A tweet that has circulated a lot announces a novelty for iOS 15: it would require Face ID identification to be able to turn off an iPhone. The idea would be to prevent the theft of the smartphone even further, the forbans could no longer turn off the phone to prevent any action on your part from a distance. An interesting idea, but not new to iOS 15.

Apple did not announce it and we were able to verify it on all our devices upgraded to iOS 15: we can always turn them off without Face ID. The image presented in the tweet turns out to be a concept released last February by the @appledsign account. Even though Apple hasn't picked up the idea, iOS 15 does make things better when it comes to iOS device theft.

Now, the geolocation of an iPhone or iPad declared lost continues to work even when the device is turned off. It's the same principle as for AirTags, the lost device regularly emits an identifier that can be retrieved by nearby iPhones and transmitted to Apple. This function remains active with the device off and even once its battery is empty, it relies a priori on the reserve which is normally used for NFC.

Apple has even gone further: even after erasing a device declared lost, it will still be possible to locate an iPhone or iPad. The first screen of iOS 15 will display the information, making the device unsaleable and allowing it to be found.

When shutting down a device running iOS 15, a message appears briefly to report these two new features. But you can still turn them off without Face ID, nothing has changed on this point.