A wave of phone thefts in London reveals a curious twist: criminals are becoming unapologetic iPhone loyalists.

There's a name for the act of snatching someone's smartphone out of their hands in an incredibly brazen attempt at theft. It's called Apple picking.

And, as it turns out, there's a reason it's called getting Apple picked. These phone-plucking poachers strongly prefer iPhones over other major brands.

Or, that seems to be the case in London, at least, where the crime is a growing problem. Now it's starting to look like thieves are targeting Apple owners.

And, as London Centric has found out — it's leaving Android owners with mixed feelings.

One victim of theft, Mark, had his device snatched from his hands by an e-bike-riding thief outside of his workplace. As he watched the thief make his escape, he couldn't believe what happened next.

"I saw him stop, look at my phone, then throw it on the floor. He cycled off and I retrieved my phone," Mark tells London Centric.

There was no damage to Mark's phone — only to his pride.

"If anything, I feel a bit rejected. My poor phone."

In a less comical theft, Sam told London Centric how he was roughed up outside of a Royal Mail depot in January. A group of eight men proceeded to beat Sam, telling them to give them everything he had.

After liberating Sam from his personal belongings, the thieves began to make their escape. One of the men turned around and handed Sam back his phone.

"Don't want no Samsung," the thief said.

Reasoning is obvious

It's not terribly surprising, though. Apple's brand of smartphones tends to have a significantly higher second-market value; if you're going to risk stealing a phone, it makes sense you'd want to steal the one that brings in the most profit.

Neither the Metropolitan police nor the City of London police keep official records on the split between Android and iPhone thefts. However, security experts and Android owners alike have noticed the trend.

Simon, another would-be victim, recounts how the thief rejected his phone as well. Instead of brazenly snatching it from his hand or taking it by force, the thief tried to play it off with a smoother approach.

Allegedly, a friendly man approached Simon, asking if he had Spotify. Simon, taking the question in good faith, figured the man was a local musician who wanted to show Simon his music.

As Simon pulled out his phone — a Samsung Galaxy — the thief rapidly lost interest and walked away. It was then that Simon realized that he was the target of a mugging.