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Q: How can I open my iPhone activation lock without owner's account

How can I open my new iPhone 4S activation lock without owner's account

iPhone 4S, iOS 7.0.2

Posted on Oct 16, 2013 4:14 AM

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Q: How can I open my iPhone activation lock without owner's account

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  • by windymiller55,

    windymiller55 windymiller55 Oct 9, 2015 7:16 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 9, 2015 7:16 AM in response to Csound1

    I did say that it was bought from a reputable auction site selling

    recovered police property items, so does that not make me the owner !

  • by Michael Black,

    Michael Black Michael Black Oct 9, 2015 7:22 AM in response to windymiller55
    Level 7 (24,860 points)
    Oct 9, 2015 7:22 AM in response to windymiller55

    windymiller55 wrote:

     

    I did say that it was bought from a reputable auction site selling

    recovered police property items, so does that not make me the owner !

    You may be in possession of the device but you are not the owner. The owner apparently never gave the auction site release to sell their lost or stolen property it would seem as they did not remove activation lock before the auction.  The auction site or the police before them could have contacted the owner just as you did - either they did not or the owner simpy refused to remove the lock (which is their right to do). In that case, the "reputable" auction site should never have sold the item at all, and in fact I'd argue the police should have destroyed it as unclaimed items not suitable for auction.

     

    Regardless of how you slice it, Apple is not part of any of it.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Oct 9, 2015 7:22 AM in response to windymiller55
    Level 9 (50,871 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 9, 2015 7:22 AM in response to windymiller55

    windymiller55 wrote:

     

    I did say that it was bought from a reputable auction site selling

    recovered police property items, so does that not make me the owner !

    Maybe, take the phone and proof that the original owner transferred ownership to you to an Apple Store and ask them to unlock it.

  • by windymiller55,

    windymiller55 windymiller55 Oct 9, 2015 7:36 AM in response to Michael Black
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 9, 2015 7:36 AM in response to Michael Black

    The law in my country is obviously different to where you are

    we have a totally different system, I am not going to go into

    it here, "I did not say it was a reputable police auction site",

    As to removing the contents of the phone, I thought that was

    the idea of having activation lock on, so you could not and when

    the phone was found you contacted the owner.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Oct 9, 2015 8:03 AM in response to windymiller55
    Level 9 (50,871 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 9, 2015 8:03 AM in response to windymiller55

    windymiller55 wrote:

     

    "I did not say it was a reputable police auction site",

    windymiller55 wrote:

     

    I did say that it was bought from a reputable auction site selling

    recovered police property items, so does that not make me the owner !

    So which is it?

  • by windymiller55,

    windymiller55 windymiller55 Oct 9, 2015 8:16 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 9, 2015 8:16 AM in response to Csound1

    For you I will say it again, A reputable auction site which

    sells police recovered property.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Oct 9, 2015 8:18 AM in response to windymiller55
    Level 9 (50,871 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 9, 2015 8:18 AM in response to windymiller55

    Then take it back and get a refund from this "reputable site" that sells recovered property while it is still locked.

  • by windymiller55,

    windymiller55 windymiller55 Oct 9, 2015 8:35 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 9, 2015 8:35 AM in response to Csound1

    Im not sure you have quite grasped where I am coming from, I bought a

    brand new iPhone 5s for the price of a few beef-burgers from McDonalds,

    I took a punt, it did not work out, am i bellyaching, If I was the iphone would

    have gone back, no problem.

  • by Roger Wilmut1,

    Roger Wilmut1 Roger Wilmut1 Oct 9, 2015 8:42 AM in response to windymiller55
    Level 9 (78,333 points)
    iTunes
    Oct 9, 2015 8:42 AM in response to windymiller55

    Then what are you posting about in the first place? You originally seemed to be proposing the thesis that Apple should unlock phones in a similar situation to yours, and as has been said this is not going to happen. Apple's responsibility is to the original owner of the phone and no-one else.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Oct 9, 2015 8:49 AM in response to windymiller55
    Level 9 (50,871 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 9, 2015 8:49 AM in response to windymiller55

    windymiller55 wrote:

     

    Im not sure you have quite grasped where I am coming from, I bought a

    brand new iPhone 5s for the price of a few beef-burgers from McDonalds,

    I took a punt, it did not work out, am i bellyaching, If I was the iphone would

    have gone back, no problem.

    As there is no problem I'll just say goodbye to you now.

  • by windymiller55,

    windymiller55 windymiller55 Oct 9, 2015 9:05 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 9, 2015 9:05 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

    In my naivety I thought that Apple encouraged their communities to comment

    on issues that they thought relevant, in my opinion, obviously from your point

    of view I am wrong and you think this issue is not worth discussing.

    As to Apple only having responsibility to the original owner of the phone and

    no one else, your quote, are you quite sure, a lot of people who bought

    second hand phones will not be pleased with your comments.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Oct 9, 2015 9:12 AM in response to windymiller55
    Level 9 (50,871 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 9, 2015 9:12 AM in response to windymiller55

    They can speak for themselves, you speak only for you,

  • by Roger Wilmut1,

    Roger Wilmut1 Roger Wilmut1 Oct 9, 2015 9:14 AM in response to windymiller55
    Level 9 (78,333 points)
    iTunes
    Oct 9, 2015 9:14 AM in response to windymiller55

    Actually, the purpose of these forums is to ask and answer technical questions, not speculate, make general complaints, start polling on a question, etc. etc. You didn't actually ask a question, but you described your situation and said that you thought Apple ought to take responsibility for your locked phone. It's been explained that this is not going to happen. For one thing, it's an anti-theft device (quite a successful one) and if it could be got round there would be no point in having it in the first place.

     

    As to responsibility, warranties on any sort of purchased item are usually not transferable to a third party. In fact that isn't quite the case here as you haven't broken it (if you had, Apple might mend it at a price). The situations in which Apple will unlock a phone, as far as we can tell, is if the original owner brings proof of purchase: or if someone who has obtained it from a deceased person brings in original proof of purchase, proof that ownership has been transferred to them, and a copy of the death certificate for the original owner. They will not unlock it for someone who bought it second-hand, whether from a respectable shop or a dubious character in a pub.

     

    There is, incidentally, a method whereby a prospective purchaser can check that a phone is not activation locked before buying it - basically you just go to https://www.icloud.com/activationlock/ and enter the IMEI or serial number and a captcha.

  • by anypats,

    anypats anypats Oct 9, 2015 9:16 AM in response to windymiller55
    Level 4 (1,791 points)
    Oct 9, 2015 9:16 AM in response to windymiller55

    I think the statement "Apple's responsibility is to the original owner of the phone and no-one else" should probably be rephrased to "Apple's responsibility is to the person the iOS device is currently locked to." As you stated, many people buy second hand and used iOS devices and hopefully anyone reading this thread will know to make sure the activation lock has been removed by the original owner so they don't run into a similar situation.

  • by Lawrence Finch,

    Lawrence Finch Lawrence Finch Oct 9, 2015 9:39 AM in response to windymiller55
    Level 8 (38,112 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 9, 2015 9:39 AM in response to windymiller55

    IT sounds like a reputable site if they told you it was activation locked. As activation lock has been around for 2 years now, and has been widely discussed in news sources worldwide, it mystifies me why anyone would buy an activation locked phone knowing that it would be unusable except as a source of spare parts.

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