Apple Was Rumored To Be Working On An Anti-Snatching Feature

If you’ve ever been worried about having your iPhone ripped from your hands while walking down the street, Apple is reportedly developing a new feature that will limit the damage that would-be thieves can do once they have your phone.

Reliable sources from 9to5Mac reports that Apple is working on an anti-snatching feature that would lock your iPhone if it detects it’s been stolen, preventing thieves from gaining access to valuable data and personal information.

In a lot of cases, snatchers will run or bike away quickly once they’ve grabbed a phone. If the report is accurate, the new feature would use signals from your phone’s accelerometer and the distance from a paired Apple Watch to decide if your iPhone has been snatched.

Beyond just locking the phone, the feature would work according to the same rules as Stolen Device Protection, restricting access to certain areas of the phone if it detects it’s in an unfamiliar location or connected to an unfamiliar Wi-Fi network.

Apple already provides a pretty robust set of features to protect stolen iPhones and the data on them, but this feature would be the first attempt to automatically detect if one has been physically snatched from you and lock it down. There’s no word on when the feature might be announced or launched, but WWDC 2026 is right around the corner on 8 June 2026. It’s possible it could debut there as part of Apple’s iOS 27 plans.