14 DAY TRIAL // In a very silent move, Apple removed the iCloud Activation Lock a few days ago, leaving iPhone and iPad users without one of the ways to check the device’s IMEI or series number. The website was removed, which means that buyers must now make sure that the devices are erased.
Apple’s iCloud Activation Lock allowed buyers of iOS devices to check if the phone was locked before purchasing it. Potential customers simply needed to type in the device’s IMEI or serial number on the Activation Lock website and check if the device was disabled. The website was used for checking iPhones, iPads, iPod touch devices and Apple Watches.
However, it seems that the Activation Lock website was also part of a bypass hack to unlock devices bricked by the Activation Lock. This might be one of the reasons why Apple removed it. The hack is demonstrated in a video posted quite a while ago and retrieved by MacRumors.
The hack could be connected to an issue that iPhone users have been having
Hackers used the Activation Lock website to check one or two characters of an invalid serial number and thus generate a valid one. They then used the website to verify the newly created serial number and check if it was functional. It’s quite a simple hack that uses the valid number of a legitimate device owner to unlock a previously non-functional iPhone or iPad.
An interesting Apple ID bug has been affecting iOS users for several months now and the video could explain it. It all falls into place now, as some users had tried to activate a new or recently restored device and noticed that their devices locked to another Apple ID account - one with an unknown name and password.
The issue affected owners of iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus devices since September. Apple didn’t confirm that the hack revealed in the video was related to the Apple ID Activation Lock bug, but the clip does prove that it is a plausible theory.
