Now that Apple locks phones and other iOS devices if the owner connects them with Where’s My iPhone, is there a way to test serial numbers or IMEI’s of devices bought used to see if they’re unlocked?
There is indeed a way to test and see if what Apple calls the activation lock is enabled or engaged on a given iOS device, whether it’s an iPhone, iPad, iPad Mini or even the shiny new iPhone 6 Plus. You will need either the serial number of the device or the IMEI (which stands for “International Mobile Station Equipment Identity”: the ‘s’ got lost somewhere in the shuffle though) to test it.
Once you have that — and don’t worry, I’ll show you two ways to identify it — you can just go to the handy page that Apple’s set up to test the activation lock: Test iOS Device Activation Lock Status.
But I get ahead of myself!
Let’s start by going to the page to see what’s there. It looks like this:
Now, as I said, you need either the serial number from the device or the IMEI number.
One way to get it is to go onto the device and head to Settings > General > About, at which point you’ll see both listed, as you can see here for my iPhone:
The easier way to get this info in a way that’s usable for the Web site, however, is to plug the device into a Mac system, then go into iTunes.
iTunes will show information about the device, including its serial number IMEI, etc. Click on whichever one it’s showing and it’ll step through the values:
Find the one you want and Cmd-Click to copy it into your buffer, then paste it onto the page.
Enter the CAPTCHA on the Web page too and click “Continue”. For my iPhone it is indeed locked:
That’s good if you own the device, not so good if you just bought it used.
In fact, Apple explains:
So that’s the scoop. If you’re considering buying a used Apple device, definitely get the IMEI or serial number and test it before you try to reformat it for your own use, just to find out it’s locked and possibly even stolen.
Be careful out there!
Hi my iPhone 6 has been stolen by someone else.My question is how to lock my losing iphone 6 with imei number?
hi,guy you can go to ( icloud.com ) to login and you it icon in ( find my phone ) then your going to lock now
please how can i bypass my ipad .. please someone should help me, i dont have the IMEI number
Thank you for that good info, last month I bought iphone and suspect that it’s a fake, bring it to your closest Apple authorized service provider. A store technician run diagnostic tests on my iPhone to verify its authenticity or lack of authenticity. that was my way to find out, but if i read your article before month ago i may find out by myself.