My workplace has come into possession of an iPhone 11 Pro that was left behind at our small venue for about three years. We'd like to repurpose it as a music player for our lobby, but unfortunately, it's locked out by its owner. We have no way to contact the owner, and I'm curious if there's anything we can do with the phone to unlock it or use it in some capacity.
6 Answers
Unfortunately, there's not much you can do with it. Your best option is to take it to the police or a lost and found. Otherwise, it might just end up being thrown away.
Well, it looks like you've got yourself a fancy paperweight there!
Here's the deal: if the phone is locked to an Apple ID and you don't have access to that account, there's really no way to unlock it. Even if it's in a morally good situation, Apple won't budge on this. Unless a new loophole appears down the road, it's just going to stay locked.
Could you clarify what you mean by "locked out"? Does it show a password lock screen, or does it say something like "iPhone locked to owner"? That makes a big difference. Anything specific you can share about the screen?
Just to say it clearly, we won't support any ideas to claim a lost iPhone for your workplace. It’s best to do the right thing and try to return it to its owner.
From what I gather, it sounds like it might just be a password screen with 'Find My iPhone' not enabled. If that's the case, then there’s no activation lock preventing a reset. You might be able to wipe it fresh and start over, which would be great for your needs.
Yeah, it shows "iPhone locked to owner"—my co-workers restarted it about a year ago.