Apple works with the Met to end iPhone theft
Apple significantly strengthened its anti-theft capabilities in iOS 27, unveiled at WWDC 2026 – not only will your iPhone automatically lock the device upon detecting it has been snatched from you, but the company has also entered active partnerships with UK police forces to reduce phone theft.
Apple will share device identifiers
In a press release, the UK Metropolitan Police (the London force) announced that new partnership in which Apple made a global change to its security system that better ensures stolen phones cannot be reused or resold. The new agreement between the Met and Apple will see stolen device identifiers being shared, creating a joint intelligence picture to track phones and identify whether they reappear in circulation. This reinforces Apple’s existing protections and means the black market value of stolen devices will be significantly reduced.
Kate Adams, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs at Apple, said:
“Keeping our users, their devices, and their data safe is at the heart of what we do. That includes building industry-leading security features that significantly reduce the motivation for criminals to target people in the first place.”
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“We’re grateful for our partnership with the Metropolitan Police and welcome the impact of Operation Reckoning in helping drive down phone theft across London. We’ll continue to innovate, invest, and work closely with law enforcement in the UK and around the world to disrupt the market for stolen phones.”
The fight against phone crime
The UK government is also being pressed to pass new laws to require all phone companies to publish data on stolen devices and reconnections. It has also been asked to introduce minimum technical standards so that any phone stolen in the UK is effectively unusable.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “Decisive and coordinated action from the mobile phone industry is long overdue to prevent stolen phones being used, sold and repurposed both here and across the globe. I’ve seen for myself how Google and Samsung have introduced some advanced security features and I welcome Apple and the Met reaching an agreement to protect mobile phone users, and make stolen phones unusable.”
Apple at WWDC introduced the following, which work to reinforce its Stolen Device Protection systems.
- Automatic Lock: The iPhone’s internal sensors (gyroscope and accelerometer) detect sudden “snatch” motions or unexpected high-speed movements.
- Apple Watch Proximity: If the iPhone breaks connection with a paired Apple Watch and shifts rapidly away, the device automatically initiates a lock and triggers your Stolen Device Protection rules.
You can learn more including statistics concerning these forms of theft in London here.
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