Apple Will No Longer Repair Phones Flagged As Stolen Or Missing

Tech giant Apple has reportedly announced that its technicians, Stores, and Authorised Service providers will not accept a device for repair if they get a notice on their internal MobileGenius or GSX systems that the phone has been marked as missing.

Apple released a memo to the Apple Store on Tuesday authorised technicians to check a device’s IMEI against the GSMA Device Registrar when a customer brings it in for repair, according to MacRumors.

This development is expected to expand Apple’s existing policy to decline repairs for devices whose owners cannot disable the Find My iPhone feature and it would likely discourage more people from buying second-hand devices outside of official and authorized sources in case they unknowingly end up with a stolen unit.

The GSMA registry is a global database where owners can register their devices' IMEI and designate a status for them, such as whether they'd been lost, stolen, or were fraudulently obtained.

According to a recent Bloomberg report, the tech giant is working on a subscription service for the iPhone and other hardware to make regular upgrades more accessible with monthly fees and no huge upfront costs.