iPhone 4 has a scrambled display. Can I enter passcode remotely?

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Level 1

8 points

iPhone 4 has a scrambled display. Can I enter passcode remotely?

I gave my kid my iPhone 4 when I upgraded. It had the most recent iOS available for the 4, Which I believe was 7.1.2 or something close. before I gave it to her I restored it to factory settings and deleted all files. She created a new passcode and has been using it for music and photos. She has not synced it to a device or backed up to iCloud. It was working perfectly when I gave it to her. A couple of days ago, she dropped it and now the screen is scrambled and won't bring up the display to enter the passcode. I hooked it up to my MacBook to see if I could get behind the scramble but I just get a message that photos cannot be downloaded without unlocking the device.

SO - my question is, is there some way to enter that passcode other than typing into the phone itself? Some behind the scenes location where I can enter the code and get access to the photos and music that are living in the device? This phone does not have a removable SIM card.

Grateful for any help you can give me.

iPhone 4, iOS 7.1.2

Posted on Apr 30, 2016 1:29 PM

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Answer 1

sberman

Level 10

274,164 points

Apr 30, 2016 3:08 PM in response to mactwisp

mactwisp wrote:

SO - my question is, is there some way to enter that passcode other than typing into the phone itself?

No, there is not.

Hopefully "the photos and music that are living in the device" were backed up when the iPhone was functioning to either iTunes or iCloud. If not, the only hope would be to take the iPhone to an Apple Store or Authorized Apple Service Center and determine if it's fixable (highly unlikely, in my opinion). If it's fixable, great. If not, the material on the iPhone is lost. (Note music purchased in iTunes can be re-downloaded to a different iOS device or to iTunes on a computer.)

For future reference, the iPhone should never be the primary housing for music not purchased in iTunes. Also, of course, photos taken on an iPhone that are worth saving need to be backed up.

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Answer 2

mactwisp Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 30, 2016 3:11 PM in response to sberman

Thanks, sberman, I thought not. The kid had the phone for less than a week so she had not yet synced it or backed it up. She only had about 100 photos on the phone, which she thinks she can't possibly replace so I thought I'd see if someone knew of a work around. Lesson learned ...

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Answer 3

sberman

Level 10

274,164 points

Apr 30, 2016 3:17 PM in response to mactwisp

Yes, it sounds like a lesson you already knew, but perhaps it's new for the young lady.

Experience is a good teacher.

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