Apple is famous for taking its users’ privacy and security seriously, especially when compared to some of its rivals. The company has long offered system-level features that prevent thieves and law enforcement officers from easily accessing user data on a locked iDevice. According to a fresh report, iOS 18 appears to be causing confiscated iPhones to reboot under specific conditions, which can complicate police investigations.

How iPhones become more secure after a reboot

Before delving into the report, it’s worth highlighting how data encryption on iOS works. BFU (Before First Unlock) and AFU (After First Unlock) are two states that can dictate how challenging data extraction from an iPhone will be. When a user restarts their iPhone, iOS temporarily turns off biometric authentication and keeps the data completely encrypted, making it exceptionally challenging to extract sensitive files.

Once you enter the correct passcode for the first time after a reboot, iOS transitions from the BFU to the AFU state, which decrypts the on-device data and activates features like Face ID or Touch ID. That’s why it’s advisable for individuals being interrogated to restart their devices and keep them locked.

The mysterious behavior on iOS 18

A 404 Media report claims that “law enforcement officers are warning other officials and forensic experts that iPhones which have been stored securely for forensic examination are somehow rebooting themselves, returning the devices to a state that makes them much harder to unlock.”

The law enforcement document allegedly obtained by the outlet claims that iPhones running iOS 18 are automatically restarting after around a day of inactivity or removal from the cellular network. Restarted iPhones in the BFU state are then reportedly sending wireless signals to nearby iPhones in the AFU state to trigger a similar reboot.

While Apple may have silently implemented this security feature as part of the recent iOS update, it could also be a mere glitch. Many iPhones running iOS 18.0 suffered from an irritating bug that caused them to reboot randomly throughout the day. This issue was then patched in iOS 18.1. So, perhaps the confiscated iPhones were simply experiencing this iOS 18.0 bug, and the cops misinterpreted the situation.