Apple Will No Longer Repair iPhones Reported As Stolen Or Lost

Synopsis – These restrictions have been basically done so as to lessen the sales of stolen iPhones and this new restriction also includes iPhones in which Find My tracking is disabled.

Significant news for the iPhone users as they now cannot get the iPhones repaired which have been reported as stolen or lost. Yes! From now onwards Apple stores and Apple Authorized Services will not entertain any customers or not repair any iPhones which have been reported as stolen in their database which is GSMA Device Registry. 

This new rule has been regulated by Apple company as an internal memo to all the employees working in the company that, now if someone brings any damaged iPhone then they will check in their internal database if the particular phone is reported as missing or not, if yes the technicians are allowed to deny services. 

However, this is not a new policy but already exists in Apple’s policies under which repair of stolen or lost devices is strictly prohibited. Although, this is also applicable to the devices in which the “Find My’ feature is not enabled. These restrictions have been basically done so as to lessen the sales of stolen iPhones and this new restriction also includes iPhones in which Find My tracking is disabled. 

Although, earlier this rule was also applicable to the stolen or lost iPhones in which the ‘Find My’ feature was enabled. But now the regulations have been set the same in all cases. 

What is GSMA Device Registry?

This is one of the most important tools, which helps in determining the exact status of iPhones globally when they are brought for repair. It is a kind of a global database that detects the device with its serial number and provides information if the device is missing or stolen. It works by, for instance, if your phone is stolen you will report the same then the company will register your device as stolen. Thus, the company will then check the device’s IMEI number to detect the accurate status of the phone. 

Now the company has made it mandatory for every employee to first go through the GSMA Device Registry and if they see any message regarding the devices which state missing or lost then they can report and register the incidence. Along with that, they will also inform the owner regarding their stolen device. 

For making the process hassle-free, the company also announced the ‘Self Service Repair’ program, which allowed the users to repair their phones themselves with the help of a new online setup dedicated to parts and tools. 

In this program, more than 2,800 Independent Repair Providers and 5,000 Apple Authorised Service Providers (AASPs) were available and helped customers with tools, parts, and manuals. However, the procedure was not that successful and the stores were the only option.