> It's a useless brick

Unless the owner falls for one of these texts, right? Isn't that the entire point of the linked article?

Yes exactly; they must have a non-zero success rate. Few years back my friend's iPhone got stolen, and it was more or less the same kind of stuff.

Clearly this isn't true, as her phone got stolen.

Yup. I assume there is plenty of value to be found selling donor boards and other parts of the iPhone. Not saying it's a repair shop's fault if they end up with motherboards of a stolen phone, but if I were a thief dealing with an activation-locked phone, my first idea would be a jailbreak, and if that fails, then disassemble the phone and sell the parts.

Presumably thieves already do these things (and more sophisticated things) to extract value out of stolen iPhones.

You really have to be careful with third-party iPhone repairs, especially in China. I had my phone repaired once, and when I got it back...it kind of worked, but they swapped out another part for something that was broken to ensure repeat business. That was in the iPhone 1 days though.

Its been about 17 years since the iPhone 1 days...

Yes, I'm old. This was in 2009 I think (I bought it in 2007). The e-markets are a lot different now (you can still find obscure shady offices repairing older hardware), and iPhone repairers that were scamming people are probably long gone.

What is on the board that can be used? Obviously the SOC is out. Maybe just the RAM or Flash? Is there really anything else?

> Clearly this isn't true, as her phone got stolen

Older iPhones are still in the wild. I wouldn't expect every pickpocket to be adept at differentiating them at a glance.

But that still has the same result, doesn't it? "Anti-theft" measure doesn't prevent the theft, only prevents third party repairs.

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.

> still has the same result, doesn't 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.)

[1] https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-DGB-39237

> I can tell at a glance if someone's on an iPhone or not.

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.

Don’t expect reasonable behavior from a phone snatcher.

It gets stripped down for parts. Many of the individual components are valuable

The higher value parts are locked down also.

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?

The screens have been locked for a few years now. If you replace it you have to call an Apple hotline to get the new screen relinked to the mobo.

i see homeless people in SF disassembling iphones so clearly they have routed around this

Seriously? There has to be a story here. You're saying they sit on the street with multiple phones, like a repair shop?

yep, although i've only seen this once (at the intersection of oak & baker). it surprised my economic intuition as i would expect them to be pawning off the whole phone and then someone later on in the supply chain doing the disassembly

I disagree. There are a lot of uses for an iCloud locked iPhone, such as a music player, podcast player, security camera, etc.

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.

No, if an iPhone is iCloud locked, you're not able to use the phone unless you enter the password of the account.

>if an iPhone is iCloud locked

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.

Yes, but your response doesn't make sense in context. GP specifically said that there are a lot of uses "for an iCloud locked iPhone", parent debunked it.

None of these work when the device is marked as lost/stolen.

This isn’t true. The iPhone is locked down over iCloud. I assume remote lockdown also works while the phone is turned off or on airplane mode (as Find My Phone does by using the passive Apple mesh network)

>I assume remote lockdown also works while the phone is turned off or on airplane mode (as Find My Phone does by using the passive Apple mesh network)

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.

Then are so many iPhones stolen every day? They're not just being thrown in the bin

Where I live thieves now demand your passcode and iCloud password at gunpoint, along with the phone.