Apple appears to be taking a leaf out of Android’s book with a new feature that locks an iPhone as soon as it detects it has been snatched.
The detection lock will use several signals to identify whether the iPhone has been stolen. A sudden change in the accelerometer will be one indication, alongside sudden changes in speed, as many devices are stolen by thieves on electric bikes and mopeds. Once it has determined the device has been snatched, it will lock the phone.
Once a lock has been placed on the device, Apple’s security system will continue to monitor the iPhone’s activity by tracking its distance from a paired Apple Watch. Other Apple devices may be included when the feature officially launches. It will also take into account a familiar Wi-Fi connection or location, similar to the current Stolen Device Protection feature.
First reported by 9to5Mac, the theft-detection feature could provide iPhones with greater protection against thieves, who target iPhones more aggressively than Android devices in city centers. Google launched its own version of this for Android this month.
The lifecycle of a stolen device
Thieves often look for victims who are talking on their device or actively looking at it, indicating that the phone is unlocked.
From there, they can not only access any apps not locked by Face ID or other 2FA authenticators, but can also send the victim follow-up phishing scams and ransom texts to gain access to their Apple ID credentials. Contact details of friends and social media apps can also be pilfered for use in phishing scams or sold on the dark web.
While many stolen devices make their way to China to be disassembled or sold as anti-firewall devices to Chinese citizens, there is a large underground network that attempts to extract as much value from each device before this sale.
Phone-related street theft has increased in certain city centers, with a sharp rise in phone thefts in London over the past few years. According to the Metropolitan Police, the number of mobile phones stolen in London reached 117,000 in 2024, a 29.1 percent increase on 2022.
The City of London and police have invested heavily in reducing thefts, which are prevalent in tourist-heavy parts of the city.
Apple focusing on privacy and security
It is not the only new security feature being rolled out by Apple this year, with the company adding a “Limit Precise Location” feature in its iOS 26.5 update, designed to reduce the accuracy of a user’s location for mobile carriers and apps that have access to precise location data.
At WWDC next month, Apple may also introduce privacy-led features in its Siri update. These will reportedly include an auto-deleting chats feature that removes chats from Apple servers after a set period.
It is not yet clear whether the user will have a say in how long chats last, or whether Apple is doing this to save on server costs.
Also read: Apple’s rumored iPhone 19 Pro display shift could bring a quad-curved OLED screen to a future flagship model.
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