Losing your iPhone is a feeling we all have come close to at least once in our lifetime and it is indeed heart wrenching feeling. iPhone is the mobile device of the world-leading company and costs a lot but promises you the best features and specs in the market. Find my iPhone on Mac is a feature that helps you keep a track of your iPhone in case you lose it. Apple allows you to enable this feature not only on your iPhone but also on other Apple devices such as the Mac.
Track down your lost and stolen Apple devices with the Find my iPhone on Mac, iPod, and other devices of this company. It also aids to find the location of your friends and family who wish to let you know about their whereabouts and share your location with them in return too. Apple is currently working on a new app that will replace the find my iPhone and find my friends feature, this app is known as ‘Green Torch’ is in the testing stages right now.
The find my iPhone does not only help you in tracking your phone but also secures your Apple ID by enabling the Activation Lock. For your find my iPhone on mac to work, you need to have an iCloud account and have an Apple user ID. All the devices that you want to track, must be linked to the same Apple ID. This feature was launched in 2010 and could be used on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and iPod Touch. As long as your misplaced iPhone or Mac will have a battery, you will be able to track it down so, in case of such an incident happening, you better try to locate your phone as long as it has changed.
This software was made free of charge for the iPhones purchased in the year 2010 and after. There are a number of things you need to do to make sure you will be able to find your device if it gets stolen or lost. The first one includes leaving your Wi-Fi all the time so access to iCloud is guaranteed if you are not using mobile data. Try to keep your iPhone or mac fully charged at all times as you can only find your devices as long as they have a battery in them.
You have to ensure that you are always signed in to the app iCloud and let it function. Lastly, install the updates that are recommended for your mobile devices or computers. People who use family sharing, the members of your family group who also have to find my iPhone on mac enabled will have access to your find my device feature. This app can be downloaded from the app store for free.
You can also contact Apple customer support and report your missing device, the stores will notify all the nearby repair stores in the locality to look out for any such device coming in for repair or to be unlocked. If you are unable to get back your device you can leave a customized message on your device for anyone who finds it and give your contact in the message to let the person know they should get in touch with you and give the device back.
Features of Find My iPhone On Mac
- A play sound is played at maximum volume for about two minutes. The screen also flashes and makes the sound even if you have your phone on silent mode to help you find your phone that you misplaced.
- Erasing all your data features is also found in this app so you can erase all your sensitive information however once you have opted for this option, you will not be able to find your dislocated or stolen device. This doesn’t allow the person who has your phone to sell the device.
- The iOS 6 or the later versions of the iPhone have a lock mode. This feature lets you lock your device with a password.
- An update added the feature where you can check the level of the battery.
- If your Mac is offline or shut down, you will still be able to make use of finding my Mac by requesting a notification whenever it is located. This way effective actions will be taken when your device will be turned on.
- Once you have located your stolen or misplaced iPhone or Mac, you can unlock it by signing into the website iCloud.com.
- If you didn’t activate find my iPhone or Mac on your device, you won’t be able to retrieve it but you can appropriate steps to protect your data
- Change your passcode of Apple ID.
- Change all the passwords of all the apps you have been using from your devices such as email, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, or Instagram.
- Make a report to the law enforcement in your local area by providing the serial number of your device which you were issued when you purchased the device.
- Apple Mac does not have a GPS sim unlike the iPhones therefore it is not guaranteed that you will always be able to find your mac through this app which is why it is very important that you have taken appropriate measures to protect your device. Taking the right steps as precautions will make your device useless for the person who has it since you will be notified if they connect to Wi-Fi moreover they won’t be able to sell an encrypted device.
- This app works for all the following devices.
- Apple Watch.
- Mac.
- iPad.
- iPod Touch.
- Apple iPhones.
- Air Pods.
How To Find My iPhone On Mac – Step by Step Guide
1. Enabling Find My iPhone in Your Device
To enable the find my iPhone on Mac feature, you will have to first set up the find my iPhone by turning on your location by going through the following steps.
- Go to system preferences on your Mac.
- Go to security and privacy.
- A lock will appear on the bottom left, click it to make changes.
- When prompted, enter your password or touch ID.
- Click on the enable my location.
After enabling you now need to enable the find my iPhone on Mac option by:
- Launching system preferences on your device.
- In the upper right corner, click on Apple ID.
- Enable the find my Mac option by clicking on it.
- Confirm the settings and save them.
2. Locating Your Mac
To track down your Mac that you lost or got stolen,
follow these simple steps:
- Head over to iCloud.com.
- Sign in using the same Apple ID and password that you used on your Mac.
- Go on find my iPhone.
- At the top of the page, click ‘All devices’.
- Select your Mac in the list of devices.
- You will now be able to see your Mac on the map with a green dot highlighting its location. In case of your Mac being nearby, click the play sound option and it will help you in finding your Mac.
3. Locking and Erasing Your Mac
If you are pretty sure someone has stolen your Mac and you cannot get it back, you have the option to erase your personal data from it by following all the above steps and then selecting the option ‘erase mac’ shown in the pop-up. Confirm that you want to erase all your content from your Mac.
However, if you have just lost it in your house or nearby but do not want anyone to get access to your Mac and information click the lock option in the pop-up, and your information is now saved. You can lock your iPhone or Mac or any other Apple device with a 4 digit passcode.
- The biggest pro of this app is that it is free
- It locates your stolen/lost Mac or other Apple devices
- Displays a message on your screen to prompt calls
- It gives you an option to erase all your data
- An option to lock your device is also available to protect your personal information
- It can play a sound to find your device for about 2 minutes
- This Is only compatible with the devices of IOS and Mac that runs on OS X 10.7.5 or the models after that
- After you erase your data of your iPhone or Mac, the data is unrecoverable and can never be found again
- This feature will run if you have set up your iCloud
- It works only if you already have the passcode
- This feature gives mobile companies a lot of private information about their customers and reduces the privacy of people.
Benefits of Find My iPhone on Mac in History
There have been a lot of incidents in history where Apple finds my iPhone feature has proven to be very beneficial on the large scale. Following events are some examples of it.
- A robbery suspect who was armed was tracked down by using the find my iPhone feature that was enabled on the victim’s phone in November of 2011.
- 14th September 2012, two women were robbed at gunpoint by two suspects in Atlanta, Georgia. The police were able to locate the suspects using this feature of the iPhone.
- In 2015, a women’s iMac was stolen when some people broke into her home, a month after the incident took place, the police were led to the suspects and caught them due to finding my mac app.
- A thief attending the Coachella valley music festival was arrested by the police who previously had stolen more a 100 iPhones.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
In order to locate your device, you need to find my iPhone on Mac along with the iCloud account to be enabled and running.
Unfortunately, you will not be able to recover your devices if you had your location settings off. GPS settings are important to use to find my iPhone on Mac.
No, you do not need to have a sim card on your device for it to be located.
The chances of someone else cracking your password are slim, if a person entered the wrong passcode in your device too many times, he/she will be automatically be locked out of the device. In such a situation you will need to sync the iPhone/Mac to the last device it was connected to.
If you lose your device and there is no hope of finding it back then you should erase all your data to protect your privacy. Data can be erased from the pop-up options on the map to find my iPhone on Mac.
Conclusion
The find my iPhone/Mac feature by Apple is very helpful and a necessity in today’s era where crimes like stealing phones or other gadgets are not uncommon. This app lets you restore your stolen devices as well as enables you to lock your devices and erase your personal information. The find my iPhone feature also lets you find people. Some people might have restrictions and privacy concerns, for such issues, you can always go to settings and turn of these settings however it is not suggested as this will make it impossible for you to retrieve your iPhone or Mac if you lose it or it gets stolen.
Putting up the upgrades and updates is not advisable therefore you should allow the appropriate updates to make sure your find my iPhone works properly. You should always keep your Apple product associated with your iCloud account and always save your receipts when purchasing the product. Encrypt data cannot be used therefore always secure your information by encryption. Other than the find my iPhone on Mac feature, you should install a recovery tool for your device just to be on the safe side.