Okay so quick run down, my Macbook Pro was stolen a few months ago. When it got stolen I immediately enabled the lock feature from Find my iPhone, & after a few weeks of waiting with no answers, I got bitter & also clicked the erase feature. Out of the blue, however, someone called my mother & said they found a computer on the side of the road with her name & number on it. So my mother got it off these people, brought it home while I was away, & turned it on. This brought up the lock screen with the "enter pin" & the message I put on it to the thieves.
So now that I have it back, which I thought was never going to happen or I wouldn't have enabled the erase option, I'm wondering if there's any way to unlock it from this screen but prevent it from wiping the hard drive. I thought about bringing it to an Apple Store before touching it again, but I bought it 5 years ago & don't have the proof of purchase anymore. Yeah it's got my mother's name & number on the bottom, it still shows up in my Find my iPhone, & it has my phone number on the message I put on the lock screen, but I'm pretty sure without a receipt, they can't prove it was mine so they won't be of any help, correct?
If I take it somewhere it can't connect to the internet, will I be able to enter the pin & get into the computer without it starting the wipe, because it'll be offline? Or will it start the wipe anyway immediately after being unlocked? I'm in completely unknown territory here so I'm trying to tread carefully before doing anything else with it. I'd just really like to get my files off of it, because all of my papers from college are on there, as well as personal photos & stuff. Is there any way to unlock it without starting the wipe? Trying to look on the internet is basically hopeless because it's such a specific question, & I'm not entirely sure how the erase feature works. Anyone with knowledge or experience would be greatly appreciated at this point.
Best Answer
According to the literature, what should have happened is that the erase command should have removed the PIN and the message you sent. Instead, they shouldn't appear and the system should start wiping the drive immediately. Looks like it didn't get the erase command or wasn't online to receive the command. I'd AVOID turning it on anywhere it could get online. Contact Apple support or take it in. If you have a Time Machine backup, you could try the PIN and restore if necessary.