Ready to buy a used MacBook, said it was reset to welcome screen

I bought a mac on ebay in March 2022. It has had 0 issues until today when I started it up and the Activation Lock was engaged and requires the apple id login of what can only be the previous user. The listing for the mac is no longer available on my Ebay recent purchases, and so I cannot view any seller info. I only have proof of purchase. Why is this happening now and not initially when I bought it? Should I bring it to the apple store? I posted on Ebay forum about this too. Any explanations or tips would be helpful.

Hi everyone! I would like to get into the MBP community and I want to start off buying a used MBP. After researching, it seems like some people are able to use a used MBP until an OS update where they find there is an Activation Lock on it. Is there any way to check before purchasing one? Thank you!

From what I can tell, if the previous owner has the device added to Find My you get an activation lock. I bought this used (although it seems I might be the first owner).

Question 1 - Is this screen supposed to ask for a password? Cause it let's me just connect to the internet and hit next and it says activated without entering any password or anything.

Question 2 - I don't think I saw this screen when I did a clean install of this macbook when I bought it. I am now selling it, and I have removed it from 'find my'. When I boot up to reinstall macos, it brings up the Activate Mac screen, lets me connect to wifi and then proceeds to a fresh setup screen for Monterey. So is there something I'm not doing right?

Thanks!

Hi! I am stuck. Literally. My daughter has locked up her MacBook Air due to not keeping up with passwords or recovery phone numbers etc. she has NO access to anything. I have no idea what to do from this point. If anyone has any clue what to do to just factory reset it at this point. Please and thank you!

I have a few T2 / M1 MacBook Pro laptops that are activation locked and I'm trying to find a way to get the specifications of the device. The issue is that it only boots to the activation lock screen and I don't see a way to access terminal. I can erase the device using 'erase mac' but then it reboots to the same screen. I would like to get the SSD/Memory/CPU info.

I even tried putting the device in DFU mode and connecting it to the Apple Configurator tool but it seems that when it's activation locked that doesn't allow any access to the device.

Does anyone know if it's possible to get the system specifications off a device that is activation-locked like this? Most of these are from businesses that are upgrading their equipment. We'll get 500 units but inevitably a few units out of the lot are locked by prior employees and the company doesn't have the info to remove it.

Thanks

I bought a MacBook Pro a couple months ago with a broken screen completely unaware of what activation lock is and I just fixed the screen just to find out about it. I was wondering if there’s any way of me like glitching or exploiting the system to show me the email so I can get in contact with the original owner and we can sort everything out since I bought this at a market months ago and it was a once a year market

Hi, my name is Michael today. I was at a governmental auction and I bought a MacBook pro 2018, this device was lost by someone and because the person didn’t reclaim his device it was sold at this governmental auction. I have a receipt from the governmental auction and data erasure report issued by Blanco.

What would you recommend is the best way to remove the Apple activation lock from this device.

Because all the data was wiped off it. I need to install a new operation system. I installed Ventura 13 when I removed the activation lock. I want to put this MacBook on Linux because I need it for my computer science studies, my main notebook was like 2 kg because I also use it for gaming and electricity consumption is too high to take it for educational purposes

I am thankful for all helpful advice that I can get

I bought a second hand iMac Pro six months ago. Machine seemed wiped and ready, logged in with my Apple ID and off I go.

Yesterday after updating Ventura it got stuck on Activation Lock screen, asking for what I can only assume is previous owners Apple ID.

I’m trying to get in touch with him via app we initially used to close the deal, no luck so far. If he doesn’t respond or can’t help - is full wiping the only option I have?

It’s my main work machine, though most of my stuff is on clouds, it would still be very painfull to fully wipe (if that would even solve the problem). Is it worth contacting Apple about this? Can they help?

I am picking up a used mac mini tomorrow. I want to ensure it's running and not attached to someones apple account before i purchase it. I don't own a mac currently, so I don't really know what it is supposed to look like when it turns on. What should I look for to know that the mac has been properly removed from the owners accounts and that it is safe to purchase?

Hi All,

I bought a MacBook pro 2019 in 2021 off of eBay. I signed in when I got it and activated 'Find My'.

I have now come to sell it as I have upgraded to the M2 Pro version. 

I signed out of my iCloud and Find My a week ago in preparation to erase and rest the mac for sale ready for listing on eBay. Today, a week later. After I went to settings, general, reset, erase all content and settings and followed the instructions I was shocked to see that the Mac was activation locked to an apple account I had not seen before '[email protected]'.

I tried typing in the password that I had just used to login before the reset via 'Used Device Password' and got 'The operation couldn't be completed. Activation Lock could not be removed because the activation server cannot be reached. Try again in a few minutes. If this problem persists, contact Apple Support at apple.com/uk/support.' So I waited for a few minutes then typed in the password again. Then I got this message, 'The operation couldn't be completed. The password for this Mac can no longer be used to remove Activation Lock. The password was entered incorrectly too many times.' At no point was I warned that this could happen.

Then I got this code after a restart, 'support.apple.com/mac/startup -2003F' 

I then contacted apple to find a solution. They said that the original owner of the laptop's iCloud was locked to the device. But I don't know how this would be possible as I had just been logged in with my apple ID and my Find My one a week ago. And I had no problem setting up my apple id and find my in 2021.

On the call with the apple rep they said I should go to the top of the screen then 'erase mac' which I did, then select Command R and re-install mac os. They then ended the call when it went to 'internet recovery mode' 10 minutes, as they didn't want to wait around. After which there was no option to re-install mac os. I am now stuck in a loop. Every time I login it asks me to connect to Wi-Fi with a spinning globe with no other options. After connecting to wifi, it brings me to the 'activation lock' screen. With that unknown apple ID.

My mac, in this state is currently worthless. I don't know what to do. Please can anybody help?

Thank you in advance for any replies.

Hello. I recently started enrolling company devices to MDM, using the enrollment app. I am fairly new to this. My question is, what do I do with already existing company MacBooks. Every time an employee leaves, the macbook is given to me and is already activation locked. Is there a way to avoid this?

You've heard this story before. I purchased a used MacBook from a pawnshop. The sale was final, and it's stuck with an activation lock to an iCloud account that's not mine. I started the process with Apple to remove the lock, and they denied my request. I believe this is because the receipt I provided was from the pawnshop and not the original one that came with the computer. Before several people comment yOu sToLe iT, I didn't. It was a legitimate purchase. I have accepted that this computer will not get unlocked. But what do I do with it?

You can't clear the Apple ID off the MacBook with some sort of system restore. The parts are serialized, so selling this for just parts seems inefficient. And I don't think there's a refurbisher that accepts locked devices like this. Is there genuinely no way these things can be repurposed?

Hey everyone, I’m running into a weird issue on my M4 MacBook Pro. In System Information > Hardware Overview, it says: Activation Lock Status: Disabled

But here’s the catch:

• Find My Mac is enabled

• Location Services are on

• I’m signed into iCloud with my Apple ID

• The Mac shows up in Find My on iCloud.com

• FileVault is on

• I even reinstalled macOS from Recovery and also tried signing out/in of iCloud, but nothing changes.

Everything seems to suggest Activation Lock is actually working — but System Information insists it’s “Disabled.” Has anyone else seen this? Is this a known macOS bug or some issue with My Apple ID?

Would love to know if anyone’s dealt with this or found a solution.

I do a bit of refurbishing in my freetime for more cash on the side and I had 2 laptops returned without the icloud locks removed so now im trying to get them removed.

I have tried the erase mac button at the top left didn't work so i tried the DFU mode with both on clear password, erase mac, and the one where it reinstalls mac on the 2019 it would just say chip doesn't support this feature except for the reinstall where it goes halfway and than boots to the activate mac screen. the m1 says its not booted for the clear mac and erase mac and for reinstall also brings me to the activate mac screen.

I have heard about programs like Checkm8.info and Iremove.tools but i worry about them stealing my card info and they say they only work on intel based macs to the 2019 only. are these tools legit and is there some work around for the m1 pro?

Any help is appreciated. almost forgot to say I am unable to get in contact with the people that returned it that was my first attempt.

So I would like to preface this by stating clearly: I reported it to Apple, and they determined it is not a security concern. Obviously this is a major security concern for all Intel Mac devices, as it requires no exploitation and cannot be patched, due to the fact that it is possible to reinstall earlier, unpatched Mac versions.

Explanation:

This vulnerability exists because of two reasons; the firmware, which is stored on the actual device hard disk, and the fact that iCloud does not conduct token validation between iCloud and the device itself.

The lack of token validation means that after doing the bypass on the Mac device, it is automatically unlocked on the iCloud account used to lock it, without any user or account validation.

In the best case scenario, this means that the anti-theft measure is completely irrelevant. In the worst case scenario, if someone steals your Mac and knows your password, they have access to everything on your system, even if you flag the device as lost.

I have no idea why Apple does not consider this a security concern, but it is a concern, and one that they apparently have no intention of resolving, or at least acknowledging as an issue in that report. You, as a Mac user, deserve to know the risk.

Be careful with your Mac devices, folks.

Edit:

Actual process:

1. Lock your Mac in Find My, using a different device.

2. Allow the device to reboot to PIN code screen. Power it down.

3. Hold Command-Option-R, wait until the password prompt. Power down.

4. Boot up. You’re at the user login screen and the device is now unlocked on your iCloud account.

It’s unpatchable because it’s possible to revert to a vulnerable version of MacOS using Apple Configurator 2.

Edit 2: I had initially discovered it on my 2019 Intel MBP. u/BourbonicFisky tested and was able to validate this on a 2017 Intel. Multiple users were unable to validate on M1/M2. There may still be a vulnerability there, using a different recovery mode key sequence, but I am unable to validate it due to lack of access to Apple Silicon.

Edit 3:

Because of all the hate I’m getting, here’s Apple’s response to this vulnerability.

I gave them every opportunity to treat this as a serious security concern. I had initially reported it on Nov. 20th. They finally responded with this statement today.

So I'll start off prior by stating I'm sorry if I ask questions that may be basic as I'm unfamiliar with this process and attempting to have a better grasps as it's under my umbrella of responsibilities to do (wasn't informed prior but I don't mind learning new things).

Long story short: I have a Macbook Pro which I'm attempting to reset as when I had found it, it's going through "Internet Recovery" (if I'm honest, it's a pain as the connection to the server seems to always fails after 10-15 minutes). However the times I'm able to break through, the screen appears asking for Activation Lock.

It tends to request me to log into the account last logged in which I do. However, after placing the password, it states that there is an issue with the server and try again later. I can retry 1000 times but the same error message shows. Now I've attempted to unlock the device via the MDM key however, the issue is that the MDM here is through Intune. When I attempt to search the device on Intune, the device is not possible to find. When I log into the account via Apple login on a separate device to see if the device is under the account, the system states there are no devices.

My issue is I'm unsure what to do with this machine. I can see it in ABM connected via Intune but there's no record in Intune. As this appears to be a fairly new device (rented), I'm unsure what to do. Does anyone have any suggestions or questions which could help narrow down the issue? I'm all ears at this point :'(

Update: Contacted Apple to see if they could assist and now have a scheduled appointment. Hopefully they're able to assist in this case.