Oliver Haslam on June 4, 2020, 7:11 pm

iPhone / iPad, Mac Devices Looted From Apple Stores Are Being Remotely Bricked And Tracked

Looters across the United States are using protests as an excuse to grab some free stuff and that, inevitably, means they’re also looking for those big ticket items.

Few things are bigger ticket than Apple gear, and Apple Stores are being targeted as you might expect. The problem? Those stealing products from Apple Stores can’t actually use most of the stuff they’re stealing.

As anyone who has ever worked in an Apple Store will tell you, the Macs, iPhones, and Apple Watches that are used as display items are worthless when they are removed from stores.

They are specially protected to ensure they can’t be reset and even if they were, Apple has the serial numbers that belong to each unit. After they ban them, they’re useless.

People who stole iPhones are already seeing notifications on-screen that tell them the device has been disabled and that authorities will be notified of its location.

The only way looters will have any luck is if they picked up the boxed accessories that are usually on shelves in stores, and even then there’s no guarantee they can’t be locked remotely based on their serial numbers. Things like cases and whatnot are probably fine, though.

Of course, none of this is bad news in general and people shouldn’t be looting in the first place.

Apple Stores in some areas continue to remain closed temporarily as the protests continue into the 9th day.

(Source: TMZ)