Don't Even Think About Stealing iPhones in Apple Retail Stores
When Apple opened its Regent Street store in London earlier this month, visitors were surprised to see products without security tethers. As CNET noted at the time, “Apple says this is to allow people to hold them properly, try cases on them and even see how they feel in your pocket. It’s a bold move, especially given the lack of visible security in the building.”
On Monday, 9to5Mac published new details on how Apple plans on securing these items as untethering arrives at the company’s other retail stores.
According to the report, special OS images on demo devices feature a software “kill switch.” This special switch activates when the device goes out of range of the store Wi-Fi, rendering the device useless.
As 9to5Mac concludes:
This isn’t the first time Apple has removed security tethers. The company did so years ago for keyboards, trackpads and speakers, and it also experimented with removing them in the days of the iPhone 5. That wasn’t a success, with thefts shooting up, but with the safeguards now in place, such thefts should soon drop off as soon as word gets around to thieves that there’s no point in stealing them.
In other words: Don’t even think about stealing that Jet Black iPhone 7 you’ve been eyeing.
