Cell phone theft is a significant issue across the United States. In major cities, up to 40% of thefts involve cell phones, and roughly 1 in 10 Americans has experienced phone theft. The most common theft locations are restaurants, accounting for around 16% of cases, while public transportation such as buses and subways are less common. Interestingly, 39% of stolen phones are iPhones, making them highly targeted by thieves. Theft tends to happen more frequently in urban areas, but about one-third of incidents occur in suburban settings. Most thefts happen between noon and 5 p.m. rather than late at night. Unfortunately, only about 32% of stolen phones are recovered, even though 90% of victims take action to try to recover them.
Apple’s Stolen Device Protection is a security feature designed to protect your iPhone if it gets stolen. Here’s how it works:
Apple Stolen Device Protection is available on iPhones running iOS 17.3 or later. So, any iPhone that has been updated to this version or later will have access to this feature.
Apple’s Stolen Device Protection prevents unauthorized access to several key features on your iPhone when it’s not in a familiar location. These include:
In essence, it adds an extra layer of security by requiring Face ID or Touch ID authentication for these actions, making it harder for thieves to access your personal information.
A familiar location typically includes places where you frequently use your iPhone, such as your home and work. Your iPhone uses Significant Locations to recognize these places. You can manage these settings in Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > System Services > Significant Locations.
Enabling Apple Stolen Device Protection is quite simple1. Here are the steps:
Make sure you have two-factor authentication set up for your Apple Account, a device passcode, and Face ID or Touch ID enabled. Also, ensure that Significant Locations (Location Services) are turned on.
If your Face ID or Touch ID module is damaged, it can impact the functionality of Stolen Device Protection. Since this feature relies on biometric authentication (Face ID or Touch ID) for certain actions when your iPhone is away from familiar locations, a damaged module would prevent you from accessing these features securely.
You could still enable and disable Stolen Device Protection at a familiar location if your biometric authentication is damaged, but it would be significantly more challenging. Since the feature relies on biometric authentication to grant access, a damaged Face ID or Touch ID module would mean you can’t authenticate in the intended manner.
Stolen Device Protection shouldn’t directly affect the ability to repair your iPhone. However, turning it off before taking your iPhone in for repair might simplify the process, especially if your biometric authentication (Face ID or Touch ID) is damaged.
To turn it off, you can go to Settings > Face ID & Passcode (or Touch ID & Passcode), enter your device passcode, and then toggle off Stolen Device Protection.
It’s a good idea to turn it off temporarily to avoid any complications during the repair process. Once your device is repaired, you can easily turn it back on.
Unfortunately, you can’t turn off Stolen Device Protection remotely like you can with Find My. To disable it, you’ll need to do so directly on your iPhone by following the steps mentioned earlier.
