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Apple stops repairing lost and stolen iPhones
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Apple will no longer repair iPhones that have been reported as lost or stolen, it’s been reported.
According to an internal company memo seen byMacRumours, both Apple Stores and Apple Authorised Service Providers will now be alerted whenever they receive an iPhone that’s been reported missing or stolen.
Technicians have now been instructed to respond to this alert (provided courtesy of the global GSMA Device Registry database) by declining the repair.
Given that iPhones are traditionally the biggest target for phone thieves, doubtless due to their popularity and unusually high residual value, any such anti-theft measures will be seen as good news.
At present, Apple Stores and Apple Authorised Service Providers will only reject a repair if Find My iPhone is active and unable to be deactivated by the customer. That’s typically a good sign that everything is not entirely above board with the phone, but not every stolen iPhone has had Find My iPhone activated in the first place.
This new measure will extend that rejection of stolen iPhones to just those handsets that aren’t covered by Find My iPhone.
If you do need to have your non-stolen iPhone repaired, then, you’ll need to make sure that Find My iPhone is deactivated. Fortunately, we’vewritten a guideto help you with just that process.
Apple has been stepping up its measures against theft in recent times. The companyfinally addedtheft and loss protection to its UK AppleCare+ warranty plan back in September.
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Jon is a seasoned freelance writer who started covering games and apps in 2007 before expanding into smartphones and consumer tech, dabbling in lifestyle and media coverage along the way. Besides bein…
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Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
