Paul McMahon, a software developer in Tokyo, shared the nightmarish experience of what happened when he didn't set up Find My on his new MacBook Air. As Paul describes, "Thanks to me not bothering to set up Find My, it's now a worthless brick."
Paul had accidentally swapped laptops with a stranger after going through airport security. Over a month later, the stranger emailed him, saying they had Paul's laptop and would send it back. But when Paul got it back, there was an Activation Lock on it with an unknown Apple ID.
When Paul entered his password the Mac responded with, "The operation couldn't be completed. The password for this Mac can no longer be used to remove Activation Lock. The password was entered incorrectly too many times."
Paul contacted Apple support with proof of purchase to get them to disable the Activation Lock, but they rejected his request. Now, the MacBook is permanently bricked.
The key takeaway from Paul's troubling experience is the importance of setting up Find My on any new MacBook you acquire. As he warns, "Don't make the same mistake I did, and make sure you turn on Find My." Without it, you risk your MacBook being bricked if ever lost or stolen, with no recourse even when providing proof of purchase to Apple.
