$500k of iphones that will be hard to sell , and nowhere near $500k. Very clever though. This has been done with jewelry stores, banks, and memorabilia stores. This is why safes and vaults are so important. Of course, safes can be stolen and mounted on a flatbed, so not perfect...
Don't they do some part of identification for more expensive parts like battery and display so that you can't even switch them between two phones? But maybe I remember that wrong.
It seems like we (good people) would want Apple to prevent these stolen, parted-out components from being used as replacement parts. Apple could prevent that, in theory through software that looks at secure serial numbers from components ... but how will this comport with "right to repair"?
That being said, I doubt Apple is going to track it down to such a degree but the screens and the batteries and everything are serialized. They could follow the parts into individual phones if they really wanted to.
If they did it would prevent things like coffee shop tunnels.
All you need is for someone to go to an Apple Store guns blazing to steal phones and they would know full well they could have prevented that. Also people get mugged all the time for their phone. They could prevent that!
> Apple’s own anti-theft measures appear to be working, as The New York Times reports that police in New York, San Francisco and London are finally seeing a decline in theft of the iPhone. The introduction of Activation Lock on iOS 7 has seen iPhone robberies drop 38 percent in San Francisco, 24 percent in London and 19 percent in New York, based on the six months before and after Apple released the feature…
My friend had his phone stolen in San Francisco (with iCloud lock enabled) and Find my Phone located it in Vietnam a few days later before it finally went dead. All the parts in it are very valuable for chop shops.
Given that an Apple device is entirely useless unless Apple wants you to be able to use it: yes, any user is at their mercy. To do that for this batch, they'd have to know exactly which devices were in that storage area at that time (probably a reasonable assumption as they're expensive each). I might also imagine a world where they realize the sunk cost and they go "well, we lost those things now anyway, might as well make the most of the situation and get more people hooked up with our ecosystem". What they'll end up doing, who knows, but the devices are still valuable for their parts if nothing else. 500k is probably like 500 devices? If someone can sell a screen repair for €150 and keep €100 for how labor-intensive that is, they'd still be happy to give you €50 per device stolen, 50×500=25k€, and that's if you manage to sell only the screen. (I don't know what such a screen goes for if it's brand new; just a sample value to show how even 'for parts' can add up.)
...the coffee shop is not noticeably adjacent to the Apple Store because of the way that the store is laid out. "I would have never suspected we were adjacent to the Apple Store , how it wraps around I mean,"
Google maps show both stores literally next to each other:
I think they are talking about the internal layout of the stores. Like, which specific part of the bathroom of Seattle Coffee Gear opens up into the correct spot at the back of the Apple Store.
> According to Seattle Coffee Gear manager Eric Marks, the coffee shop is not noticeably adjacent to the Apple Store because of the way that the store is laid out. "I would have never suspected we were adjacent to the Apple Store , how it wraps around I mean," Marks told King 5 News. "So, someone really had to think it out and have access to the mall layout."
Is that manager pretending to be dumb? The mall itself provides a map.
From the map it's clear but I can imagine how someone standing in the public areas of either store would not expect that the Apple store extends behind the coffee shop ("how it wraps around")
From inside the building, it probably just looks like both stores go straight back.
What I find funny is that stuff in Seattle Coffee Gear was (presumably) untouched en route to the Apple Store, but the thieves could have made off with coffee machines and other equipment worth several thousand dollars a pop and zero remote locking mechanisms.
Coffee machines usually don't phone home and the good La Marzocco machines are worth as much as a new car. It's quite a liquid market. Furthermore parting them out is highly profitable as the replacement parts from the dealer operates almost like a mob, with some brands requiring replacement parts to be ordered or replaced through certified repairmen.
Sure, but they would probably be easier to sell. You need a pretty good story to sell an iPhone new in box, but you could always claim to be a liquidator for a chapter 11 coffee shop and resell the machines.
If they have the capability to tunnel underground and remove hundreds of pounds of dirt then surely they have the capability to transport an 80lb machine
Those two stores are right in the middle of a long, open pathway. It’s a decent distance to the parking lot. Dragging huge espresso machines would certainly get someone’s attention. There’s truck patrols and foot patrol regularly walk along that pathway.
There's been a few writers where stolen phones have been tracked back to China where they are stripped into parts, with those parts then being sold on the grey market.
Most of the parts are not locked to the device, with a few exceptions.
Once upon a time I looked at my iPod and wondered how much space it would take if I spent an entire year's pay on iPods.
I worked it out and it was kind of depressing to realize that a year of my work would only buy about 1/3 ft^3 of iPods which would weigh under 50 pounds (9000 cm^3 and 23 kg).
How long before more stores/restaurants/public places start heavily fortifying their locations with more robust security due to these organize theft rings, mass shootings, etc? I'm surprised it hasn't happened already. Mass shootings have been happening for 20+ years and now organized theft is pretty rampant. I'm surprised more businesses aren't run like nightclubs with security that only allows people in/out.
It's already happening. For the past ~3 years, an Apple store in Portland has been either boarded up or protected by a metal security fence to protect from vandalism and looting. They took it down last month, but evidently expect crime to continue: the expensive glass windows were replaced with cheap, ugly plastic panels that are easy to replace when they are inevitably broken into. https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/2023/03/apple-fina...
Sensationalist title. Cutting a hole through the wall is not the same thing as "tunneling". One is a light morning jog whereas the other is an ultramarathon
Wow Alderwood. I do find it interesting that HackerNews does post stories that are west coast / Seattle centric.
Tunnel through does seem to be a misnomer as it was just drywall and the thieves used razor knives.
I also do wonder how resell works, they aren't carrier locked because they're from Apple - but I would suspect reselling/possessing one in the USA would be questionable and easy to track. Internationally, I'm not sure.
Is this one of those times Apple stays mum about what it can do? It was my understanding that the phones can transmit even without a sim card and even while powered "off".
So it would be my guess that Apple knows exactly where these phones are by now.
These will be sold for parts, not whole units. Their location was likely heading out of country soon after they were stolen. They will be broken down, parted, and dispensed with before any authorities can act.
I really like the double-plaster wall that is revealed by the hole in the bathroom picture. If Apple Store storage room is built using only plaster screwed on metal framework, then what else could you expect?
Edit: It also seemed they lack any security in the storage room. Even some simple infrared detectors would have helped there. Total oversight from the security perspective.
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[ 3.6 ms ] story [ 191 ms ] threadI wonder what the economics of a phone chop shop ring looks like.
That being said, I doubt Apple is going to track it down to such a degree but the screens and the batteries and everything are serialized. They could follow the parts into individual phones if they really wanted to.
> Apple’s own anti-theft measures appear to be working, as The New York Times reports that police in New York, San Francisco and London are finally seeing a decline in theft of the iPhone. The introduction of Activation Lock on iOS 7 has seen iPhone robberies drop 38 percent in San Francisco, 24 percent in London and 19 percent in New York, based on the six months before and after Apple released the feature…
And that's nine years ago.
I thought iPhones have some kind detection if parts are changed and it simply stops working.
...the coffee shop is not noticeably adjacent to the Apple Store because of the way that the store is laid out. "I would have never suspected we were adjacent to the Apple Store , how it wraps around I mean,"
Google maps show both stores literally next to each other:
https://goo.gl/maps/XcZEdorkPXR57vBCA
Is that manager pretending to be dumb? The mall itself provides a map.
https://www.alderwoodmall.com/en/directory/map/
From inside the building, it probably just looks like both stores go straight back.
Most of the parts are not locked to the device, with a few exceptions.
Once upon a time I looked at my iPod and wondered how much space it would take if I spent an entire year's pay on iPods.
I worked it out and it was kind of depressing to realize that a year of my work would only buy about 1/3 ft^3 of iPods which would weigh under 50 pounds (9000 cm^3 and 23 kg).
Sensationalist title. Cutting a hole through the wall is not the same thing as "tunneling". One is a light morning jog whereas the other is an ultramarathon
Rant over
Tunnel through does seem to be a misnomer as it was just drywall and the thieves used razor knives.
I also do wonder how resell works, they aren't carrier locked because they're from Apple - but I would suspect reselling/possessing one in the USA would be questionable and easy to track. Internationally, I'm not sure.
So it would be my guess that Apple knows exactly where these phones are by now.
Edit: It also seemed they lack any security in the storage room. Even some simple infrared detectors would have helped there. Total oversight from the security perspective.