As someone who had their bank account compromised by a successful social engineering attack on the account representatives, I'm okay with Apple giving us a technical solution that even they cannot break. It's up to me to remember the key, of course, but I like knowing that even Apple can't break into my device if they want.

That's an apples to oranges comparison (pun intended). If I forget passcode my device, why I shouldn't be allowed to reset and configure it from scratch if I am willing to lose my data? There can be numerous situations in which this can happen like a child trying passcode repeated.

You will be happy if apple bricks your M1 laptop if you forgot the password due to any reason. What happened to spirit of HN culture?

Stop spouting falsehoods. You can reset your iPhone without your passcode

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204306

and Apple isn’t changing anything about how M1 Macs are secured over other Macs, and certainly not bricking them for lost passwords.

You were not clear, and your implication was that Apple would not help you unlock a locked phone. Not that you had a bricked phone because of activation lock.

It is somewhat difficult to lock your own device so that you cannot factory reset it. You wouldn't just have to lose the passcode, you would also need to lose the credentials to your iCloud account as well as your purchase receipt for the phone. Then you become indistinguishable from a thief.

I am okay with Apple's choice on this, as I prefer the security and the theft deterrence. I keep several methods for recovering my iCloud account, and I keep the receipt for my expensive devices.

Does activation lock even apply to Macbooks?

> It is somewhat difficult to lock your own device so that you cannot factory reset it....

Well this can happen to non tech savvy users like my wife who configured their device once and then just used it for couple of years until the day of the incident.

> I am okay with Apple's choice on this, as I prefer the security and the theft deterrence. I keep several methods for recovering my iCloud account, and I keep the receipt for my expensive devices.

This would mean market for stolen iDevices should not exist?

> Does activation lock even apply to Macbooks?

Not yet but it might once M1 becomes ubiquitous.

> then just used it for couple of years

I have never managed to go anywhere near that long without being prompted for my iCloud password for one reason or another. And if you did lose the password, you could use password recovery to get it back.

It really seems like a contrived example.

I mean that sucks for your wife, but what prevents literally anyone else from impersonating someone and unlocking a device? There are very good reasons that Apple does not "cooperate" in theses situations. Passwords are not supposed to be bypassed by third parties.

Why did she put a passcode on it if she didn’t want it to be secure? You can use an iPhone with no passcode at all.

Blaming Apple for “locking you out” when you were the one who locked the door and lost the key is silly.

If I lose the keys to my home, I can break the lock or if required break the door and get into my house so why I can't reset and reconfigure my iPhone?

Because you can reset your iPhone if you forget your passcode?

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204306

Apple Support cannot do anything if you forget the device passcode, there is no back door. Best advice I can think of is, is ask her to restore an iCloud backup, after erasing the phone.