Apple rolled out an update to its iOS operating system this week with a feature called Stolen Device Protection that makes it a lot harder for phone thieves to access key functions and settings. The software update for iPhones and iPads includes an essential new feature designed to foil thieves from wiping phones for resale or accessing Apple ID or other important accounts. Stolen Device Protection is a new setting that's included with the latest iOS release, version 17.3. Stolen Device Protection keeps track of a user's “familiar locations,"" such as their home or workplace, and adds extra biometric security hoops to jump through if someone tries to use the device to do certain things when it's away from those places. It also reduces the importance of passcodes, which thieves can steal by peering over someone's shoulder or threatening and forcing victims to hand them over, in favor of “biometric” features such as faces or fingerprints that are a lot harder to duplicate.