Smartphones are a top target for thieves—valuable devices that become even more lucrative when exported to countries like China, where devices without local government restrictions are in high demand. The UK's Metropolitan Police are tackling this by working with Apple to make stolen phones less desirable. According to TechRadar, the Met Police are urging tech firms to make stolen phones harder to reset and reuse, and they're collaborating with Apple to achieve this.
The Problem: Phone Theft and Resale
Stolen smartphones are frequently exported to regions such as China, where they command high prices. Thieves previously could factory reset devices using illicit software, restoring them to a sellable state. Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley emphasized the strategy:
If stolen phones cannot be reactivated, their value collapses, and so does the incentive to steal them.
The Solution: Stolen Device Protection by Default
Apple has addressed this by enabling Stolen Device Protection by default in iOS 26.4. This feature delays changes to sensitive settings (e.g., passwords) when the phone is not in a familiar location like the user's home, buying time for the owner to mark the device as lost or stolen via another device. The Met Police believe this has already had a significant impact—Sir Mark reports that "the vast majority of phones" stolen in recent weeks in London have not been factory reset.
Moreover, Apple is said to have "cracked" the underlying engineering problem that previously permitted illicit factory resets, though it's unclear whether this involved additional behind-the-scenes changes.
Measured Impact: 18% Drop in Thefts
The results are tangible. The Met Police report that 14,000 fewer phones were stolen in London between June 2025 and May 2026 compared to the previous 12 months—a drop of 18%. This decline is not solely due to Apple; the Met have also deployed e-bikes, drones, and live facial recognition to combat theft. Nonetheless, the partnership with Apple is a key factor.
| Period | Phones Stolen | Year-on-Year Change |
|---|---|---|
| June 2024 – May 2025 | (baseline) | – |
| June 2025 – May 2026 | 14,000 fewer | -18% |
Future Anti-Theft Measures
Apple appears to be preparing another security layer: evidence in iOS code hints at an upcoming feature that uses the iPhone's sensors to detect when it has likely been stolen and automatically lock it. This resembles Android's Theft Detection Lock. The Met Police noted that Google and Samsung are also working on anti-theft technology.
Sir Mark Rowley acknowledged that society will never "get down to zero crime," but he concluded: "this is going to make a massive difference."
Sources:
