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Does Apple deliberately disables older iPads?

B

brianric

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 30, 2011
212
114
I gave a friend my iPad 2 several years ago as I no longer was using it. I had removed it from iCloud account, erased all contents and gave it to her. Up until two days ago she has had no problem using it. Two days ago she attempts to use the iPad when she gets the Activation Help message saying a password is required to activate this device because its owner has used Find My iPhone to link it to their Apple ID. She entered her Apple ID and password to no avail. She was able to go to her Apple account from her computer and log in and was able to see her iPad under devices. She called Apple and was told the iPad is so old that Apple doesn't support it and sometimes this message appears, and there's nothing Apple can do about it.

I do not expect Apple to support the iPad 2, but does Apple makes it a point to disable older iPads, or for that matter any Apple devices that Apple no longer supports?
 

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brianric said:
I gave a friend my iPad 2 several years ago as I no longer was using it. I had removed it from iCloud account, erased all contents and gave it to her. Up until two days ago she has had no problem using it. Two days ago she attempts to use the iPad when she gets the Activation Help message saying a password is required to activate this device because its owner has used Find My iPhone to link it to their Apple ID. She entered her Apple ID and password to no avail. She was able to go to her Apple account from her computer and log in and was able to see her iPad under devices. She called Apple and was told the iPad is so old that Apple doesn't support it and sometimes this message appears, and there's nothing Apple can do about it.

I do not expect Apple to support the iPad 2, but does Apple makes it a point to disable older iPads, or for that matter any Apple devices that Apple no longer supports?
Click to expand...

Can we assume you tried your iCloud account? It says if you got it second hand to try that. are you the original owner? If not, you may need to track that person down.

Otherwise, no, Apple doesn't just disable iPads.
 
grockk said:
Can we assume you tried your iCloud account? It says if you got it second hand to try that. are you the original owner? If not, you may need to track that person down.

Otherwise, no, Apple doesn't just disable iPads.
Click to expand...
I am the original owner and it is not on my iCloud account. I even tried to log in with my id and it wouldn't let me. I can't remember the exact words but it basically had the first two or three letters and the rest were asterisks of my friends iCloud account's name. I went to my iCloud account and that iPad is not listed as one of my devices. The iPad in question does show up in her devices on her iCloud account.
 
With Apple being so secretive, nothing is ever known for sure. But probably not directly. But I’d say Apple doesn’t do a whole lot to help older models work well with later releases of IOS.
 
I've seen this happen and suspect it's one of Apple's scheme to force people to buy new devices.
 
MacDawg said:
They are only able to do this when your tin foil hat slides too far to one side though
As long as you keep it on straight and tight, really tight, they can't do a damn thing to your iPad
Click to expand...
Spoken from someone who has Apple tattooed on his butt.
 
brianric said:
I gave a friend my iPad 2 several years ago as I no longer was using it. I had removed it from iCloud account, erased all contents and gave it to her. Up until two days ago she has had no problem using it. Two days ago she attempts to use the iPad when she gets the Activation Help message saying a password is required to activate this device because its owner has used Find My iPhone to link it to their Apple ID. She entered her Apple ID and password to no avail. She was able to go to her Apple account from her computer and log in and was able to see her iPad under devices. She called Apple and was told the iPad is so old that Apple doesn't support it and sometimes this message appears, and there's nothing Apple can do about it.

I do not expect Apple to support the iPad 2, but does Apple makes it a point to disable older iPads, or for that matter any Apple devices that Apple no longer supports?
Click to expand...
I wonder this too, she should have setup the iPad with her own Apple ID to prevent this. Heck how do you even use an iPad without Apple ID and your own custom settings.
This is nothing new seen this many times before. And old iPad is given away then sold and resold. At some point a Previous Owner/registrant tries out Find My IPad on an Old Device on their account, out of curiosity or just trying to remove it. That mere action prompts Apple to LOCK the device.
Apple makes the Process like that deliberately confusing and tedious to reverse. But the work it in such a way that it’s 100% the User is to blame.
 
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I am scared to give my old iPad Mini 4 to my father in law at this point. I already removed it from my Apple ID. I am giving it to him this weekend. I hope this stupid Find My iPhone lock thing doesn’t randomly lock his iPad.
 
TheRealAlex said:
I wonder this too, she should have setup the iPad with her own Apple ID to prevent this. Heck how do you even use an iPad without Apple ID and your own custom settings.
This is nothing new seen this many times before. And old iPad is given away then sold and resold. At some point a Previous Owner/registrant tries out Find My IPad on an Old Device on their account, out of curiosity or just trying to remove it. That mere action prompts Apple to LOCK the device.
Apple makes the Process like that deliberately confusing and tedious to reverse. But the work it in such a way that it’s 100% the User is to blame.
Click to expand...
iPad was setup on her own account for years on her Apple ID. That iPad was properly removed from my devices years ago before I gave it to her. When I tried to sign on two days ago to the iPad in question with my ID and password the message showed the device still set up in her Apple ID. She had entered the correct password and could not proceed. When she went to iCloud.com that iPad was associated with her account. I verified that that particular iPad was not associated with my iCloud account.
 
brianric said:
I am the original owner and it is not on my iCloud account. I even tried to log in with my id and it wouldn't let me. I can't remember the exact words but it basically had the first two or three letters and the rest were asterisks of my friends iCloud account's name. I went to my iCloud account and that iPad is not listed as one of my devices. The iPad in question does show up in her devices on her iCloud account.
Click to expand...

Possible that SHE has allowed the iPad to be compromised!

It could also just be a glitch.
 
Richard8655 said:
With Apple being so secretive, nothing is ever known for sure. But probably not directly. But I’d say Apple doesn’t do a whole lot to help older models work well with later releases of IOS.
Click to expand...

So far in 8 years of iPad nobody has found a proof for this rather random theory. Being found guilty disabling devices is a no go when user experience is all that matters to that company.
 
mi7chy said:
I've seen this happen and suspect it's one of Apple's scheme to force people to buy new devices.
Click to expand...

Yes that’s totally what is happening. Glad you figured it out. Every time you see an error message on any iOS device about iCloud security features on a forum, it must be Apple switching those devices over to a non-functioning state. Because that totally makes sense and is the first thing that comes to mind.
 
TheRealAlex said:
I wonder this too, she should have setup the iPad with her own Apple ID to prevent this. Heck how do you even use an iPad without Apple ID and your own custom settings.
This is nothing new seen this many times before. And old iPad is given away then sold and resold. At some point a Previous Owner/registrant tries out Find My IPad on an Old Device on their account, out of curiosity or just trying to remove it. That mere action prompts Apple to LOCK the device.
Apple makes the Process like that deliberately confusing and tedious to reverse. But the work it in such a way that it’s 100% the User is to blame.
Click to expand...

And there is no user error anywhere in that chain - except for not deleting the device and handing it to the next person without letting them set it up themselves with their own data. Nothing more to add here. Just erase the device and that issue would not show up at all as the new owner would have to set it up with their if right away.
 
ericwn said:
And there is no user error anywhere in that chain - except for not deleting the device and handing it to the next person without letting them set it up themselves with their own data. Nothing more to add here. Just erase the device and that issue would not show up at all as the new owner would have to set it up with their if right away.
Click to expand...
The device was erased, and removed (deleted) from devices from my iCoud account. The person I gave it set the device up with ere data.

As I stated in my first post on the matter "I had removed it from iCloud account, erased all contents and gave it to her."
What part of my original statement did you not understand?
 
brianric said:
The device was erased, and removed (deleted) from devices from my iCoud account. The person I gave it set the device up with ere data.

As I stated in my first post on the matter "I had removed it from iCloud account, erased all contents and gave it to her."
What part of my original statement did you not understand?
Click to expand...

There are a lot of know-it-all’s on this thread that aren’t taking the time to read what the OP wrote.

I don’t know what the answer is but I think it’s BS Apple is washing their hands of it. It seems pretty clear it’s some kind of software glitch not a hardware issue.
 
off_piste said:
There are a lot of know-it-all’s on this thread that aren’t taking the time to read what the OP wrote.

I don’t know what the answer is but I think it’s BS Apple is washing their hands of it. It seems pretty clear it’s some kind of software glitch not a hardware issue.
Click to expand...
I just gave the person an unused Air 2 yesterday after I removed it from my iCloud account and erased all contents. I told her to set up the Air 2 and then delete the older iPad from her iCloud account. I'll be getting the older iPad back this Tuesday to see if I can activate it. I will pursue this directly with Apple myself.
 
I would scan threads on Apple Community. There have been glitches. Also giid how to tip on OSX Daily. What to do checklist for what to do before selling.

Did it have iOS 10 or later? It even promots to disable Find my Mac, Sign out ID, iMessage.

The part where it asks to verify on a trusted device will often be 200+ miles away. Will ask to enter code displayed on other device.

Okd school, reformat boot drive every year or more, restore from clone or do fresh install with every new OS. Always perks up. Slow storage, nit enough RAM are an issue with each new OS. Mac, Windows, Android . Always want the fastest SSD and memory.
 
Last edited:
brianric said:
I just gave the person an unused Air 2 yesterday after I removed it from my iCloud account and erased all contents. I told her to set up the Air 2 and then delete the older iPad from her iCloud account. I'll be getting the older iPad back this Tuesday to see if I can activate it. I will pursue this directly with Apple myself.
Click to expand...
The activation lock screen shows an obscured email address. Does that look familiar to either you or the person who now has the iPad? If not, then it's possible that someone cloned the serial number for your device and got that locked to a different iCloud account. This has happened with iOS devices and caused owners to become locked out of their devices, but it's not Apple disabling the device as part of some conspiracy.
If you have proof of original purchase from when the device was new, Apple will remove the activation lock for you, regardless of whether it's your iCloud account locking the device or someone else's.
 
I hope you still have access to a copy of the receipt because Apple's policies regarding randomly iCloud hijacking devices favor driving new device sales. That means if it was gifted to you and/or it's been longer than six months where you've likely misplaced the receipt then you're SOL even if you have the original box and logs show the device has been used consistently at the same ISP, WAN IP, SSID, BSSID, etc. Worst of all, it's enabled by default with no transparency about the risk of losing ownership and you're presumed guilty with the burden on you to prove innocence. Just another clever scheme like performance throttling to drive new device sales.
 
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