Apple added a restart feature to the iPhone to keep strangers out of your data. A leaked police training video now claims one company has found a way around it. If the claim holds up, a privacy protection many iPhone owners rely on may not work the way they assume.
The video was obtained by 404 Media and it comes from Magnet Forensics, the company behind GrayKey, a tool sold to police that unlocks iPhones and Android phones.
In late 2024, Apple quietly added a software feature that restarts an iPhone if nobody unlocks it for 72 hours. After a restart, much of your data stays locked until you type your passcode again. Police often can’t open a seized phone right away, since they may be waiting on a court order or working through a backlog. The 72-hour restart gave them a deadline.
What the leaked video claims
According to the video, Magnet built a new device called GrayKey Preserve, plus a feature for its regular GrayKey units called Evidence Preservation Mode. A Magnet employee in the video says the phone stays in its easier-to-open state even if it restarts or loses power. The employee also says police have wanted this for years.
The tools also reportedly stop some data from expiring. iPhones clear things like saved locations and recently deleted photos and messages after a set number of days. Magnet says its tools can prevent that. Once police get in, the tool also reportedly turns off cellular, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, so the phone can’t receive anything new.
Security researcher Jiska Classen told 404 Media she suspects Magnet found a way to slow or freeze the phone’s clock. She said the video doesn’t show how the tool really works.
What nobody has confirmed yet
Apple and Magnet Forensics didn’t respond to 404 Media’s request for comment. The video appears to date from early 2025. It’s also unclear how long police have had the tools, whether they’ve used them in real cases, or whether they still work on the newest iPhone software.
GrayKey is sold to law enforcement, not to the public. Apple can respond to claims like this with a software update, so keep your iPhone up to date. You can also turn on Stolen Device Protection, which adds extra checks if a thief gets hold of your phone.