Apple is introducing a new feature to its official after-sales service network: iPhones that the system considers lost or stolen will no longer be eligible for repair.
An internal note to Apple, which our American colleagues from MacRumors were able to consult, indicates that the company plans to modify the rules for supporting iPhones for repair. Indeed, according to this document, iPhones labeled as “lost” or “stolen” in the Apple system will no longer be eligible for after-sales service. Apple Store technicians, but also authorized repairers, will therefore now be required to refuse them.
Automatic notification for repairers
Everything being automated at Apple, these repairers, who use the internal MobileGenius or GSX system, will see an alert message when they analyze an iPhone considered lost or stolen. Information linked to the unique IMEI identification number of the terminals, cross-referenced with the database of the GSM Association, which brings together more than 1150 players in the telephony market (operators, manufacturers, etc.).
iPhone users who have lost their smartphone and have declared it as such in iCloud’s “find my iPhone” management will thus be assured that their late mobiles cannot be repaired. The “lost” mode can, as a reminder, be activated remotely after obtaining certainty that the device is misplaced.
The “activation lock” of “find my iPhone” can however be deactivated in order to regain access to the terminal. This requires being able to prove either that you are the owner of the phone, or that you are in direct contact with its former owner. This allows us, to conclude, to remember that in the context of any second-hand iPhone purchase, it is essential to check that the “activation lock” is in the “deactivated” position.