Just bought an iPhone 5 in second hand and it seems that i need to have the Apple ID from the first owner to use it… Any advice?

You will need that Apple ID/Password to activate this phone. If you don't know this info or can't get it, all you'll own is a paperweight. This is called Activation Lock, & there is no way around it.

Apple can't/won't help you.

Contact the seller and ask for his passcode. This happened to me and no problem was able to use his code once received and then immmedielty changed it to my own once activated.

What if the seller when contacted does not give you his passcode or does not remove the iPhone from his Apple account? What if the seller does not respond to emails or even respond to Apple's email notification to change his Apple account password? What if the Apple ID has been disabled for security reasons and the previous owner still does not respond to reset the password? There must be something that Apple can do in those situations where the previous owner does not respond to request after selling an iPhone. Obviously, in that case the phone is not stolen because the owner would have reported it as such and responded to emails from Apple.

There is no workaround for Activation Lock. Apple will not/cannot

help you. To avoid all the 'what if' situations you propose, buy direct from

Apple or Apple authorized reseller or be sure iPhone is functioning correctly

before purchasing. If you take a chance on a private sale and lose,

it is not Apple's fault or responsibility to fix the problem.

Why is it not Apple's responsibility to help users fix their problems? I bought a legitimate used product. Is that illegal?

Why throw a perfectly good phone in the garbage because of a problem with a new iOS feature?

The fact that the seller won't cooperate/hasn't responded tells me the phone is more than likely stolen. It's certainly not illegal to buy used products, but good sellers will answer any questions their buyers have, and help them out in any way possible. I've sold several Apple products on eBay and am more than willing to help out my buyers. Also, in my opinion, a legitimate seller would remove Find My iPhone from the phone, and wipe the phone, so that the phone will come to you as it would if it were a new or refurbished phone from Apple or an authorized reseller. Anyone who sends someone else a phone that still has private information on it is either really technically challenged or a dubious seller. The latter is probably more true than the former.

It is not a problem with the new iOS. It is an intentional security feature implemented to protect you from would-be thieves who will no longer be interested in stealing your i-Devices since they cannot use them if they do.

Sorry you are having this issue, but Apple would have no way of knowing that you are a legitimate buyer of a secondhand device purchased from a third party. You need to return it for a refund. If you did not purchase it from someone who you can get a refund from, then that is not Apple's responsibility....

Sorry,

GB

So you are explaining a situation where a legitimate user needs help from Apple. Why wont Apple help? Apple knows everything about the iOS devices that are on its network. If the iOS device is attached to an Apple account then Apple knows about it and the owner. I have an Apple account so Apple also knows about me and the iOS devices that i own already. Apple even has my credit card info on file.

I dont expect you to know if an iOS device that i bought was stolen or not. But surely Apple knows cause they can send an email to the seller who has the iPhone still attached to their account and tell them that i have their phone. Then Apple can tell that seller they have a certain amount of time to respond or the iOS device will be removed from their account. Thats the best that Apple can do for their customers to protect their devices. Apple does the same whenever i buy something on the App Store or change anything with my iOS devices on iCloud. They send me an email telling me what happened and what i can do if that info is not correct. Why cant they do it with these second hand buyer activation issues?

That would defeat the purpose entiery of having avtivation lock as part of the OS.

How? Activation lock is not perfect right now obviously. You cant blatantly assume that all iOS devices bought second hand are stolen.

Because I could steal your phone and sell it. The buyer could then take it to Apple and get it working again.

Activation lock is designed to prevent anyone from using a stolen iOS device and no one but the original owner can unlock it if it is stolen with activation lock activated.

I am curious about this. Is the activation lock something special which needs to be set? I recently got an old iPhone 4 from a friend and he had forgotten his 4 digit passcode to the phone. But I was able to reset it to factory conditions anyway, and activate the phone.

Are you all talking about something different?

doug

With iOS 7, Find My iPhone includes a new feature called Activation Lock, which makes it more difficult for anyone else to use or sell your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch if you ever lose it. It starts working the moment you turn on Find My iPhone in iOS 7. With Activation Lock, your Apple ID and password will be required before anyone can

From here > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5818

If you stole my phone and took it to Apple to get it working again. Apple would send me an email and let me know who you are and ask me if why i have your phone and if you want to remove it form your Apple account. If you dont respond within a certain amount of time then Apple will remove the phone from your account.