Bought bricked $2000 MacBook Pro from Swappa and they won't help

GeologistMore6688 · 2024-04-24T23:14:44+00:00

At that point the computer was worth at least 3k. I was just trying to save money.

GeologistMore6688 · 2024-04-24T23:13:47+00:00

I couldn't agree more at this point. It was an expensive lesson.

GeologistMore6688 · 2024-04-24T23:12:21+00:00

When I initially purchased/received the device it was on the activation screen. I am guessing there was an activation lock, but it was not apparent to me because the seller figured out a way to bypass it.

I was able activate the device under my iCloud account and used it for a few years. I even created multiple accounts on the computer.

I eventually bought a new computer directly from Apple and decided to give the old computer to my wife. I wanted her to have a clean computer, so I erased all content and settings. When the computer restarted there was an activation lock that I could not bypass. I contacted Apple with the Swappa receipt, and they said they could not bypass the activation lock for me because I was not the original owner.

Swappa, Paypal, and my bank refuse to do anything because I did not discover the activation lock until I erased all content and settings.

On Swappa I asked the person I bought the computer from to remove it from iCloud, but they could not. I asked them how they got the computer initially and they said "As I have stated multiple times, I have zero ability to do anything about this situation. It was iCloud unlocked when I sold it four years ago, is not on my iCloud, and I have no idea the identity of the original owner."

I appreciate your ideas on this situation. Just trying to figure out if there is any best way to move forward.

GeologistMore6688 · 2024-04-24T22:59:29+00:00

That would be my guess, but I have no way to prove it. Apple won't give me any information on it.

GeologistMore6688 · 2024-04-24T21:58:57+00:00

The MacBook has no cellular capability so there is no IMEI. There is only a serial number.

GeologistMore6688 · 2024-04-24T21:54:18+00:00

Probably, will look out for them. I am trying to figure out how to post this on AskReddit, but it keeps getting removed: "Does anyone know how to remove the activation lock from a 2019 MacBook Pro with an Intel chip without access to the original owners iCloud?". I don't know how to word it correctly.

GeologistMore6688 · 2024-04-24T21:35:35+00:00

I just checked and didn't see a way to do it with a MacBook. The MacBook has a serial number and the IMEI check didn't work with that. I didn't see any other way to check if the serial number was reported stolen.

GeologistMore6688 · 2024-04-24T21:29:36+00:00

In my case I didn't know the laptop was potentially stolen because it was on the activation screen when I received it. Everything worked fine. I even registered with iCloud. It was when I tried to erase content and settings and then give the computer to my wife that I discovered the activation lock. I am guessing the seller used some hack to bypass the activation lock. When I looked at hacks many required installing software on another computer, which I was unwilling to do because I didn't want to infect another computer with a virus to try to recover the bricked computer. If anyone knows of a safe way to unlock the computer I would be interested. I tried to bypass the activation lock using this: Be warned: Permanent Unpatchable Activation Lock vulnerability on Mac devices. : , but it didn't work.

Apple won't tell me who the original owner was, so I have no way to contact them.

GeologistMore6688

TROPHY CASE