
Apple Store Robbed Off 26 Products Worth $27,000 In a Few Seconds in California - Ours90
https://www.firstpost.com/tech/news-analysis/apple-store-robbed-off-26-products-worth-27000-in-a-few-seconds-in-california-4725461.html
======
supermatt
Apple will have a record of all of these devices. The mobile devices will just
get blocked from the networks by their IMEI, rendering them useless, and it
would be trivial for apple to locate the devices based on their serial number
at time of registration.

~~~
ransom1538
But I see them grabbing laptops. Those can be rooted and setup again. Right?

~~~
supermatt
Yeah, but as soon as they connect to apple for registration/updates/etc they
could (theoretically) be blocked again.

~~~
394549
> Yeah, but as soon as they connect to apple for registration/updates/etc they
> could (theoretically) be blocked again.

But it's probably won't be the thief that will be left holding the bag, but
rather sucker who buys the loot off of them.

~~~
supermatt
Undoubtedly.

------
kawfey
Always make sure newer-model tech gear bought online is legit, otherwise
you'll probably end up paying robbers for these stolen, and promptly bricked
devices. Avoid craigslist, agree to a demonstration, meet in public (and
sometimes designated) locations.

------
csomar
I don't know about Macs but the stolen iPhone retails for $20-40 a piece for
high end and new devices (iPhone X). These devices are iCloud locked and it
looks like there is no way to unlock them unless you are the real owner.

This robbery just shows you why some people stay poor. It has to do mostly
with short-sightedness.

~~~
rasz
did you miss a zero somewhere? iphone 10 screen alone is 5 times your number

~~~
sithadmin
Not when it's sold by some sketchy dude that you meet in a McDonald's parking
lot.

------
nsporillo
Aren't the devices connected to some iCloud account or an equivalent software
device lock?

Unless they gut the existing hard drives, can they really even flip these
devices? Find My Mac might foil their plans.

~~~
sithadmin
They're almost certainly provisioned with DEP, which fully automates
installation of MDM tools even when the devices are wiped. As soon as the
device reconnects to the Internet, it will phone home, load whatever MDM
solution Apple almost certainly uses on their demo products, and will likely
either wipe itself again or lock the device. The LTE-enabled devices will
almost certainly have their IMEIs blacklisted by US carriers as well.

Assuming Apple is following best practices for MDM on iOS and Mac OS, these
devices are pretty much useless for anything but parts (and even then: the
logic boards are still useless).

------
ct0
When I worked for apple they would simply deactivate the devices and that'd be
the end of it. Were never usable again.

------
dogma1138
Stealing what is essentially 26 GPS receivers which also phone home, doesn’t
seem to be particularly smart.

------
wpdev_63
This is the first apple store I've seen that doesn't have the laptop locks on.

------
taobility
why nobody trying to stop them? Is it normal in California or US? I can't
believe this would happen in other country

~~~
llampx
Get shot for a few laptops that aren't yours anyway? No can do. Not to mention
that the official policy in all robberies is to let the thieves take anything
they want, so any employee that tries to do something will be fired anyway.

------
ainiriand
... And yet no one did anything. I do not ask for some kind of anonymous hero
but if you see a thing like that you should at least try to block them from
running.

~~~
intopieces
Apple’s market cap exceeds the GDP of the bottom 171 countries in the world
and you can bet their retail insurance policy dictates that employees take no
action if the threat of violence is present. The average cost to treat a
gunshot wound in the US is $154k.

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/9183471/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/9183471/)

~~~
taobility
so is that means rob the goods under $150k should not be stopped?

~~~
HeyLaughingBoy
It simply means that your safety isn't worth trying to save a few thousand
dollars of some corporation's equipment.

