This Feature in iOS 18 Strives to Render Your iPhone Less Enticing for Theft Attempts
A buzzworthy development in the Apple community has emerged, courtesy of Beta Profiles, highlighting a forthcoming feature in iOS 18's release candidate. The feature, aimed at rendering your stolen iPhone obsolete for thieves, expands upon Apple's existing Activation Lock feature. This expansion ties your iPhone's components, such as the battery, camera, and display, to your Apple ID.
Thieves, previously able to make a profit from disassembling a stolen iPhone and selling its parts, will now find this venture futile. Beta Profiles' post, shared on Threads, features sample screenshots depicting this new measure. Unauthorized attempts to access your phone and calibrate its parts will prompt the user to enter the tied Apple ID credentials. The post also mentions that the feature is available for iPhone 12 and later models.
Interestingly, while the iPhone might still be functional, the Parts and Service section in the device's Settings exposes the phone's component history. 'Unknown part' will be added to this section whenever an attempt is made to access the parts.
Back in April, Apple revealed that customers and law enforcement agencies had urged for an extension of Activation Lock to iPhone parts. Calibration restrictions on devices with locked parts will further assure customers that unfamiliar repair shops will not unlawfully swap their legitimate parts with off-brand ones.
The announcement of this new feature has been met with positivity both by Apple enthusiasts and those on Reddit. This development marks a significant stride in addressing criticism surrounding self-repairability on iPhones, a long-standing argument in favor of Android in the ongoing iPhone vs. Android debate.
Apple appears to be making safety a priority. iOS 17.3 witnessed the launch of Stolen Device Protection, which demands an unauthorized person to enter biometrics on the stolen device, then re-enter them after a one-hour interval, to access your iPhone.
Enrichment Data:
- Enhanced Security: The expanded Activation Lock in iOS 18 ties the iPhone's components to its serial number, thus preventing stolen parts from being used in another device. This significantly reduces the resale value of stolen iPhones and discourages organized theft rings from targeting iPhones for their parts.
- Improved Self-Repairability: By ensuring that components from a locked iPhone cannot be used in another device, this feature indirectly promotes the use of authentic Apple parts or certified third-party components in repairs, which are more reliable and less likely to cause issues in the long run.
- Reduced Resale Value: Since the Activation Lock is tied to the device's serial number, any components from a locked iPhone cannot be used in another device. This significantly reduces the resale value, making stolen iPhones less attractive to thieves who might otherwise sell the parts on the black market.
- Added Layer of Security: iOS 17.3’s Stolen Device Protection requires an unauthorized person to enter biometrics on the stolen device and re-enter them after a one-hour gap to access your iPhone, adding an extra layer of security in case a thief has glanced at your passcode.
- This new tech in iOS 18, the expanded Activation Lock, will hopefully make it fact that thieves cannot profit from disassembling stolen iPhones, as the components are now tied to the device's Apple ID.
- With the upcoming feature in iOS 18, tech enthusiasts can look forward to the fact that their stolen iPhone parts will be useless for thieves, as the iPhone's battery, camera, and display are now tied to the Apple ID.
- The credential-based restriction in the new iOS 18 feature ensures that even if someone manages to disassemble a stolen iPhone, they won't be able to calibrate its parts without entering the tied Apple ID, making the iPhone essentially obsolete for thieves.
- The future of iPhone security is looking promising with the development of this tech, allowing users to have hope that even if their iPhone is stolen, the fact that it's components are tied to their Apple ID will make it nearly impossible for thieves to profit from selling the parts.
