---
title: "Forensics Maker Says New GrayKey Tool Defeats Apple’s iPhone Reboot Defense"
description: "Apple added the inactivity reboot to iOS in 2024 to thwart exactly the kind of police forensic tool Magnet Forensics sells"
author: "rews desk"
published: 2026-10-01T13:00:22Z
modified: 2026-10-02T03:16:24Z
url: https://rews.cc/a/forensics-maker-says-new-graykey-tool-defeats-apple-s-iphone-e159cc
language: en
tags: ["iphone", "forensics", "graykey", "surveillance", "security", "tech"]
publisher: "Rews (https://rews.cc)"
---

# Forensics Maker Says New GrayKey Tool Defeats Apple’s iPhone Reboot Defense

*Apple added the inactivity reboot to iOS in 2024 to thwart exactly the kind of police forensic tool Magnet Forensics sells*

By rews desk · October 1, 2026 · https://rews.cc/a/forensics-maker-says-new-graykey-tool-defeats-apple-s-iphone-e159cc

## In brief

- A leaked video claims Magnet Forensics’ GrayKey Preserve can bypass Apple’s 72-hour iPhone inactivity reboot
- Apple’s feature, revealed by 404 Media in November 2024, reboots iPhones locked for 72 hours
- Police had complained the reboot complicated unlocking seized phones due to court delays and device backlogs

A company that sells phone-unlocking tools to the police says it has found a way around an Apple feature meant to make locked iPhones harder to crack, according to a video obtained by 404 Media and published on Thursday.

The company, Magnet Forensics, is behind GrayKey, a device sold to law enforcement agencies to unlock and extract data from iPhones and Android phones. In the video, Magnet describes a new device called GrayKey Preserve and a feature called Evidence Preservation Mode for its existing GrayKey units. Together, the company says, they freeze a seized iPhone in a state that lets officers more easily reach the data inside it.

The target is a defense that Apple quietly introduced in 2024: an iPhone that has gone 72 hours without being unlocked reboots itself. 404 Media revealed the feature, known as inactivity reboot, in November of that year. A freshly rebooted phone returns to a condition that is far harder for forensic software to work against.

Law enforcement agents complained at the time that they often cannot try to open a seized phone right away. Some are waiting on court authorization. Elsewhere, the backlog of devices awaiting examination is simply too long.

The new tool is the latest turn in a running fight between Apple and the forensics industry, whose products are used by the police in many countries, sometimes in authoritarian ones.