My brother recently passed away. We are trying to access his phones to see if there is any pertinent information we need. It appears you can't do this without erasing the content from his phone. Does this mean that everything is wiped clean? Would his text message, phone calls and email history be erased also? Thank You
iPhone 7 Plus
First thing first, I'm sorry to hear about your loss.
Frankly, without knowing passcode, it's not possible to access the device and any content that is saved on it directly. iPhone's security isn't something that can be bypassed to retrieve the data from it.
Note that many apps used on iPhone, store their content on the server and information from it is synced to the iPhone. This for instance is for any iCloud service that was enabled on the device; like Contacts, Calendars, Photos, Mail, iCloud Drive, etc.
Apple might be able to help you remove the activation lock and possibly grant access to your brother's iCloud account. There is however certain documentation require to be provided and process normally takes some time too. Contact AppleCare for more details and what documents you'll need to present to them.
First thing first, I'm sorry to hear about your loss.
Frankly, without knowing passcode, it's not possible to access the device and any content that is saved on it directly. iPhone's security isn't something that can be bypassed to retrieve the data from it.
Note that many apps used on iPhone, store their content on the server and information from it is synced to the iPhone. This for instance is for any iCloud service that was enabled on the device; like Contacts, Calendars, Photos, Mail, iCloud Drive, etc.
Apple might be able to help you remove the activation lock and possibly grant access to your brother's iCloud account. There is however certain documentation require to be provided and process normally takes some time too. Contact AppleCare for more details and what documents you'll need to present to them.
That means anything that's on the device that wasn't backed up or synced to the cloud is gone.
The only thing you can do is request access to his accounts so that you can restore the phone, and potentially, the last iCloud backup of the device.
How to request access to a deceased family member's Apple accounts
If you don't know his passcode, then ALL the personal data will be erased.
Use a passcode with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support
If you enter the wrong passcode too many times, you’ll see a message that your device is disabled. If you can’t remember your passcode, you'll need to erase your device, which deletes all of your data and settings, including the passcode. Unless you made a backup before you forgot your passcode, there isn't a way to save the data on your device. Follow the steps below to remove your passcode. Or watch the Apple Support video to learn what to do.
Sorry for your lost. But that is correct, to get into iPhone, everything is erased. Apple, or anybody else here in this forum will not get involved with “data recovery.” Apparently, had issues about it awhile back, not suppose to talk about it.
I'm very sorry for your loss. You cannot access the data on your brothers phone yourself, unless you already know the Apple ID, Password and Passcode used on the device. You will need to get Apple to help you. But And you will likely need to provide the original purchase receipt, a death certificate and something official from the estate administrator requesting access to the data on the phone. Without that, Apple won't likely help you. Bottom line is you need to contact Apple directly for exactly what they will require.
Need to access my brother's phone as he has passed away.
