How to enable Stolen Device Protection on iPhone

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Apple released iOS 17.3 this week, which brought an important security feature. Here's how to enable Stolen Device Protection on your iPhone.

How does Stolen Device Protection work?

Normally, when an iPhone is stolen, a thief who knows the device's passcode, may remove the Apple ID or reset the device.

Stolen Device Protection forces biometric authentication, i.e. Face ID or Touch ID, to perform sensitive actions such as accessing the passwords or passkeys saved in iCloud Keychain, disable Lost Mode, factory reset the phone, or use the iPhone to set up a new device. The security feature also prevents access to financial data such as autofill payment methods saved in Safari, applying for a new Apple Card, and certain actions in Wallet, e.g. Apple Cash or Savings transfers.

With Stolen Device Protection, a thief will not be able to make the above changes with a passcode, a successful biometric authentication is required before allowing access to the protected settings. This will prevent thieves from reselling the phone and making money. In which case, they would likely strip it for parts. That's a shame, but at least they are not going to trick someone into buying a stolen phone. That is why this feature is very important.

When Stolen Device Protection is enabled, you will need to wait an hour before making some changes. Apple calls these restrictions as Security Delay, these apply to changing the Apple ID password, signing out of the Apple account, adding or removing a trusted device, Recovery Key or Recovery Contact.
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