zamsher wrote:
My iPhone 15 pro max was stolen last week, and I immediately marked it as lost in Find My. Shortly after, the device was turned off. The next day, the thief turned it on briefly before shutting it down again.
Now, I’ve noticed that the status of my lost iPhone in Find My has changed to:
”Will be removed on 20 November 2025.”
What does this mean?
It means that you – or someone else who knew your Apple ID and Apple ID password – removed your iPhone from the list of devices associated with your account.
While the phone may remain visible in Find My for up to 30 days, that immediately cleared Activation Lock. So the thief can now reset your phone and have a "free" working phone to use as their own or sell to someone else. The only real hope you have of "bricking" the phone now is to ask your carrier to blacklist it. If they do, the phone will not receive cellular service from any carrier that honors the blacklist. But with Activation Lock removed, the thief will still be able to use the phone as an "iPod touch."
Does it indicate that someone is attempting to bypass Activation Lock or use the device in some way? I want to ensure that my iPhone remains secure and inaccessible to unauthorized users.
Activation Lock is already off. There are circumstances under which it will supposedly switch itself back on – but in practice, in the case of a stolen phone, I think it is unlikely that thieves will ever allow those circumstances to kick in.
Hopefully your iPhone was locked with a passcode that the thief did not know and could not easily guess. If so, the chance of them getting at the data on your phone is slim and none. After 10 incorrect guesses, they would have no choice but to reset and wipe it to get in.
However, if you fell for a "phishing" message from "Apple", the "Police", etc. that asked you to provide your Apple ID and Apple ID password, the thief would be able to get at your synchronized data and backups in iCloud.
