I recently purchased an IPhone XR and I went to set it up and it has an activation lock on it from the previous owner. I do not know who the previous owner is, so I cannot contact them to remove the phone from their account. I was wondering if Apple could remove the activation lock for me.
iPhone XR
See Turn off Activation Lock https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201441. All possibilities related to iPhones, iPads, and iPods are covered here except the case of inheritance.
If you are the original owner: If you have iOS 11 or later and your account is protected with two-factor authentication, use get help with a forgotten passcode or disabled device to recover your passcode. Otherwise, use forgot your Apple ID or your Apple ID password to recover the needed credential(s). If you can’t recover the needed credential(s), contact Apple Support and present your original purchase receipt for your device from an authorized Apple seller with the device’s serial number on it. You’ll need a photo ID too.
If you acquired your device second hand, you usually will need to obtain the needed password from the person that last set it up. If you can’t obtain it, in the rare case your device came activation locked from an authorized Apple seller, then contact Apple Support and present your original purchase receipt for your device with the device’s serial number on it. You’ll need a photo ID too.
In either case, you can use the suggested support options below if you have the needed receipt. Alternatively, if an Apple Store is open in your area, then you can go there to deal with your problem. In this case, you can make a genius-bar appointment (https://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/) if you want.
Get a call from Apple support to help solve your problem using this
link https://getsupport.apple.com/?caller=kbase&PGF=PGF63005&category_id=SC0245&symptom_id=23362
Apple ID Support https://support.apple.com/apple-id
Apple ID account security for country-specific andregion-specific help https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204169
Get Support: We’re here to help https://getsupport.apple.com/. Go through the options to find the best support option.
Apple won't unlock it for you without a copy of the original purchase receipt with the serial number on it. Even then they may not unlock it since you aren't the original owner.
Activation Lock
