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In Desperate Need of Help.

Okay, so to keep things brief and to the point, I am trying to regain access to an iPhone 4S running on the latest firmware version. By regain access, I mean removing the activation lock from the phone itself. Now, keep in mind this device was NOT lost or stolen. It has been sitting for about 4 months and the owner no longer remembered the passcode lock. I figured that by restoring the phones firmware completely, it would then allow us to get into the phone and boy was I wrong. Now, the phone (which was referred to online as a 'brick' and useless) basically cannot be used because it cannot get past the activation lock screen. The person also cannot access their apple account.


Note that this device DOES NOT have a SIM card slot. I have searched google for about four days looking for a solution to this problem. I refuse to accept the fact that this phone can never be used again because I KNOW that there is a fix for this.


Please help me if you have any information on this issue!

Posted on Jul 10, 2014 5:08 PM

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8 replies

Jul 10, 2014 5:19 PM in response to lovemyapple12

If it does not have a SIM slot it is not a 4S. All 4S models have SIM slots. There is no workaround for Activation Lock. If there was there would be no point in having this antitheft feature. The owner can free up the phone by logging in to https://icloud.com/find, marking the phone Lost, then removing it from his or her account. This will allow you to restore the phone using iTunes.

Jul 10, 2014 5:25 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

I figured that this was the case! Thank you for confirming that it is actually a 4. Now that we've got that squared away, there is no access to the iCloud e-mail or password for the account! I was also curious to know if maybe downgrading the software of the phone itself would help bypass the activation lock. I just want to get the phone fixed immediately because it is all my fault that it is in this state! I should have never restored it.

Jul 10, 2014 5:48 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

Okay. While that is great information, I still don't know what to do about this device. If it can't be used, that means I cannot sell it either. I must get it fixed! Will Apple provide services to help me get rid of the activation lock, or will they suspect that the phone has been stolen or something and deny any type of fix for it? Or can I go to a regular phone store and have it fixed at all?

In Desperate Need of Help.

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