How many of you keep your Apple products in sight in public places? Do any of you get anxious if your iPhone is in your back pocket? Or when you cannot find it in your phone? Perhaps because of this economy, or just because of the popularity of Apple products, there has been a recent increase in theft of Apple products. According to CNN, places like New York have added a police unit just for mobile thefts. This obviously goes beyond just Apple products. The most interesting fact is that although reports show that crime has gone up by 3% in New York City, if you remove the crime that involves Apple products theft, the overall rate has decreased.
Phone carriers are taking steps to make it harder to activate a phone that has been reported lost or stolen including marking phones as "Bad ESN" or "Blacklisted IMEI". Apple has gotten criticism in the past for not having a way to deactivate or track your phone if it has been stolen. Customers have been complaining for some time now, and Apple has finally listened. We at ItsWorthMore.com are excited to know that Apple has added the Kill Switch feature, it could result in a significant decrease in the number of stolen phones we receive. Trust me when I tell you, they are no fun to deal with.
So how exactly does this switch work? Apple calls it the "Activation" lock and it will be available with the iOS 7 upgrade which will be compatible with iPhone 4 models and above. This will require both the Apple ID and password to be entered prior to erasing data and/or turning off the "Find my iPhone" feature. These two items will also be required after a device has been erased for reactivation. Apple hopes that having this feature will make people think twice prior to stealing a phone.
I think that this feature should have been available a while ago. At the same time, when it comes to any new software, it seems as though people have found a way to get around these types of items. For example, you can get around the password by putting the phone in the restore mode. Do you think that Apple will be able to keep the feature up and running and prevent users from figuring out a way to bypass it? Are you ready for iOS 7?