“Stolen Device Protection” will make life more difficult for those who steal an iPhone – iPhone

A related topic was created following a report earlier this year by The Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern, with the option included in the iOS 17.3 beta now available to developers. It works using a combination of location, biometric scanning and time delay, allowing victims to block the perpetrator and secure their data.

Stolen Device Protection aims to eliminate a common practice among iPhone thieves in public places, where they watch users enter their passcode before eventually stealing the device. In such cases, what the perpetrator does is reset the owner’s Apple ID password, disable Find My, add a recovery key, and factory reset the phone for resale before the victim can do anything about it.

For example, without enabling the new feature, an iPhone thief with a user password could use it to change his Apple ID password, locking him out of his device. This allows the thief to disable Find My, which is crucial to wiping the device for a new user. The thief can then sell the device for a much higher price as a used device, rather than trying to sell it as a banned device, for much less money.

Now with the feature enabled, the phone will ask to scan Face ID or Touch ID if the user is away from a familiar location, such as home or work. It will also require a delay of one hour before the Apple ID password on the device can be changed. After the time is up, it will still ask to erase Face ID or Touch ID before changing the Apple ID password from your iPhone. This makes the thief’s life more difficult and gives the owner time to report the iPhone stolen, except to the perpetrator.

Stolen Device Protection works similarly to Apple’s security settings. Adding recovery keys or updating the trusted phone number to the account is a new way for iPhone thieves to lock out the original owner from the device. As in other regions, with the new feature enabled, the phone will request two biometric scans one hour apart if it is far from trusted locations.

Likewise, passwords for iCloud Keychain, Apple’s built-in password manager, will require clearing Face ID or Touch ID. The passcode will not serve as a backup for failed biometric scans when Stolen Device Protection is enabled.

× Wall Street Journal States That Apple plans to ask users to enable the feature in iOS 17.3. Since Apple only released the first beta of the update today, the general public may have to wait at least several weeks before trying it out.