quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
Apple has claimed, and I have no reason to doubt them, that there is no way to get into a locked iPhone without the password. No back door, no special program, no Steve Jobs special, no nothing.

They have even told the government that even with a subpoena or a request from the secret-est of the secret squirrel agencies, they can't get anyone into an iPhone.

Unless something has changed, I don't think this is possible. Guessing passwords may be the best bet, but as noted, this will eventually get you locked out.

Apple considers this a feature, not a bug. I understand this is difficult in this circumstance, but for most of us, most of the time, they are right. An unbreakable box is of great value.

jhe I’m not doubting your assumptions but I seem to recall a Saudi military officer involved shooting either in TX or FL who had an iPhone that the fbi wanted to get unlocked and was unsuccessful in doing so until they called the NSA who were able to get access. I know that probably won’t help bald1 (my sincere apologies) but I thought I’d pass this along.

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:
^^^ My insurance agent and one of her office agents actually did this right in front of me. The agent used a photo of her employee on her phone to unlock the employees phone using facial recognition.

Was this with an iPhone?

If you claim you saw it, I guess you saw it, but both Apple and experts in 3D facial recognition claim it won't work.

A photo is 2D (duh). Apple's face recognition technology is 3D. Using both visible light and infrared, it actually maps the depth of the features in the subject face. 2D photos have no depth.

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
jhe I’m not doubting your assumptions but I seem to recall a Saudi military officer involved shooting either in TX or FL who had an iPhone that the fbi wanted to get unlocked and was unsuccessful in doing so until they called the NSA who were able to get access. I know that probably won’t help bald1 (my sincere apologies) but I thought I’d pass this along.

Anything is breakable if you can throw enough resources at it.

One doubts bald1 has such resources at his disposal

I know that law enforcement can potentially access data on locked phones, under certain circumstances. The newer the phone the harder it is, and I know specifically with iPhones it is much harder if it has been powered off.

Might be best to wait a while and then try and talk to any contacts you have a LE agency… they might be able to use it for “training”.

Or maybe you’ll be super lucky and passcode isn’t set up

quote:

Was this with an iPhone?

That I don't know. We were talking about screwing with our friends when they mentioned that they had opened her phone in this fashion while out to dinner one night when she was in the restroom. They were taking a bunch of photos on it while she was gone. They then repeated it there in front of me.

I have multiple Iphones, and tried doing this myself just now. It's not working for me on the phones I have.

When my stepfather and mother passed, among other things associated with the Estate, it fell to me to unlock computers and iPhones. The iPhones were basically 'Bricks' at that point. It literally took me two weeks to take apart their home office to see if I could find their passwords. Those were written randomly on slips of paper or in books or notepads throughout the office without identifying which item they might be associated with. It took me another 1-2 weeks to associate possibilities with the computers and iPhones but I did.

Unless things have changed, Apple or his mobile carrier wont help you. If you have his personal effects with notes or notebooks with notes that could help discover or reverse engineer his password, maybe.

Condolences for your loss.

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:
^^^ My insurance agent and one of her office agents actually did this right in front of me. The agent used a photo of her employee on her phone to unlock the employees phone using facial recognition.

No idea how much this would work in the real world, but I've seen it done so at least know that it's possible. I did try it on two of my phones and can't get it to work.

That is weird. Not doubting your story, but Apple's face ID is supposed to use depth measuring lidar to make a 3D contour map of your face. In theory, a photograph is NOT supposed unlock the phone.

EDIT: I see that I was late to the punchline.

I'm just wondering, if you had his email address and password, if you could log on there, and then use the Password Reset process. This might be a way around the problem.
.

I have no PINs, or passwords of any kind for anything...phone, bank, etc.

Then, in my opinion, what you have is a Brick that resembles an iPhone. Sorry to be so direct but unless you access to a spook, with spook skills, that phone wont unlock and it's a paperweight.

My hope is that someone will call BS on my comment and provide you a way.

quote:

Originally posted by 2PAK:
Then, in my opinion, what you have is a Brick that resembles an iPhone.

I believe it's possible to factory-reset an iPhone to which one does not have access. ICBW.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by 2PAK:
Then, in my opinion, what you have is a Brick that resembles an iPhone.

I believe it's possible to factory-reset an iPhone to which one does not have access. ICBW.

True but all data is lost which is what we'd like to recover (pictures, etc.).

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
True but all data is lost which is what we'd like to recover (pictures, etc.).

If he was syncing to iCloud you can follow the process outlined on the first page and Apple should be able to help you. You just won't be able to get the data directly from the phone. He may have been syncing text (iMessages) as well, so you may get that data as well as any files he may have uploaded.

That process from Apple is the only way to get the data. I know a lot of speculation has occurred on this thread, but the procedure Apple has outlined is the only one that's going to work unless you have an insider at the NSA willing to help you.

quote:

Originally posted by BamaJeepster:


If he was syncing to iCloud you can follow the process outlined on the first page and Apple should be able to help you. You just won't be able to get the data directly from the phone. He may have been syncing text (iMessages) as well, so you may get that data as well as any files he may have uploaded.

That process from Apple is the only way to get the data. I know a lot of speculation has occurred on this thread, but the procedure Apple has outlined is the only one that's going to work unless you have an insider at the NSA willing to help you.

I have absolutely no idea if he was syncing anything. In the past he had me send him phone numbers and birthdates of relatives when he lost them on his phone. Again no clue about the what's and why's either.

His TBI affected his short term memory among other things.

It's not that Apple won't help you unlock an iPhone. It's that they cannot. Apple does not keep the keys necessary to unlock the phone. The easiest way to get into an iPhone is through social means. Most people have written down codes or reuse codes. For example, if you can figure out the PIN to a person's ATM, you will often find that it is also their phone PIN.

I do the same thing as V-Tail. I have everything in my password manager, and the code to the PW manager is in an envelope in the gun safe along with our wills. As for my phone PIN, my wife and I have the same PIN code for our phones. Not only will this make it easier when one of us passes, it also naturally engenders trust among spouses. I'll take the easy win when it costs me nothing.

with the advent of the 6 number pin on iFones it's highly likely its a DOB...

Won't hurt to try it once...

I worked ICAC cases for a few years and a big part of what I did was get into peoples phones. I don’t like being the bearer of bad news, but with the iPhone the only way to get into a powered down phone is with a passcode. Even the methods I used to break into phones with court orders were predicated on brute forcing or social engineering passcodes.

Apple’s official position, even to Law Enforcement with valid legal process, is that pass codes are encrypted even to Apple itself and there is no back door built into the system. Content off the phone (iCloud storage, iMessage, Contacts etc) MAY be available through Apple on a case by case basis depending on how the account holder used the services.