Apple has no policy of reporting stolen computers brought in for support to the police. In fact, they continue to provide warranty care and service.

My home was burglarized in February. Over the last few days, Apple’s systems notified me that someone with my MacBook Pro 15″ Retina made a Genius Bar appointment and provided their phone number for support calls. I’m waiting to see if the Seattle Police department will follow up on this information, in my experience, their track record on property crime leads is quite poor (I have several stories).

However, in speaking with Apple, they do not have a mechanism for device owners to submit police reports that identify stolen devices by their serial #’s. So, instead of reporting to police when stolen devices come in for support, they simply continue to provide warranty support.

I don’t feel sorry for the current holder of my Macbook Pro who is now having problems powering on the device, according to Apple, but it’s likely Apple will give him a brand new MacBook today when he shows up for his Genius Bar appointment.

I would request simply that Apple provide an email address for owners to submit police case reports with stolen serial #’s and that Apple report support requests for these devices to local law enforcement. It’s surprising they have not done this.

Posted by Jeff Reifman

Jeff is a technology consultant based in the Pacific Northwest.

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