How do you unlock a found iPad that has a passcode after it has restarted?

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Level 1

17 points

How do you unlock a found iPad that has a passcode after it has restarted?

I am a front desk agent at a hotel in florida, a Hilton hotel. I am trying to unlock an iPad that has been in our lost and found safe at our hotel since dec. 17, 2017. Of course in our good nature, we try to contact the guest first. We keep lost items in for 90 days, electronics 6 months. So after doing this, googling for hours, on the phone with Apple for an hour to get a result of contact local law enforcement, to then hearing from local police station they wont do anything about it except put in database (which isn’t nation wide for electronics come to find out) that It is a found item, and then they literally said it would just sit in the same “lost & found” and give to to one of their employees. I have read a previous question and answers similar to this with no help basically - calling it a useless brick.

for questions that I will answer to:

yes we did try to contact guest- keep in mind I work at hotel In Florida. Your lost items are your fault and if you haven’t tried to contact us back after we reach out then it sits in lost and found.

apple gave me a case number and told me call back and that they noted they I would contact local police. Which makes no sense because I can call right back and say yea so they told me to keep it? I get their policy but come on, people really do loose this stuff and and don’t care!!

and I have a chrome book. Therefore I cannot access iTunes, go figure.

please Give me some feedback or advice on how to!

- there has got to be a way Apple!

Posted on Sep 24, 2018 4:12 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Tesserax

Level 10

158,262 points

Sep 24, 2018 4:49 PM in response to Bakewhitney

Basically, Apple will treat this iPad as "lost" or "stolen." Without access to the original owner, it cannot be unlocked. That's the way it was designed. Otherwise, anyone "finding" an iOS device (regardless of the circumstance) can easily thwart the security measures that Apple has built into their devices.

However there are cases where an individual "inherits" a deceased relative's device, and Apple potentially can work to assist them in gaining access to the device to pull any critical data off it ... and this would be on a case-by-case basis. Regardless, I don't think this would apply in your situation or any situation where a discarded or unclaimed device can be put to use for another user.

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Answer 2

frazzm737

Level 9

55,500 points

Sep 24, 2018 6:51 PM in response to Tesserax

None of us users can help you get around the Activation Lock which is a theft prevention feature. In the case of an inherited device, Apple requires a death certificate, proof that you are a legal heir and proof of purchase, though stores do differ on their policies. Unless, you can prove otherwise, the device you have still belongs to the original owner and they are the only ones who can unlock the device. So you now possess the useless brick.

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How do you unlock a found iPad that has a passcode after it has restarted?

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