iCloud killed the old iPhone

Apple is increasingly securing its mobile phones, however, this move is killing the old mobile business.

iCloud killed the old iPhone Picture 1
Locking iPhone makes the phone more secure.

Apple introduced the 2007 iPhone and iPad in 2010, these products not only generated huge profits for them, but also for thousands of other companies. As the market for smartphones and tablets is growing, the crime rate also increases.

According to a recent study conducted by Consumer Reports, these products have become the main target for robbers, and resold elsewhere for only a few hundred dollars. Last year, about 3.1 million Americans were stolen smartphones, which has more than doubled from the previous year.

Faced with this theft, Apple introduced a new security feature built into iOS 7 last year called iCloud Activation. To start the activation system, users need to provide Apple ID and password to delete and re-restart the iOS system.

For owners of iOS devices mainly come from iPhone users, these are security walls that can be guaranteed against thieves. Or if someone invades the phone, it can't do much with it.

In New York and San Francisco, the worst crime network. Politicians with consumers were delighted with this new protection system from Apple. They feel safer for their devices.

However, last September when this new feature was released. The entire business system of buying and selling old iPhone and iPad products of companies and small businesses is completely paralyzed. Millions of old devices are released along with the launch of the new iPhone, a series of inactive devices will be left, and the next wave of exchange trading can be said to be Very bad is starting.

We are going in the opposite direction

Eric Gurry, belonging to Mindful eCycling exchange and recycling company, said, "Instead of that device being brought back into the commercial market, it is eventually destroyed. We can reuse one. number of parts only "."We are trying to go in the opposite direction to bring efficiency back to millions of manufactured devices."

His company Gurry is one of a number of units that can handle and recycle old devices or smartphones. This is also the type of assessment where the products are decided to be refurbished and sold to a new owner or broken down and sold separately. The final stage is to bring to the decomposition plant.

Some also donated used equipment through game show programs such as 'mobile phones for soldiers', participating in a 'new old exchange' promotion with Mindful eCycling.

Gurry said: "You can't sell a phone when that device can only work with an IMEI number on each individual chip that only the first owner is provided. Perhaps only the way. is to knock the phone into pieces to sell monitors, batteries and parts, or then melt the motherboards and resell them for 0.85 USD ".

Apple's anti-theft solution has greatly affected his company's system.

Adam Hendin's company - HendinTech, is based in Toronto, Canada. This is the final stage of the system to classify damaged and repaired old phone devices. Most products, when coming here, will be assessed to be re-milked or disintegrated for sale as replacement parts.

iCloud killed the old iPhone Picture 2

However, there are also some devices that are still under warranty and very new, they are brought here with the locking system being activated.

"We are not allowed to access devices that are activating the locking system because it is wrong ," Hendin said. "The devices are still very new and fully reusable but with our company. This is really a shame without any help for companies like us to be able to interfere with the system of devices. '

Hendin contacted Apple about this issue. However, the company has yet to offer any solutions. As a result, HendinTech can only disassemble locked devices and turn it into spare parts, and disassemble all motherboards in the hope that Apple will buy it again.

The more disassembled parts are, the longer their value will decrease over time. Apple declined to comment on The Verge's page about the requirements of some companies that bought older equipment in large numbers. These companies are facing problems of being unable to use locked devices. They also asked Apple to assist in recycling and reusing old devices by reminding customers, so unlock the iCloud activation before sending devices here.

Kyle Wiens, founder and CEO of iFixit, said, "This is really harmful to many people in the non-profit and recycling of old equipment," who is a longtime critic of property. products from Apple."I know most homes that recycle and repair old electronic devices are extremely panicked."

Hendin described it as a panic and annoyance. He also said that after iOS 7 first appeared, the rate of devices was getting more and more. Although there is a significant reduction, it is not possible to manage these devices thoroughly.

Old phone prices are changing constantly

The resale business of old smartphones is in a constant up and down state, dealers consider it a similar phenomenon when playing the stock market.

Before the new phone came into being, its price would increase suddenly, then gradually decrease. Whether prices go up or down is entirely dependent on manufacturers and structural models in the smartphone industry.

Locking Apple's software, allowing for maximum device control, has added a whole new lock class, and that makes things even more complicated for businesses to buy and resell devices. old.

Currently Apple has also provided many ways for users to remove lock classes of iOS devices, but this is not for companies buying and selling old phones or tablets.

At the annual development conference held last June, Apple executives have introduced a new activation lock feature as a move to "prevent truly strong theft". .

Part to prevent theft from taking advantage of that. Partly for smartphone manufacturers to provide a search service system for iPhone - Find My iPhone allows users to locate, remotely lock, and delete information on their device.

ICloud lock is designed to prevent thieves

Although constantly working hard to improve security. However, last month, a group of hackers announced that they were able to ignore Apple's activation lock feature by forging ID numbers, allowing them to hack into users' systems. and Apple servers. According to the group, this method has been revealed to Apple around March and has been used on 70,000 iOS devices.

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Some other companies are following the direction of Apple's business, including Google and Microsoft, they also offer free software that allows locating and disabling remote devices. However, there is no method to disable the device in case the thief deletes these applications from the device.

Samsung also tried to find its own activation key solution, although the idea was rejected by the users themselves. Accordingly, the re-activation feature requires a password to erase the data on the phone, but it is not preinstalled on new devices.

Therefore state and federal legislators have asked phone makers to add data deletion and to disable remote devices as a standard feature in the device. A bill passed last month in Minnesota requires all new phones sold in the state to be provided with a remote "kill switch" and the bill will take effect. around July 2015.

Another California bill also requires the same, and may be in effect later this month. There is also a bill introduced in Congress in February, which aims to provide remote deletion and locking for all consumers in the United States.

With the increase in the reuse business and the re-sale of smartphones, there will be a large amount of losses this year. According to NextWorth, a company that buys and sells used phones and electronic devices, 'the old smartphone exchange business is up to 3 billion dollars in the US alone' . Gazelle, a competitor to NextWorth, said it has traded more than 2 million devices since it opened six years ago, and has spent more than $ 150 million.

Apple has also started diverting to similar model business. A month before iOS 7 was released, the company launched a program to reuse and collect old equipment. Encourage users to bring the used iPhone to retail stores authorized by the company to exchange the new iPhone. The project was launched so that users could directly buy an iPhone from Apple instead of through third-party stores or agents.

Apple has signed a deal with PowerOn, a company that buys and exchanges old equipment located north of Apple's California headquarters.

When asked about this, PowerOn's Gazelle said they had also made a similar request for their customers to 'disable the lock feature before sending the phone here . ' He also added that the company will return the equipment to customers if they do not disable their devices themselves.

Similar to PowerOn, a new 'old exchange' promotion is also provided by the T-Mobile service system through retailers like Best Buy. They also offered not to accept devices that didn't disable the locking system before they were brought.