The Metropolitan Police has called on technology companies to make it harder for stolen phones to be reused, aiming to cut the financial incentive for theft.
The force announced on Thursday that it has begun sharing data with Apple to create a "global picture" of stolen device trafficking, including whether handsets are being reconnected to networks.
"If stolen phones cannot be reactivated, their value collapses, and so does the incentive to steal them," said Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley.
Sir Mark has asked the Home Secretary to introduce legislation requiring phone companies to publish data on stolen devices and enforce measures that make handsets effectively unusable.
By collaborating with Apple to enhance security, Sir Mark noted that only a small fraction of stolen phones are now being reactivated compared to a few months ago, making it "harder for criminals to profit."
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today program, he explained that illicit software currently allows phone snatchers to "factory reset" devices, enabling them to be sold as new on foreign markets.
However, Apple now believes it has "cracked" the engineering challenge, and data indicates that the "vast majority of phones" stolen recently in London were not factory reset.
Apple recently enabled a security feature called Stolen Device Protection by default in an iOS update (iOS 26.4). When an iPhone is not in a familiar location like home or work, the feature delays thieves' ability to change critical security information such as passwords or biometric data, preventing them from accessing or wiping the device.
These delays give the owner time to log into their account on another device and mark the iPhone as lost.
Sir Mark added that the Met has entered an intelligence-sharing agreement with Apple to better understand criminality in London and improve security upgrades.
"I'd never say we're going to get down to zero crime, but this is going to make a massive difference," Rowley said. "If they can only be broken up for parts, if you start to make it harder for criminals, they will steal fewer of them."
A Home Office spokesperson said the government is also taking "tough action" on phone theft, including "equipping police with new powers to search properties without a warrant where stolen goods have been electronically located."
This follows an ultimatum the Met Police chief gave firms in March to take steps to reduce the resale value of stolen phones.
London has some of the highest rates per 1,000 people for personal robbery and theft in England and Wales.
The international trade in stolen phones is worth millions of dollars, with a device stolen in London fetching a higher price in countries like China due to fewer government restrictions.
The Met reported that thefts involving phones fell by 14,000 between June 2025 and May 2026, an 18% decline from the previous year. In Westminster, where 69% to 72% of thefts and personal robberies involve phones, incidents have dropped 45.8% so far this year.
Kate Adams, Apple's senior vice president of government affairs, said: "Keeping our users, their devices, and their data safe is at the heart of what we do. That includes building industry-leading security features that significantly reduce the motivation for criminals to target people in the first place."
The Met said Samsung and Google are also implementing security changes to address the issue.
Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist highlighted the use of drones acting as the force's "eyes in the sky," feeding live footage to a control room to identify thieves on e-bikes.
In February, Twist called on phone providers to make devices harder to reprogram. "At the moment, people are stealing these phones so they can be exported, largely. They've got quite a high monetary value and at the moment they're too easy to reset and reuse and monetise, often in other countries."
Police believe one gang could be responsible for exporting up to half of all phones stolen in London.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has previously expressed frustration with phone companies and operators, asking: "Why can't they have a kill switch so a stolen phone can't be used? Why can't they stop somebody having access to a cloud so a phone that's stolen is not reset and reused?"
Welcoming the Met's new agreement with Apple, Khan said: "Mobile phone crime won't be solved by policing alone. It also needs coordinated action from industry."