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> This is a good thing. Combined with remote lock, it renders stolen devices useless.

I’ve heard a long, long time ago that the market for stolen devices had switched to stripping them for parts rather than selling them as working replacement devices. From that perspective, activation locks don’t help much. For thieves, even if some parts won’t work, any gain is better than nothing.

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I disagree, it sounds like if you steal a device, the best you can do is part it out because of the activation lock. That raises the barrier to entry (must be able to part out the device or add a middle man), lowers the margin per device , making the endeavor much less attractive overall. I'd be willing to wager this reduces stolen devices in aggregate.

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