Within days, if an iPhone has been reported by its owner as missing or Fly to Apple, it cannot be repaired at Apple Stores or Apple Authorized Repair Services. Good news.
But great news that should have been published a long time ago. If Apple has a database with the reference of each iPhone declared stolen, it is difficult to understand why it waited so many years to apply this new rule to its repairers.
Those in Cupertino decided to try to mitigate the traffic of stolen iPhones. And it’s going to do that by introducing a pretty significant change to the way technicians handle the repair of iPhones they receive for repair. Before doing so, they will check the database Apple if said device has been reported lost or stolen.
According to an internal document Apple distributed to its employees, the company will stop repairing iPhones that have been reported as missing. This means that shortly the technicians in the stores Apple Store and the authorized services will refuse a repair to any customer if the device has been reported missing.
This is a basic extension of the rule already in place by Apple that limits global repair options for technicians if an iPhone customer cannot turn off search on their phone.
The device should be listed as missing in the official device registry GSMA, which is a global network that aims to help manufacturers and wireless carriers detect stolen handsets. If the Apple technician verifies that the device appears in the system as lost via its database, must refuse repair to the person requesting it.
