iPhone still linked to old Apple ID

Read here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5818

iOS 7 has a security feature that if someone "steals" your phone and tries to restore it with a new ID, you will need the previous ID in order to proceed. This makes the phone pretty much a "brick"

You will need to enter your old ID and password. If you cannot remember your old ID and password, you will need to contact Support and have it reset:

https://getsupport.apple.com/Issues.action

here is more info on the iOS7 Apple ID activation lock:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5818:

I work in the wholesale industry as a technician. We resell phones. We have come across alot of iphones with ios7 that are pretty much useless because of this problem. We don't know who the original owners are. I called apple and they told me that they could not help me. So we end up with paper weights. The phones we sell are checked for stolen and active. If the esn's are clean then the phone is ready to be sold and activated. I can already picture a landfill full of iphones because of this issue.

gwolff037 wrote:

I don't think this feature was thought through properly. In this case the manufacturer and the carrier are 2 different things. Not sure if you read in my last post that the phone's esn is checked for lost, stolen and active. If the phones are NOT lost, stolen or active then the phones should be ready to be resold and reactivate onto another person's account.

I did read your post but it seems you do not understand how iOS 7 works. It is the seller/previous owner responsibility to deactivate Find my iPhone BEFORE selling the device under iOS 7. The activation you now require has nothing to do with a carrier lock; it is locked via iOS. Apple has NO way of knowing whether they are NOT lost, stolen etc. It is not their job to do so. They are not law enforcement. Therefore they WILL NOT help you defeat the Find my Phone anti-theft feature. It does NOT matter that you have checked the phones esn or not. It is the reality you find yourself in, like it or not.

arshed wrote:

they are really stuiped guys over there, imagine that the genious bar in apple store are unable to solve this issue

how stuiped they are

You must have set the phone originally with a different ID.The geniuses are not telepaths. They cannot "come up" with information that you chose and set on your phone. (Your apple ID and password). You are responsible for remembering your passwords.

If you are having problems with your apple ID, try to reset the password. If not contat the Apple Security team.

I really sympathize with your position, you seem to be a completely reputable seller who was unfortunately caught in a change in Apple iOS security.

I think the new policy is pretty much only a good thing, it prevents trade of stolen phones (I understand ESN numbers can be reported stolen/lost, but GSM phones have no such provision. So prior to this, there was no way to prevent stolen AT&T iPhones from being re-sold and re-used.) In the long run, this should help legitimate sellers such as you, as lost/stolen phones cannot be resold.

Unfortunately, you were caught in the midst of the change as you have a bunch of phones that may have been legitimately acquired, but now cannot be activated without the previous owner's help. This new iOS 7 security feature was announced by Apple prior to its rollout, but I'm not blaming you for not knowing.

I think the best you can do is sell the phones for parts, or disassemble and sell the parts yourself.

RifiBoo wrote:

Go to iCloud.com sign in and remove your Device from Find My iPhone, then restore your device in DFU/Recovery mode, it will not ask you for the apple id again.

That will not work if people don't know the Apple ID.

If you set it up with an Apple ID and you cannot remeber the password (or ID) there is nothing we can do here to help. You must use the original Apple ID and password to activate the phone.

I'm having the same problem, except I KNOW my Apple ID. When I type it in my phone just reloads the same screen. Then I tried the wrong password on purpose and it stopped me saying "invalid Username or password". Then after entering the right password several times it takes me to a screen that says "Your iPhone could not be activated because activation server is temporarily unavailable..." My iPhone has been useless for almost two days now.

I am facing the same issue with my iphone it was showing " This Phone is currently linked to an apple ID (5...@qq.com) Sign in with the Apple ID that was used to set up this iphone. now its my second day of having this problem., i baught this 3 months ago, i really forget which Apple ID i used.. just having this amnesia, I'm the real owner and i feel so stupid that i cant do anything about this, PLease help me PM me if you have any idea or knowledge you can share, im really busy working everyday that i donbt have enough time to pass by at the mall of emirates.

i will do appreciate your good help and kind heart!

Thanks,

PrincessJazminne*

<Personal Information Edited by Host>

Obviously Apple will not help you. How do they know you are the legitimate owner of the phone(s)? They do not. An anti-theft was one of the biggest items on the wish lists. In fact Apple was under a lot of pressure to provide one, and now they have. Randomly removing it will obviously defeat the purpose.

The only thing I can suggest is that you try to contact the seller(s) of the phones.

File a claim with eBay and return it for a refund. The device is useless to you. Without the previous owner's information, you will not be able to activate the phone, and Apple will not help you. There is no way to remove it without the previous owner doing it.

Also, please turn off the caps lock. This is considered yelling on the Internet and is very rude as well. It is not necessary.

Just follow the instructions in the support article I provided you a link for. It answers your questions & tells you what to do.

Go to the phone store they can unlock it because they did minds !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Go to iCloud.com sign in and remove your Device from Find My iPhone, then restore your device in DFU/Recovery mode, it will not ask you for the apple id again.