Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

iphone 4s locked and cannot bypass the activation because of apple id and password

i have a question,i purchase iphone 4s from my friend and its locked and have an apple id,i cannot bypass the activation,cause it need to type the apple id and the password,what should i do?his contact number is there but not contacted,what should i do?would it be possible to unlock it to bypass the activation or what?thanks for the help

Posted on Nov 7, 2013 9:16 AM

Reply
Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Nov 7, 2013 9:18 AM

The ONLY thing you can do is get the friend you purchased from to log in and remove Find My iPhone from iCloud. Until that is done, the device CANNOT be reactivated. There is no way around this at all.

79 replies

Nov 21, 2013 7:15 PM in response to MARKedMan11

So couple weeks ago I found this white iPhone 4 at the park near my house, I was holding onto it for a while thinking someone would use "find my iPhone" app to track the phone but nobody ever did. So i figured i would give it to my daughter as a birthday gift. I restored the phone, and kept it at the "Hello" screen before giving it to her. Gave her the present on her birthday. She was SO excited,she jumped off the couch and ran to her room so that she could set up the phone herself. About an hour later she came out from her room looking dissapointed. I figured she couldn't do it herself so then I spen about 30 minutes of my own time trying to get the phone to work for her before I realized the phone was worthless since it was impossible to contact the owner or bypass the Apple ID lock. What a great 12th birthday my daughter experienced this year. Luckily the holidays are coming around and now I'll be able to take her to the Apple store to ensure it works. Apple really needs to re-think this idea because although theyre trying to prevent their products from being stolen, they're also dissapointing many users in the process.

Apple, please re-consider this update.

Sincerely, Dissapointed Apple User.

Nov 21, 2013 7:23 PM in response to Maverick619

Lovely story! sadly though You did Not Purchase the iPhone............You found it..You should hand it into the local Police or Apple Store......

I doubt anyone at Apple or anywhere else will be able or to unlock the phone..

A somewhat bad lesson on your behalf. Take your daughter into an Apple store and let her see You pay over the $'s for a new iphone.. Personally I think the latest Updates & Security measures are fantastic..it stops people like you taking advantage of my hard earned $'ssss..

Dec 7, 2013 9:38 AM in response to elmac

How bout this story.... Im an owner of a small bussiness, i buy sell and trade stuff (aka a pawn shop) A customer sells me their Iphone because they upgraded to an iphone 5. Its not stolen, And its in perfect condition. Now I reset the phone to its factory defaults in order to re-sell it to someone who wants to enjoy an apple product for a slightly reduced price. Thinking its fine i just sell it as is, and 2 days later have a customer come back raging at me because his new Iphone ends up being un-usable. Now apparently i need to track down the person who sold the iphone to me and get them to give me their apple ID and password (like thats ever going to happen, since your apple ID is meant to be solely your own and not to be shared). So in other words All apple products that run IOS7 are garbage to me, and garbage to anyone looking to sell the phone, unless their down for handing away the keys to their apple account...... Sure you stop the handful of jerks out there who steal phones, but you also just stop the average guy from just being able to sell off their phone.


-_- then again thats probably what apple meant to do, force people to have to buy new iphones straight from apple just so they can get more money. Its sad to see how far apple has fallen in terms of customer satisfaction.

Dec 7, 2013 9:34 AM in response to Beelan

Unfortunately you have learned an important lesson. At this point I believe you will no longer accept iPhones at the pawn shop that have iOS 7 installed. Apple has implemented this after consumers yelled and screamed at them for a way to prevent stolen phones from being activated. I'm sorry it has happened to you, but I guess it has taught you something.

Dec 7, 2013 9:37 AM in response to Maverick619

Sorry but that analogy does not apply. You should have turned that iPhone into the local authorities not taken the law into your own hands. Nobody here cares about you moving ot Android but if you do keep in mind that Samsung is pushing cell providers to allow them to use a kill switch so you would have been in the same position.

Dec 7, 2013 9:38 AM in response to Beelan

Beelan wrote:


All apple products that run IOS7 are garbage to me, and garbage to anyone looking to sell the phone, unless their down for handing away the keys to their apple account......

They don't need to give you the password to their account. They just need to sign out of Find My iPhone before selling the phone to you. Check Settings>iCloud and make sure that Find My iPhone is turned off. Checking shouldn't take you more than a minute or two.


Best of luck.

Dec 7, 2013 9:42 AM in response to Maverick619

Maverick619 wrote:


What can I say? When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. At least, thats how I was raised. I'm sure the glass/parts are salvageable anyways. Android has been outdoing Apple lately, might have to switch up if Apple can't produce something impressive soon....


I guess you were also raised to not turn in lost property to the local authorities. You realize that, in some jurisditions, that's a crime.


The fact that a lost or stolen iPhone cannot be used by an unauthorized person is fantastic. I find it laughable that you're 'mad at Apple' because you couldn't use someone else's iphone without that person's permission.


On a related note, I found a car on the side of the road with the keys in the driver's seat. So, I decided that if someone wnated it, they would tack up posters in the neighborhood. So, I drove it home and put it in my garage. After a few months, no one came looking for it, so I gave it to my daughter as a Christmas gift.


What a great dad I am!

iphone 4s locked and cannot bypass the activation because of apple id and password

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.