The UK government wants Apple to fix its iPhone theft problem so it doesn't have to

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Apple needs to "design out" thefts.

The complete iPhone 15 lineup at Apple's Regent Street store in London, U.K.
(Image credit: Apple)

Officials in the United Kingdom want Apple and other phone makers to find a way to stop people stealing phones on the streets of London, with the assumption being that they can just "design out" the problem.

That's what London Mayor Sadiq Khan and police chief Sir Mark Rowley were reportedly ready to ask of Apple, Samsung, and Google at a meeting held on Tuesday.

The move comes as London grapples with a 28% 12-month increase in mobile phone thefts in the capital city with 157 phones being stolen on average every single day. That equates to a massive 57,174 a year.

'An important milestone'

The Daily Mail reports that Kahn sees the meeting with Apple and other companies as "an important milestone to developing a practical and long-term solution to ending the menace of mobile phone crime, which we know is driving violence and criminality in our communities - not just in London but across the UK."

Khan believes that rather than police tackle the thefts themselves, Apple should work to make it harder and less profitable for criminals to sell their stolen goods. Right now, he says, it's simply too easy for them.

"That must change and is why, alongside strengthening neighborhood policing and record investment in supporting the police to go after the worst offenders, the Commissioner and I are now working closely with the mobile phone industry to develop innovative and technological solutions that make a stolen phone far less desirable and usable by thieves," Khan said,

High-value devices, like Apple's best iPhones, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro, are easy targets for thieves as people walk around London making calls and using them for navigation. Police commissioner Rowley says that arrests have been made, but that "until we design out the ability for phones to be used in the way they currently are, we will be stuck in a vicious circle."

Apple's iOS software already offers strong built-in protections against theft. You can use Apple's Find My app to locate a lost or stolen device. Lost Mode lets you lock the phone and display a message stating the phone is missing, and you can even erase your iPhone remotely. 

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.

7 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Lee_Bo
    Hmmmmmm. Doesn’t sound like a manufacturer issue to me. Sounds like a local police / user issue.

    Maybe, just maybe, if people didn’t walk down the streets glued to their devices, this wouldn’t be an “issue”.

    It also sounds like another situation of not wanting to take responsibility. If mobile device thefts are up that much, maybe the local authorities should work with local users on how to lower the rate rather than local authorities shifting the responsibility to the manufacturer.

    Then again, maybe I’m just old and grumpy and don’t understand this younger generation who walks into walls and doors because they can’t be bothered to look UP from their devices to see where they are walking.
    Reply
  • simonmann
    Lee_Bo said:
    Hmmmmmm. Doesn’t sound like a manufacturer issue to me. Sounds like a local police / user issue.

    Maybe, just maybe, if people didn’t walk down the streets glued to their devices, this wouldn’t be an “issue”.

    It also sounds like another situation of not wanting to take responsibility. If mobile device thefts are up that much, maybe the local authorities should work with local users on how to lower the rate rather than local authorities shifting the responsibility to the manufacturer.

    Then again, maybe I’m just old and grumpy and don’t understand this younger generation who walks into walls and doors because they can’t be bothered to look UP from their devices to see where they are walking.
    Hmm sounds like an ignorant comment from soneone with no idea of the scale of issues the Police are facing, most of which are because of snow flake mEnTal iSsUes. So if the phones are useless to steal, it helps.
    Reply
  • Lee_Bo
    simonmann said:
    Hmm sounds like an ignorant comment from soneone with no idea of the scale of issues the Police are facing, most of which are because of snow flake mEnTal iSsUes. So if the phones are useless to steal, it helps.

    Well thank you very much for getting to know me before passing judgment.

    I think that’s the fastest I’ve ever blocked someone.

    Have a great Samuel L Jackson day.
    Reply
  • FFR
    simonmann said:
    Hmm sounds like an ignorant comment from soneone with no idea of the scale of issues the Police are facing, most of which are because of snow flake mEnTal iSsUes. So if the phones are useless to steal, it helps.

    Technically the police are not dealing with theft which is a police issue not an Apple issue.

    Making an iPhone undesirable or useless is not a desired outcome, we have android for that.
    Reply
  • Annie_M
    The sad reality is that crime is a problem everywhere. But for any government entity to expect a manufacturer to find a way to prevent criminals from stealing is a huge reach. People need to be responsible and to be diligent about being alert and paying attention to their surroundings instead of looking at their devices! Distracted walking is almost as big a problem as distracted driving. Someone with headphones/earbuds in, eyes down, and completely unaware of what's going on around them, makes them a huge target for criminals.
    Reply
  • naddy69
    This is a ridiculous "solution" to the problem.

    "Someone with headphones/earbuds in, eyes down, and completely unaware of what's going on around them, makes them a huge target for criminals."

    Exactly correct. This is not a phone problem. It is clueless people doing stupid things in public.

    "Technically the police are not dealing with theft which is a police issue not an Apple issue. "

    This.

    We actually have cities in the US where the mayor and/or city councils have decided that "defunding the police" is a good idea. Of course these cities are devolving into total dumps now.

    "Making an iPhone undesirable or useless is not a desired outcome, we have android for that. "

    LOL nice.
    Reply
  • Wotchered
    If you all remember, the idea was touted as a sales point when it first came in, that is the idea that an iPhone was useless to whoever stole it because they couldn't get in to the system. Some old dinosaur must have woken up and remembered it ! The
    idea died when they found that high street independents were unlocking them for peanuts !
    Reply