HT201441: Turn off Find My iPhone Activation Lock
Learn about Turn off Find My iPhone Activation LockQ: I purchased 2 iphone 4 from Goodwill.com, they are both icloud locked. I bought them to use to store music. I have the receipt for ... I purchased 2 iphone 4 from Goodwill.com, they are both icloud locked. I bought them to use to store music. I have the receipt for the purchase, what can I do? more
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Helpful answers
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Aug 30, 2016 8:13 AM in response to Nielby southerngurl777,Smart answer, but I purchased them knowing they were iCloud locked. Not having any experience with them I thought they could still be used for ipods. I'm not looking for a refund, just wanted to know if there was anything TECHNICAL that could be done to them to make them usable for storage. Thanks for your really cute reply.
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Aug 31, 2016 11:06 AM in response to southerngurl777by javaliga,★HelpfulThere is nothing TECHNICAL that can be done with them. Activation lock is an anti-theft feature. (I'm not saying you are a thief.) If we knew a way around it, it wouldn't be much of a deterrent. I'm afraid you can't even use it as an iPod. Sorry.
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Aug 30, 2016 9:17 AM in response to southerngurl777by LACAllen,Maybe consider your purchases as a donation to Goodwill then.
There is no such thing as iCloud locked. They are activation locked. Without the password that goes with the Apple ID of record on them, those devices can't be activated for use as anything.
Only the original purchaser, with written proof of that purchase, can ask for the activation lock to be removed.
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Aug 30, 2016 11:55 AM in response to javaligaby southerngurl777,Thank you for your response. Since I've had them I have been doing some reading up on the lock. I do have receipts from Goodwill with item numbers, sale date, and condition, so thank you for not saying I'm a thief. Of course I have no idea who donated them, or if they were stolen. I didn't know when I bought them what I've learned since I've had them about iCloud locks and such, lol .....Is there anyway to find out if either or both of these phones are stolen? They are older iPhones, but the owners could want them back. I didn't pay much for them (I now know why) so I have no problem parting with them. Will Apple locate original owners if I take them into an Apple Store? Thanks again!
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Aug 30, 2016 11:57 AM in response to LACAllenby southerngurl777,Thanks, I've already considered my purchase a donation.
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Aug 30, 2016 12:05 PM in response to southerngurl777by LACAllen,There is no practical way for any manufacturer or government authority to track and/or act on stolen devices.
The activation lock was designed to reduce the value of a lost/stolen device to zero as you have discovered. While phone thefts have apparently declined, there is still a market for locked devices.
Naive and unknowing folks still buy phones for very low prices not knowing why or caring about the source.
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Aug 30, 2016 12:36 PM in response to LACAllenby southerngurl777,I do know this, I'm sure every iPhone has serial numbers and such that identify and are independent of other iphones and are helpful in identifying original owners. Now whether or not Apple will attempt to locate an original owner I don't know. I was merely speaking to someone else about taking the phones into an Apple Store. The phones were purchased through an online auction, so there was no way to check or to know who they originally belonged to. Goodwill.com was the "source". I'm sure you all are a great bunch, but most of your comments are filled with innuendos. At some point everyone here was naive and unknowing about Apple products...........please remember that when answering and save your insinuations.
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Aug 30, 2016 1:10 PM in response to southerngurl777by Meg St._Clair,southerngurl777 wrote:
Now whether or not Apple will attempt to locate an original owner I don't know.
No, they will not. And, it may not be the original purchaser who's Apple ID has locked the device. Say I buy an iPhone. Then, I wipe it, remove my Apple ID and give it to you. You sign into iCloud with your Apple ID and enable Find My iPhone. Then, you lose the phone. Eventually, the phone finds its way to a third (or fourth or fifth) person. They want to get the phone unlocked. Even if Apple were willing to contact the original owner, it would do no good. The phone is not locked to their Apple ID and they may or may not have any information on how to contact whoever had it next or after that.
I'm not sure where you're seeing all these innuendos and insinuations. No one here has implied that you were a thief. In fact, as you noted, someone made a point of saying they knew you weren't. And, as for unknowing, well, you were unknowing about this particular subject. That's not an insult or a judgment. Just a statement of fact. No one knows everything. People here have been trying to help you learn and they've been nothing but civil about it.
The bottom line is that the phones are useless to you (or anyone).
Best of luck.
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Aug 30, 2016 1:52 PM in response to Meg St._Clairby southerngurl777,It's obvious that no one here can give information without and undertone. Meg, thank you for your explanation of the chain of command that is possible with these or any phones for that matter, it was insightful. However, you are sitting in a totally different seat with a totally different perception of these comments. So what you think and what I think are definitely opposite. No one has been blatant with the insinuations, just slight undertones. And as for "unknowing", you also at one point were unknowing about this particular subject. Finally, FYI: the phones are not "useless to me". They cannot be used for the purpose that I bought them, but the grand-kids can play games and surf the web on them. This has been an experience.
Best of luck to you as well.
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Aug 30, 2016 1:54 PM in response to southerngurl777by LACAllen,In no way have I, or anyone else here, insinuated anything to be this sensitive about.
In my reply to you, I used the phrase, quite deliberately, "lost/stolen", as this issue applies to either. I also, deliberately, used the phrase naive/unknowing which seems to cover your situation. Plenty of unsavoury types come here looking for ways around activation lock. Some are quite transparent about the source of the phone in question.
Answers given you were technical, accurate and free of judgment. It seems you are reading them emotionally.
Goodwill should not have let this happen, by sponsoring such an auction. I will assume they are naive and unknowing as well.
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Aug 30, 2016 2:00 PM in response to southerngurl777by LACAllen,It's unfortunate you see it this way. It's not what's happening.
Before you tell your grandkids they are getting game machines and web surfers let me remind you...
These devices can't be used for anything now. The activation lock prevents them from being activated by the carrier or Apple.
They will remain at the prompt for the password until you get that password or have them unlocked by Apple. As has been said, this requires you to be the original purchaser with written proof of that transaction. Goodwill's receipt will not serve as that proof.
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Aug 30, 2016 2:19 PM in response to LACAllenby southerngurl777,Maybe that's the problem, you all are so used to unsavory characters that you don't trust anyone to be sincere. I could really care less about the phones, the kids can play with them. It's just the tone of "The Community" that has really disappointed me. Though the receipt will not make me the original owner, it does serve to verify I did not steal the phones or have any knowledge of them being stolen if they are indeed stolen. The kids already play with them, so they know they can't make calls. Since they can't be used as iPods, they can continue to play games and surf the web and they are happy with that.
Thank you again
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Aug 30, 2016 2:25 PM in response to southerngurl777by Meg St._Clair,southerngurl777 wrote:
And as for "unknowing", you also at one point were unknowing about this particular subject.
I believe that I said we are all (right now) clueless about something. We have been clueless in the past and learned. Once again, that's part of being a human with a brain. If you find that insulting, well, I just don't know what to say. I think the fact that there's still stuff for me to learn is exciting. That's a big part of the reason I hang out here.
You're seriously reading far more into anything anyone has said than they mean. One of the things I've found makes forums (and life in general) much more pleasant is assuming that people have good intentions. I have found that when I think people are being unpleasant, it's often my projection of my own mood or feelings. You might want to give that some thought. That, by the way, is not an insinuation. Just advice. Take it or leave it.
Enjoy the rest of your day.