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Apple iPad 1474 locked by previous owner

I have purchased a lot of return Apple products from an auction and some of the products are tied to old user apple id's.... I have no way to contact previous owners to ask them to remove their devices or to retrieve the information needed to bypass the activation lock. Is there anything I can do?

Posted on Nov 20, 2019 8:41 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 20, 2019 8:45 AM

If a used iOS device has been 'Activation locked' then only the previous owner can unlock it, either by providing you with the account ID and password, or by removing it from his list of devices (as he should have done before selling it).

If you are unable to contact him to do this then I'm afraid you will not be able to use the device - there is no other way of unlocking it at all. Apple cannot unlock it for you, nor find the previous owner for you, and neither can the websites that offer to unlock it for a fee: these are scams.


You should if possible return it to wherever you bought it and ask for a refund as in this event the device is completely useless.


1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 20, 2019 8:45 AM in response to Rover_90

If a used iOS device has been 'Activation locked' then only the previous owner can unlock it, either by providing you with the account ID and password, or by removing it from his list of devices (as he should have done before selling it).

If you are unable to contact him to do this then I'm afraid you will not be able to use the device - there is no other way of unlocking it at all. Apple cannot unlock it for you, nor find the previous owner for you, and neither can the websites that offer to unlock it for a fee: these are scams.


You should if possible return it to wherever you bought it and ask for a refund as in this event the device is completely useless.


Apple iPad 1474 locked by previous owner

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