The UK’s Metropolitan Police has reached an agreement with Apple designed to make stolen iPhones harder to resell and less attractive to thieves. The approach combines stronger technical protections with direct data sharing between Apple and law enforcement.
In 2023, about 1.4 million mobile phones were stolen in the US alone. London is reportedly one of the worst cities for phone theft, with around 200 devices stolen every day.
As part of this effort, Apple has strengthened its Stolen Device Protection feature in iOS 26.4, making it harder for thieves to change security settings, factory‑reset a stolen iPhone, or set it up as new.
Previously, thieves with your passcode (or who snatched your iPhone while it was still unlocked) could factory reset it, wiping your account and making the device look new for resale. Stolen Device Protection blocks this, requiring biometric authentication, not just a passcode, to make critical changes.
The Met has started sharing identifiers for reported stolen devices with Apple. In return, Apple can provide data on whether those devices later attempt to reconnect to a network or attempt to be reactivated.
