
But my real question is, can they erase and resell my iPad if there's no lock screen, but Activation Lock is fully and properly enabled? Because it feels like that's what they did. It was a cellular model so I don't get how it just disappeared forever and Find My iPhone was useless.
"In San Francisco, 40 percent fewer iPhones were stolen between Sept. 2013 and Sept. 2014, according toReuters. The number dipped 25 percent in New York, and "smartphone thefts" were down 50 percent in London over the same period.
"We have made real progress in tackling the smartphone theft epidemic that was affecting many major cities just two years ago," London Mayor Boris Johnson said."
Shut up, Boris. Taking credit for a feature that Apple had already implemented and that had nothing to do with you is a reprehensible thing to do.
Shut up, Boris. Taking credit for a feature that Apple had already implemented and that had nothing to do with you is a normal thing all politicians do.
Comments
Yeah... the article doesn't break down iPhone thefts according to complexity... only that they are simply down.
Of course there will still be thieves stealing iPhones. iPhone theft dropped... it didn't disappear altogether. We can assume that since Activation Lock started... all they can do is sell them for parts.
It's funny... I was actually thinking about stolen cars earlier. I'm imagining iPhone "chop shops"
There's a knock at the door... "Hey buddy... I got a Lightning Connector and headphone assembly I'm trying to unload... you interested?"
Wow, Solipsism is still here after all these years? Been a while since i've posted anything here.
The vast majority of people that steal things want to make fast and easy money. Steal phone, sell phone. Profit. Taking time and effort to carefully disassemble tons of iPhone parts isn't worth the hassle for a basic thief. Not to mention they'd have to steal a ton of phones to make a decent profit.
Look on eBay and you'll see the vast majority of listings are from phones with broken screens. Then there's the bulk phone resellers that want to get rid of "BAD ESN/IMEI" phones and don't bother to scrap them for parts. Then there's sketchy chinese sellers with knockoff/generic replacement parts with descriptions like "brand new great condition OEM with defects". Then there are a minuscule amount of people selling trying to sell used but working non-knockoff screens for like ~$100, but even these have sneaky descriptions like "has chipped corner" in small print. Then there's a few companies like iFixIt that sell things at a significant markup to make money.
The vast majority of people don't bother repairing their iPhone themselves. Why buy a used screen of questionable quality for $100 and risk trying to do it yourself when you can go to Apple and get the real thing for roughly the same price or only slightly more?
As with cars, you'll never be able to eliminate theft completely, but these statistics do show that theft is indeed going down.
Thieves don't disassemble the iPhones themselves. They probably know a repair shop that'll give them quick cash for a purloined iPhone.
Right, and I was dumb enough not to have the passcode on. I saw that disabling Find My iPhone required my Apple ID and I was stupid enough to believe that was enough. I used my iPad in my car for maps and I can't be fiddling around with the number pad every two minutes. I made an $800 mistake trusting that when Apple said someone needed my ID to erase or turn off F My IPhone that actually meant something. I turned on the passcode remotely the moment I knew it was missing— why even provide the option if they know it's a sitting duck to the first jailbreak savvy theif who comes along?
When you activate it for the first time, IT ASKS YOU TO SET UP A PASSWORD and warns you if it isn't a strong one.
I suggest when you get a new iPad you get a genius to help you set it up seeing as you seem to be incompetent.
Either that or setting up the worst case scenario imaginable, a tool used by trolls for years.
Yeah, I've been using Apple products for 25 years. Even geniuses can get careless. Not a troll though; this happened to me three months ago and it still stings.
Are you confusing passcode with password? My iPad lacked a lock screen passcode, and every four digit code is as strong as the next when you only get 10 tries. I had it temporarily disabled for convenience in the car because a) I planned to hide it in my trunk and b) I thought being able to lock and erase it remotely would be Good Enough. My Apple ID has an extent strong password and was correctly configured. The hitch is, the theif must have turned my pad off immediately and never connected to the internet again, because I used Find My IPhone as soon as I saw it was gone and it's still "pending erase" three months later.
Some people are saying the device can't be jail broken if it's secured with my Apple ID, so Find My IPhone can't be turned off. Is that true even with the lock screen wide open? That's my experience but I've never tried a jailbreak so I don't know the current workarounds in that regard. Enlighten me.
Apple locks devices via its IMEI number and this can be easily reprogrammed with new firmware or replaced by inserting a new chip.
I also understood that Londen and Amsterdam have shops that do this full time.
I understood that it is not that difficult to circumvent Apples activation lock.
Apple locks devices via its IMEI number and this can be easily reprogrammed with new firmware or replaced by inserting a new chip.
I also understood that Londen and Amsterdam have shops that do this full time.
Spoofing IMEI's is illegal in many jurisdictions.
Yeah, I've been using Apple products for 25 years. Even geniuses can get careless. Not a troll though; this happened to me three months ago and it still stings.
Are you confusing passcode with password? My iPad lacked a lock screen passcode, and every four digit code is as strong as the next when you only get 10 tries. I had it temporarily disabled for convenience in the car because a) I planned to hide it in my trunk and b) I thought being able to lock and erase it remotely would be Good Enough. My Apple ID has an extent strong password and was correctly configured. The hitch is, the theif must have turned my pad off immediately and never connected to the internet again, because I used Find My IPhone as soon as I saw it was gone and it's still "pending erase" three months later.
Some people are saying the device can't be jail broken if it's secured with my Apple ID, so Find My IPhone can't be turned off. Is that true even with the lock screen wide open? That's my experience but I've never tried a jailbreak so I don't know the current workarounds in that regard. Enlighten me.
Touch ID is the solution for you, I lock my iPhone 5s & 6 with a full strength password a touch is all it takes to unlock it, unless I forget to enter password after a restart.
I don't know about where you live but where I live the only way a driver is permitted to touch a phone or tablet while driving is when handing it to a passenger.
I use my phone with the controls on my steering wheel via bluetooth and Siri.
So is stealing. The shops are illegal ofcourse, but criminals know where to go.
Well yeah. My last year iPad didn't have touch ID. Which just made it all the crappier; if I'd Sikhs it a month before and shelled out for the new model, I'd have been covered.
But my real question is, can they erase and resell my iPad if there's no lock screen, but Activation Lock is fully and properly enabled? Because it feels like that's what they did. It was a cellular model so I don't get how it just disappeared forever and Find My iPhone was useless.
That's not the point. A person with a cracked IMEI can be prosecuted and sent to jail. Always check first:
http://www.imei.info
"In San Francisco, 40 percent fewer iPhones were stolen between Sept. 2013 and Sept. 2014, according to Reuters. The number dipped 25 percent in New York, and "smartphone thefts" were down 50 percent in London over the same period.
"We have made real progress in tackling the smartphone theft epidemic that was affecting many major cities just two years ago," London Mayor Boris Johnson said."
Shut up, Boris. Taking credit for a feature that Apple had already implemented and that had nothing to do with you is a reprehensible thing to do.
That knew more than I expected it to.
There fixed that for you.