I'm in the United States and have a Mac that belonged to an old friend who died in Spain. I have her death certificate in Spanish and French, but I don't want to access any of her files or Apple Account—I only want the Mac wiped so I can use it myself. I'm planning to visit an official Apple Store in the US. Would Apple accept the foreign death certificate, or would the country and language matter? The only barrier I know of is her login password, and her family no longer has the original purchase receipt.
2 Answers
A death certificate by itself generally won’t remove an Activation Lock. If the Mac is linked to her Apple Account through Find My, Apple will usually require valid proof of purchase, and the request is normally handled through Apple’s support process rather than simply being resolved at a retail counter. A foreign certificate may also require an official translation, but it still may not be enough on its own. If the Mac is only protected by her local login password and isn’t Activation Locked, you can erase it by starting macOS Recovery and reinstalling the operating system.
Try starting the Mac in Recovery and choosing the option to erase the internal drive. That will remove the user account and its password, but after the erase the Mac may still ask for the previous owner’s Apple Account if Activation Lock is enabled. If that happens, you’ll need Apple to review ownership documentation; without a receipt or other proof of purchase, they may not be able to unlock it.
I’m not trying to access her files or account. I’m a PC user and didn’t realize there was a separate Activation Lock. I only want to wipe the Mac, but I don’t know whether the password alone prevents that.