iOS 18 has a new security feature that reboots iPhones that haven't been unlocked for days, frustrating police because it makes it harder for suspects to hack into the phones.404 Media, which first reported the police warning about the reboot on Thursday, wrote that the rebooted iPhones would be in a more secure "pre-first unlock" or BFU state. According to CHRIS Wade, who established a company at Corellium Mobile Analysis, Apple seems to have added a "re -charging" code to iOS 18.1. 。

The code is displayed below on the screenshot published by the doctor. "The BFU state is a very complex process," said Giska Klassen, head of the research group at the Hasso Plattner Institute. According to a blog post from the Dakota State University Digital Forensics Lab, iOS and Android devices enter this BFU state upon reboot, requiring a password (or PIN) to unlock the phone and limiting the amount of data forensic experts can extract.

The company has consistently made its iPhones harder to hack over the years, raising doubts about law enforcement efforts and raising fears of government regulations requiring encryption backdoors. Apple has repeatedly resisted requests from authorities to create a backdoor, but that hasn't stopped law enforcement agencies from finding their own workarounds.