Apple Store looters won’t be able to use or pawn demo items that have been stolen because they are fitted with software that prevents the devices from being restored to their factory settings.
As Americans march for the Black Lives Matter movement, some opportunistic people have raided stores during and after peaceful protests.
But those who have taken home monitors, laptops, phones and watches from the display tables won’t get much good use out them.
Apple Stores across the country have been looted including ones in Portland, Salt Lake City and Washington DC, but many people who took advantage of the opportunity to grab merchandise amid crowds of demonstrators were unable to get into the highly-secured stock area.
Much like purchased devices, stolen items are activation locked on iCloud.
Devices are usually attached to toggles in store. However if they are ripped off, special software makes sure that Macs revert to their original state every time they reboot.
Devices to not have the capability to set up passcode security and locking.
The devices reportedly have a ‘software kill’ switch when they go out of range of a store.
An iPhone goes into Find My iPhone mode and will ring until the battery dies, 9to5Mac reports.
The device will reset when powered off and then plugged in.
Many Apple Stores have now boarded up their windows and set up temporary fencing, including New York’s flagship.
It comes as people across the country protest in the wake of the police custody death of George Floyd last Monday.
Americans have demanded all four of the officers involved in his killing are prosecuted.
So far, only one officer, Derek Chauvin, who was seen kneeling on Floyd’s neck as he cried, ‘I can’t breathe’ has been charged with third-degree murder.
Apple CEO Tim Cook called the killing ‘senseless’ and told staff in a memo: ‘I have heard from so many of you that you feel afraid — afraid in your communities, afraid in your daily lives, and, most cruelly of all, afraid in your own skin.
‘To our colleagues in the Black community — we see you. You matter, your lives matter, and you are valued here at Apple.’
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