These days, it's not worth it to steal an iPhone. It's a useless brick.
That Apple knows where it's at.
That Apple knows where it's at.
Presumably thieves already do these things (and more sophisticated things) to extract value out of stolen iPhones.
Older iPhones are still in the wild. I wouldn't expect every pickpocket to be adept at differentiating them at a glance.
The average thief probably doesn't even distinguish between Apple and Android phones. A literal pickpocket is only going to have as information the outline of a phone-shaped thing in your pocket. If they lift it off of you and can't use it, they've still stolen it.
I can tell at a glance if someone's on an iPhone or not. I can't as similarly which generation they're on.
The FCC, at the very least, seems to find merit in the deterrence value of such measures [1]. (From a purely-retributive standpoint, I find some satisfaction in knowing someone stole a brick that needs to be parted out, versus getting a working device.)
How? Most people have a phone case and then all you can see is the case. Pretty much all modern phones are the same shape.
> The FCC, at the very least, seems to find merit in the deterrence value of such measures
People don't like it when someone steals their phone, so they demand the government Do Something, so the government proposes to Do Something, regardless of whether the something is effective. Classic politician's syllogism.
> From a purely-retributive standpoint, I find some satisfaction in knowing someone stole a brick that needs to be parted out, versus getting a working device.
The modern world isn't any fun. "I willingly compromised my own ability to repair my phone so a hypothetical thief might be put out."
People should be carrying around decoy phones that are full of sticky glitter and skunk scent, boobytrapped with blasting caps. If you're going to take revenge then do it well.
Unless the owner falls for one of these texts, right? Isn't that the entire point of the linked article?
I wonder if that includes the screen or not? Is it possible to lock down an iPhone screen these days, or can you use it as a replacement for another iphone whose screen is busted?
Edit: I should clarify that the embedded video clearly showed that a number of the iPhones she had were still able to be used. Perhaps the owner didn't or wasn't able to iCloud lock them, but that's what I originally meant.
but that still leaves the possibility that it isn't locked, and therefore it is worth it for theives to steal it. Even just the chance that it's not locked would make it worth stealing.
It doesn't need to be. If you have a passcode, the phone can't be used unless the correct passcode is entered. If you try to factory reset it, you can't get past the setup wizard if find my iphone was enabled for the phone prior to the wipe. Note this doesn't require that the phone receive notification that the phone has been marked stolen. So the only way you can use the phone is if find my iphone wasn't set up prior to it being lost.