Apple has switched on a kill switch by default for iPhones worldwide, locking stolen handsets so they cannot be resold, after a data-sharing deal with London's Metropolitan Police cut reactivations of snatched devices by around 60%.
The change, rolled out through Apple's latest iOS security update, means a phone reported as lost cannot be reactivated without its owner's password. Police chiefs say it strips the resale value out of a crime that touches millions of people in cities worldwide. The question now is whether thieves simply switch targets.
