My iPhone is so full of important photos, documents, and private information that I can’t imagine having it stolen. Nevertheless, I’ve backed up and locked my data and know what to do if it happens. Activation Lock would prevent anyone from using the phone, and I’ll hopefully be able to remotely wipe it while thieves attempt to unlock it.
I also know that I have little chance of getting that iPhone back once it’s stolen. It’ll be gone for good regardless of whether thieves can access its contents and wipe the data. That would be the best-case scenario for them. They’d get to resell the iPhone for a profit. But since it’s locked to my Apple Account, they would not be able to access it. They could still sell all the iPhone’s parts to make some money.
However, iOS 18 introduces a new security feature that would make the latter scenario less lucrative. Activation Lock extends to all the iPhone’s parts and will notify buyers of stolen parts that the components come from a stolen device.
BetaProfiles found the new Activation Lock feature enabled in the iOS 18 Release Candidate version that Apple made available to developers and public beta testers earlier this week.
Activation Lock will now lock your iPhone’s parts to your Apple Account. Thieves looking to sell the components might not be able to turn the same profit once repair shops start seeing notifications like the one below. Apple announced the feature was in the works in April. Back then, Apple confirmed it would allow used iPhone parts in repairs.
The iPhone will tell you if a part you just replaced comes from an iPhone with Activation Lock enabled. That’s a stolen iPhone, of course. The new iOS 18 security feature lets you unlock that part. But you won’t be able to do it, as you won’t know the owner’s password.
As BetaProfiles noted on Threads, you can hit the Cancel button and still use the phone. However, the handset will tell you you’re using an “Unknown Part” in the Settings app. This could impact future service at Apple Store or your attempts to resell the iPhone down the road.
As others have shown on Threads, the new iOS 18 security feature already works. You will get warnings if the parts a repair shop used to fix your iPhone come from stolen devices.
As good as the feature is, it won’t eliminate iPhone thefts overnight. Repair shops and thieves have to find out about it first. Once that happens, the value of parts from a stolen iPhone might decrease to the point where thieves might not want to steal them.
Once you install iOS 18, the parts Activation Lock feature will work on iPhone 12 or later. If you’re not in the beta program, you should know that iOS 18 rolls out on Monday to iPhone XR and later models.
I’ll also point out that Activation Lock will protect your data and iPhone parts if thieves do not steal your password. As a reminder, that’s the worst kind of theft. Some people learned how to steal iPhones after learning the owner’s password. If that happens to you despite the security features in iOS 17 and iOS 18, then thieves might remove the Activation Lock and get access to your data.
To protect yourself against iPhone theft, make sure you enable the iPhone’s Stolen Device Protection feature.
