This Mac Has Been Locked With Find My Mac… but not by me!

[Manek43509]

One of my Mac Minis is showing a lockscreen with a passcode input, and says ‘This Mac has been locked by Find My Mac’. I didn’t lock it, and I don’t know who did. I don’t know what passcode it wants, and the web address listed — icloud.com/find — is no help at all.

I have tried booting into Recovery Mode and Target Disk Mode, but neither of these works either. The Mac is essentially bricked by the passcode.

Is there any way I can undo this? Has anybody else experienced that before?

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Does the mini appear under “find my” at iCloud.com? If not, that means it’s under the control of a different Apple Account. Was the Mac purchased 2nd hand? You might be SOL if so.

If it does appear and you are the original owner - likely you’ll need to bring it to an Apple Store or service center, show proof of original purchase (from Apple or Apple Authorized Retailer) and they can reset it for you.

 

[Manek43509]

Purchased secondhand, but five years ago — and fully wiped, factory reset and signed in on my Apple ID in the meantime. Could the previous owner still have control even after the HDD was wiped and macOS reinstalled fresh when I bought it?

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Yep, they sure could... if it doesn't appear under your Apple Account for Find My, then they very likely did.

Macs of that age didn't have "Activation Lock" so being on someone else's Apple Account wouldn't prevent you from erasing or signing into them. The only limitation is you wouldn't be able to activate Find My, which most of us might not even notice as it's not a critical function on a desktop computer.

But if the prior owner was looking at their Find my and saying "Hmm - what's this old Mac mini doing here? I sold that years ago" and locked it just to "ensure no one got into their account" (which you wouldn't have been able to, but it's a reasonable fear)... then THEY are the only ones who can remove that lock. If you can't contact them - it's dumpster material now.

Modern Macs (~2018 and later) do have Activation Lock, so you'd notice the issue right away - you wouldn't even be able to sign on without the Apple Account password it's locked to.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

There is actually one possibility - I've "Heard" (not tried it myself) that OBSOLETE Macs don't require original Proof of Purchase. What year is the mini? If it's 2012 or older, it's OBS so take it in & see what happens. If it's 2014 it's just VIN (Vintage) and won't be OBS for another year. If it's 2018.... it'd have Activation Lock so probably not 2018. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

If you're not sure what year.... does the bottom have a twist-and-remove? If so, it's 2012 or older. If not, it's 2014 or newer.

 

[Manek43509]

Would putting a brand new HDD or SDD into the machine bypass this? Seems absolutely insane to me that you can totally reset everything but a total stranger still has the power to brick it remotely.

 

[Manek43509]

There is actually one possibility - I've "Heard" (not tried it myself) that OBSOLETE Macs don't require original Proof of Purchase. What year is the mini? If it's 2012 or older, it's OBS so take it in & see what happens. If it's 2014 it's just VIN (Vintage) and won't be OBS for another year. If it's 2018.... it'd have Activation Lock so probably not 2018. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Either 2012 or 2014. Pretty sure that’s officially unable to support Mojave so I’m guessing 2012?

 

[FreakinEurekan]

New hard drive won't help, the lock is motherboard-based.

Is the bottom removable without tools? That's how you can tell a 2012 from a 2014.

 

[weaztek]

Purchased secondhand, but five years ago — and fully wiped, factory reset and signed in on my Apple ID in the meantime. Could the previous owner still have control even after the HDD was wiped and macOS reinstalled fresh when I bought it?

I've sold a few of my old Macs over the years. Wouldn't dream of bricking someone's computer. If you stiff have an email or messenger DM from the seller, you could ask them if they know what's going on.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Essentially what the remote lock does is activate a "Firmware Password" - and you're down to "Forgot my password" in this article. Best bet, of course, is reach out to the seller as @weaztek said. I of course wouldn't dream of doing this on a machine I've sold either - but I'd understand why it was still in my account, and simply Remove it. I can certainly see how someone who didn't know what was going on, might lock it out of paranoia.

 

[Manek43509]

Thank you for all the responses. I’ll try to find the seller’s details but I don’t think eBay hold purchase records for longer than ninety days so that will all come down to whether there’s anything still in my emails from that far back!

I might also try speaking to the people at my local Apple Store as they have been helpful in the past.

 

[TechnoMonk]

If it is 2012, or 2014, those are already vintage/obsolete. I doubt Apple Store will touch your Mac Mini. Your best bet is reaching out to the seller. It’s not a total stranger who has control but some one who most likely has Mac mini in find my device profile. Did you ever see the Mac mini in your find My list of devices.

 

[Manek43509]

If it is 2012, or 2014, those are already vintage/obsolete. I doubt Apple Store will touch your Mac Mini. Your best bet is reaching out to the seller. It’s not a total stranger who has control but some one who most likely has Mac mini in find my device profile. Did you ever see the Mac mini in your find My list of devices.

They’re a total stranger to me, the owner of the Mac Mini. I have never checked the Find My list before today — why would I? — so I’ve no idea whether the device was there in the past or not.

The local Apple Store helped me fit third-party VESA wall mount adaptors to two Thunderbolt Displays when they were not really supposed to, because they know me — so you never know, unless you ask.

 

[Fishrrman]

IF...

- the original owner can't be found (or won't help)
and
- Apple won't help (if you try taking it to them)
then
... you might as well just put it into the closet and get something else and start over.

THIS TIME, DO NOT buy a second-hand Mac.
Either get something new from Apple, or perhaps from the Apple online refurbished store.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

My understanding of the process, is that the store has to submit the Proof of Purchase to a "Central authority" who then will give them a code to unlock the Mac. So it may not be up to the store's discretion. If it is in fact a 2012 though, the "OBS" loophole should let them get a code without the PoP.

But the bottom line is - ya won't know if ya don't ask! Bon chance!

 

[Manek43509]

IF...

- the original owner can't be found (or won't help)
and
- Apple won't help (if you try taking it to them)
then
... you might as well just put it into the closet and get something else and start over.

THIS TIME, DO NOT buy a second-hand Mac.
Either get something new from Apple, or perhaps from the Apple online refurbished store.

Sorry but I don’t have the money to pay brand new or official refurbished prices. I refuse to buy into Apple’s Chuck-Away-And-Buy-New culture, adding to piles of e-waste of devices which are only a handful of years old. And I much prefer the design of older Mac models anyway.

I have only ever bought one Mac from new — I bought it in 2013, and I still use it all the time as my main work laptops. All my other Macs — plus my iPhone and six iPads — are secondhand.

 

[Manek43509]

My understanding of the process, is that the store has to submit the Proof of Purchase to a "Central authority" who then will give them a code to unlock the Mac. So it may not be up to the store's discretion. If it is in fact a 2012 though, the "OBS" loophole should let them get a code without the PoP.

But the bottom line is - ya won't know if ya don't ask! Bon chance!

Fair enough. I guess we shall see!

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Sorry but I don’t have the money to pay brand new or official refurbished prices. I refuse to buy into Apple’s Chuck-Away-And-Buy-New culture, adding to piles of e-waste of devices which are only a handful of years old. And I much prefer the design of older Mac models anyway.

I have only ever bought one Mac from new — I bought it in 2013, and I still use it all the time as my main work laptops. All my other Macs — plus my iPhone and six iPads — are secondhand.

Buying second-hand is fine IMO, but you do need to ensure it's been removed from Find My. As you've discovered 😬 that was trickier to do on older models but as long as you're only buying 2018 or newer devices going forward, you won't be caught by this again.

 

[CharlesShaw]

Sorry this happened. If the Apple Store cannot help, and it's indeed a brick, you'll probably be upset, but at least they can recycle it for free (they'll even provide a free shipping label if recycled online) and the aluminum will be used in future products.

 

[Manek43509]

Buying second-hand is fine IMO, but you do need to ensure it's been removed from Find My. As you've discovered 😬 that was trickier to do on older models but as long as you're only buying 2018 or newer devices going forward, you won't be caught by this again.

Yes, that’s certainly something to learn from this: in future, ask the seller to remove it from their Find My Mac list when they sell it!

 

[tenthousandthings]

@Manek43509 -- I can see purchases in eBay back to 2017, but not before that. So they do purge them. But if you bought it in 2017 or later, you should be able to identify the seller, assuming they are still around. It’s worth a shot, they may have the unlock code, or at least know who does.

EDIT: Actually, even though my purchases are only listed back to October 2017, in my "Feedback profile," I can see feedback from sellers I bought from going back all the way to 2003. The item names are listed back further than 2017, so it's worth a look, depending on how active you are, you might be able to find them.

 

[winxmac]

Removing an iPhone 13 Pro running iOS 17.7 from iCloud takes up to 30 days while a device on an older iOS/macOS would have taken effect immediately...

If no remote wipe command was sent, then maybe it was still associated to the previous owner's account and it received a lock command... Reaching out to the seller or anyone who can contact the seller will help to have it unlocked for you and be no longer associated with the previous owner...

 

[TechnoMonk]

They’re a total stranger to me, the owner of the Mac Mini. I have never checked the Find My list before today — why would I? — so I’ve no idea whether the device was there in the past or not.

The local Apple Store helped me fit third-party VESA wall mount adaptors to two Thunderbolt Displays when they were not really supposed to, because they know me — so you never know, unless you ask.

I didn’t suggest you shouldn’t try. Explore every option, including if you can find the eBay seller. Apple Store employees are usually helpful, and make sure you take the eBay receipt when you purchased Mac mini. I hope you will find a resolution. Do what ever you can.

 

[TechnoMonk]

@Manek43509 -- I can see purchases in eBay back to 2017, but not before that. So they do purge them. But if you bought it in 2017 or later, you should be able to identify the seller, assuming they are still around. It’s worth a shot, they may have the unlock code, or at least know who does.

EDIT: Actually, even though my purchases are only listed back to October 2017, in my "Feedback profile," I can see feedback from sellers I bought from going back all the way to 2003. The item names are listed back further than 2017, so it's worth a look, depending on how active you are, you might be able to find them.

I just went in and opened my eBay profile. Pretty much the same, I guess eBay keeps purchases active for 7 years and you need to work around for older items.

 

[adrianlondon]

If you still have emails from the ebay purchase, and are on good terms with peeps in your Apple Store, they may accept that as proof of purchase and try to persuade head office (or whatever they decide to call themselves) to unlock your Mac.