HT201407: If you can't activate your iPhone

Learn about If you can't activate your iPhone
avdesai2845

Q: i just purchase iphone 5 second hand.

Dear Sir/ Madam,

 

I just purchase iphone 5 second hand. i lost the contact number of previous owner. i have reset iphone 5 with itune. now, without login with his/her icloud id, phone is not activate. so i just need his/her email id, so i can contact him/her for activation.

 

My IMEI No is  *****

 

Awaiting for your reply as soon as possible.

 

Thanks & Regards,

 

Atul Desai

 

<Personal Information Edited By Host>

iPhone 5, iOS 7.0.2

Posted on Oct 13, 2013 7:25 AM

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Q: i just purchase iphone 5 second hand.

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  • Helpful answers

  • by kb4200,

    kb4200 kb4200 Oct 13, 2013 7:22 AM in response to avdesai2845
    Level 2 (235 points)
    Oct 13, 2013 7:22 AM in response to avdesai2845

    Unless they see this you're not going to be able to get any help. If you call Apple you won't be able to get any information either, this is something you have to be sure of before you lose contact with the seller. You mave just have a brick now.

  • by imobl,

    imobl imobl Oct 13, 2013 7:23 AM in response to avdesai2845
    Level 5 (7,031 points)
    iPhone
    Oct 13, 2013 7:23 AM in response to avdesai2845

    Not wise to put your phone #, email or IMEI in public forum for the spiders to harvest.

     

    You have run into one of the new security features in iOS 7. If you cannot

    contact the former owner to get the needed information, there is nothing Apple

    can do to assist. Keep trying to contact the previous owner; there is no

    way around the security.

  • by neroySC,

    neroySC neroySC Dec 29, 2013 3:50 AM in response to avdesai2845
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 29, 2013 3:50 AM in response to avdesai2845

    Apple is really ******* with peoples' money. I spent a good sum of money to get a used iPhone 5, used it for a while, and then decided to restore it due to some sluggish factors happening in the phone, only for me to be greeting with "Sign in with the apple i.d used to activate this phone". Now I don't know how to contact the previous owner. This is madness from Apple.

  • by ckuan,

    ckuan ckuan Dec 29, 2013 4:03 AM in response to neroySC
    Level 7 (34,001 points)
    Dec 29, 2013 4:03 AM in response to neroySC

    Activation Lock is a very good feature, been requested for a very long, long time, even the police are recommending that because there are too many thefts involving iPhones.

     

    You took the risk and bought it second hand from someone and the seller did not wipe the iPhone as given in this document, how is it Apple fault?

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5661

  • by neroySC,

    neroySC neroySC Dec 29, 2013 5:55 AM in response to ckuan
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 29, 2013 5:55 AM in response to ckuan

    Activation Lock is a powerful feature, I agree with that, but with great power comes great responsibility. Apple needs to set up some mechanism by which the rightful owners of Activation-Locked iPhones can unlock them. All these bricked devices represent a needless environmental problem. Perfectly good gadgets will have to be recycled. Until they do that, this feature is seriously flawed.

  • by MetaSolaray,

    MetaSolaray MetaSolaray Dec 29, 2013 6:16 AM in response to neroySC
    Level 4 (1,245 points)
    Dec 29, 2013 6:16 AM in response to neroySC

    IF you bought it first hand; IE from a store yourself take it to an apple retail store and see if they can assist you if you can prove you bought it

     

    If it's second hand, you are not hte original owner, if they don't /remeber/ the infomation then most likely it's a stolen iPhone and you simply bought a stolen product

  • by TJBUSMC1973,

    TJBUSMC1973 TJBUSMC1973 Dec 29, 2013 6:26 AM in response to neroySC
    Level 5 (7,631 points)
    Dec 29, 2013 6:26 AM in response to neroySC

    neroySC wrote:

     

    Activation Lock is a powerful feature, I agree with that, but with great power comes great responsibility. Apple needs to set up some mechanism by which the rightful owners of Activation-Locked iPhones can unlock them. All these bricked devices represent a needless environmental problem. Perfectly good gadgets will have to be recycled. Until they do that, this feature is seriously flawed.

     

    The rightful owner CAN unlock it.  Now, did you verify that the person that sold you the iPhone was the current rightful owner when you purchased it?

     

    Nope.  You didn't.  You purchased a used iPhone for a 'good deal', and didn't take the proper precautions to make sure you didn't get scammed.

     

    You got scammed.  You bought a stolen iPhone.  Next time, think more carefully.  If you cannot make contact with the seller, then it was unwise to make a purchase from someone you don't know and cannot contact.

     

    This is on you, not Apple.

     

    Where, exactly, did you see the 'ad' for this iPhone for sale?

  • by neroySC,

    neroySC neroySC Dec 29, 2013 5:27 PM in response to TJBUSMC1973
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 29, 2013 5:27 PM in response to TJBUSMC1973

    Excuse me, are you trying to say all second hand iPhones are stolen?, all i keep hearing is that if you buy a second hand iPhone, it's either stolen or lost.

    What about people who actually can't remember their apple i.d, and then sell it to people who actually don't know about this Activation Lock issue, or people who actually just simply forgot to signout their apple i.d before selling, and you know it's not every buyer of a second hand iPhone that would be lucky to get in contact with its original owner.

  • by Lawrence Finch,

    Lawrence Finch Lawrence Finch Dec 29, 2013 5:21 PM in response to neroySC
    Level 8 (38,086 points)
    Mac OS X
    Dec 29, 2013 5:21 PM in response to neroySC

    If you buy a second hand phone and it is activation locked it's 99% likely that it is stolen, because no one in their right mind would sell a phone without first wiping all personal data off it, and to do this you need to disable Activation Lock. So if Activation Lock is still enabled you bought a stolen phone. Probably not stolen by the person you bought it from; they are just a middleman.

  • by steve-ohhh,

    steve-ohhh steve-ohhh Dec 31, 2013 8:45 PM in response to neroySC
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Dec 31, 2013 8:45 PM in response to neroySC

    You always have to make sure find my iPhone is OFF when restoring so you can register the phone under your Apple ID instead of getting it locked to someone elses

  • by hexonxonx,

    hexonxonx hexonxonx Jan 1, 2014 12:17 AM in response to Lawrence Finch
    Level 4 (2,455 points)
    Jan 1, 2014 12:17 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

    This is correct. When I sold my iPad running 7.0.4, to wipe all my data from it, I had to disable find my iPad, find my iPhone on an iPhone.

     

    I left it at the setup screen so the new owner could see that it was ready to use and there was no activation lock set.

  • by Johnathan Burger,

    Johnathan Burger Johnathan Burger Jan 1, 2014 12:29 AM in response to hexonxonx
    Level 6 (16,109 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 1, 2014 12:29 AM in response to hexonxonx

    Services that buy iPhones and resell them-gazelle, nextworth-require you to disable it or they won't buy it.

    If you buy a secondhand phone with it still active, I agree most likely it is stolen.

  • by biwek_khadka,

    biwek_khadka biwek_khadka Apr 17, 2014 10:44 PM in response to avdesai2845
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 17, 2014 10:44 PM in response to avdesai2845

    Same problem here ...

  • by ckuan,

    ckuan ckuan Apr 18, 2014 12:52 AM in response to biwek_khadka
    Level 7 (34,001 points)
    Apr 18, 2014 12:52 AM in response to biwek_khadka

    biwek_khadka wrote:

     

    Same problem here ...

    Same answers as well.