The next iPhone software update, iOS 17.3, will include software designed to make life harder for phone thieves.
Apple calls this Stolen Device Protection, and it’s available now through an iOS 17.3 beta release.
What does it do? Stolen Device Protection makes it harder to access and reset an iPhone when the phone is not in a familiar location, such as your home.
Accessing saved passwords will require a Face ID check and a one-hour delay is instated when attempting to change your Apple ID password.
This should prove a helpful extra layer of protection when a phone is snatched, should you want to track it down.
Biometric scans will also be required when trying to change an Apple ID’s trusted phone number or recovery keys, used as a way to reset an Apple account.
Here’s the full list of actions that will require a biometric check:
- Using an iPhone to set up a new device
- Resetting your iPhone using the Erase All Content and Settings button
- Turning off Lost Mode on the Find My Devices platform
- Viewing or making a virtual credit card in Apple Pay
- Using or seeing passwords saved to your Apple keychain
A one-hour delay will apply when changing an Apple ID or its security settings, your Face ID or Touch ID, or your iPhone lock screen passcode.
These new measures won’t stop iPhone thieves entirely but will make such thefts more difficult. According to the Met Police, 90,864 phones were reported stolen in London in 2022, accounting for 70 per cent of thefts.
This renewed focus on Face ID also ties in with a trend we’re seeing in passwords these days, of increased use of biometrics. Passkeys that employ fingerprint scanners or face ID cameras in phones and laptops, instead of passwords, are popping up all over the place. These include login processes at eBay, PayPal, WhatsApp, and Amazon.
When is iOS 17.3 out?
Stolen Device Protection is a feature you’ll need to actively switch on after updating to iOS 17.3. But there seems little reason not to unless you live a nomadic life where your iPhone won’t establish where your “home” is.
iOS 17.3 has been released in its first beta form. It is available to people signed up for Apple’s beta programme. However, it’s not meant for the average iPhone user.
iOS 17.3 is currently in a developer preview state, where upcoming features are tested outside of Apple’s teams.
It then has to make its way to the public beta, before being given a full release.
When will that arrive? The first developer preview build of iOS 17.2 was released on October 26, around six weeks before the final version.
We therefore expect iOS 17.3 to arrive sometime in January, or perhaps February given that Christmas is on the horizon.
