Perfectly Good MacBooks From 2020 Are Being Sold For Scrap Because of Activation Lock (vice.com) 222
2-year-old MacBooks with Apple's T2 security chip are being turned into parts because recyclers have no way to login and factory reset the machines, reports Motherboard. "It's a boon for security and privacy and a plague on the second hard market." From the report: "How many of you out there would like a 2-year-old M1 MacBook? Well, too bad, because your local recycler just took out all the Activation Locked logic boards and ground them into carcinogenic dust," John Bumstead, a MacBook refurbisher and owner of the RDKL INC repair store, said in a recent tweet. First introduced in 2018, the laptop makes it impossible for anyone who isn't the original owner to log into the machine. "Like it has been for years with recyclers and millions of iPhones and iPads, it's pretty much game over with MacBooks now -- there's just nothing to do about it if a device is locked," Bumstead told Motherboard. "Even the jailbreakers/bypassers don't have a solution, and they probably won't because Apple proprietary chips are so relatively formidable." When Apple released its own silicon with the M1, it integrated the features of the T2 into those computers.
"The functionality of T2 is built into Apple silicon, so it's the same situation. But whereas T2 with activation lock is basically impossible to overcome, bypass developers are finding the m1/m2 chips with activation lock even more difficult," Bumstead said. "Many bypassers have claimed solutions to T2 macs (I have not tried or confirmed they work... I am skeptical) but they admit they have had no success with M1. Regardless, a bypassed Mac is a hacked machine, which reverts to the lock if wiped and reset, so it is not ethical to sell bypassed macs in the retail environment."
Responsible recyclers and refurbishers wipe the data from used devices before selling them on. In these cases, the data is wiped, but cannot be assigned to a new user, making them effectively worthless. Instead of finding these machines a second home, Bumstead and others are dismantling them and selling the parts. These computers often end up at recycling centers after corporations go out of business or buy all new machines. [...] Motherboard first reported on this problem in 2020, but Bumstead said it's gotten worse recently. "Now we're seeing quantity come through because companies with internal 3-year product cycles are starting to dump their 2018/2019s, and inevitably a lot of those are locked," he said. "When we come upon a locked machine that was legally acquired, we should be able to log into our Apple account, enter the serial and any given information, then click a button and submit the machine to Apple for unlocking," Bumstead said. "Then Apple could explore its records, query the original owner if it wants, but then at the end of the day if there are no red flags and the original owner does not protest within 30 days, the device should be auto-unlocked."
"The functionality of T2 is built into Apple silicon, so it's the same situation. But whereas T2 with activation lock is basically impossible to overcome, bypass developers are finding the m1/m2 chips with activation lock even more difficult," Bumstead said. "Many bypassers have claimed solutions to T2 macs (I have not tried or confirmed they work... I am skeptical) but they admit they have had no success with M1. Regardless, a bypassed Mac is a hacked machine, which reverts to the lock if wiped and reset, so it is not ethical to sell bypassed macs in the retail environment."
Responsible recyclers and refurbishers wipe the data from used devices before selling them on. In these cases, the data is wiped, but cannot be assigned to a new user, making them effectively worthless. Instead of finding these machines a second home, Bumstead and others are dismantling them and selling the parts. These computers often end up at recycling centers after corporations go out of business or buy all new machines. [...] Motherboard first reported on this problem in 2020, but Bumstead said it's gotten worse recently. "Now we're seeing quantity come through because companies with internal 3-year product cycles are starting to dump their 2018/2019s, and inevitably a lot of those are locked," he said. "When we come upon a locked machine that was legally acquired, we should be able to log into our Apple account, enter the serial and any given information, then click a button and submit the machine to Apple for unlocking," Bumstead said. "Then Apple could explore its records, query the original owner if it wants, but then at the end of the day if there are no red flags and the original owner does not protest within 30 days, the device should be auto-unlocked."
Stolen? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: Stolen? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: Stolen? (Score:5, Informative)
Real second hand markets wipe and release the laptops.
Correct. The last IT shop I worked for had a process by where all Apple devices being returned from lease/sold/recycled had to be unlocked and reset to factory settings.
Re: Stolen? (Score:5, Interesting)
How hard is it to RTFS? Most of the ones being discussed are businesses updating their internal computers from 2018/19, which can't be arsed to wipe everything. The computers that popped up in 2020 were probably mostly stolen, but those are not the ones currently at issue. Whereas the proposed solution makes things pretty simple. Your laptop is stolen, you note that on your Apple account the laptop is connected too, and it can no longer be unlocked by someone else with an apple account without the original account password.
Re: Stolen? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re: Stolen? (Score:5, Informative)
> What is the alternative?
How about *exactly* what was suggested in the article? How does that lower security?
Request a reset from Apple, let them verify with the registered owner, and if no objection is lodged within a month (or whatever grace period), unlock the thing.
If you want to screw the person who stole your laptop, just say "No" when Apple asks you to authorize an ownership transfer. Or preemptively report it as stolen.
The buyers is already in contact with the owner... (Score:4, Interesting)
Unlike the alternative where the buyer has the owner unlock, reset to factory, and has a Mac prompting for an Apple ID to configure (lock) the system with.
And expecting Apple to contact the original owner is ridiculous. (1) They are not part of the transaction. They already provide a solution, factory reset. (2) The buyer is already in contact with the supposed owner.
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They are part of the transaction because they inserted themselves into the middle of it. I fully agree with most of the concept behind activation lock it even gave one of employees a small amount of piece of mind that the phone that was stolen out of his car was useless to the thief (though he much rather would have just had the phone).
But it would be nice if there was a way to contact the owner and ask them to release the device. Obviously Apple isn’t going to give that contact information to the new
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That doesn't help when the original owner is locked out of their device. This is an incredibly common problem.
See, a lot of people will create a new account every time they get a new phone because they can't be bothered to recover their old account with a long-forgotten password. If they get a new phone number (which a lot of people do regularly for reasons I could even begin to guess) then they've also lost their ability to recover their old password and thus have no way to verify that they are, in fact,
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But it is do-able. It just requires spending a lot of time on the fucking phone with Apple Support.
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You may not thing it makes much difference but I suspect you already know at least some of the reasons: 1. If someone can impersonate the original owner to authorise 2. If the original owner doesn't become aware of the request within the objection period. Neither of these are that unlikely because it's not like everyone keeps contact info with Apple 100% accurate or never buys the devices for other people.
The current solu
Re: Stolen? (Score:3)
No sane business is throwing out 2018 MacBooks, especially in the current economic climate. A $2500+ MacBook better go for at least 5-7 years.
Authorized recyclers request access to the MDM for removing the management locks on devices, both Dell and Apple. Recyclers that donâ(TM)t have a data destruction program should not do business recycling.
These are stolen or the primary recycler couldnâ(TM)t be bothered to fix them so they sold them explicitly for parts. And according to Louis Rossman there s
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K12 here, we're cycling out 2018s and not keeping them all, lower battery healths are going to a reseller.
Supposedly our techs always get everyone signed out of icloud. One by one. I'm sure they never forget that step during the other 15 pages of instructions we give them for cycling.
Keep pretending TFA is just liars and everything is stolen. Keep running those emoji quotes too. But go back to twitter first.
Re: Stolen? (Score:5, Interesting)
2018 MacBooks [...] A $2500+ MacBook better go for at least 5-7 years.
2023 - 2018 = 5
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Laptops get replaced every three years usually.
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Most of the time, yes. A small number may have belonged to someone who died, and while I believe Apple has a process to remove the activation lock from those (involving the death certificate), bereaved families may not want to jump through those hoops after that sort of even, even for a $1000-$3000 laptop (they may not even realize the price, or that Apple has a process to get it unlocked).
That said, if the proposed "Apple should use the
Re: Stolen? (Score:3)
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If they were thinking ahead, sure. If they were say 25 in great health, and got hit by a car while crossing the street? Maybe not.
Good point. Yeah, maybe I'm overgeneralizing. I already have all my finances shared with my wife. I think about the only th
Some things should not be decided by family (Score:2)
If they were thinking ahead, sure. If they were say 25 in great health, and got hit by a car while crossing the street? Maybe not.
Is concern over such an outlier worth reducing the security of all users, increasing the value of a stolen Mac?
Also, if a person made no provisions of leaving a password behind then maybe they don't want anyone going through their stuff. If family or friends wanted photos of this individual, they should have taken some with their cameras/phones. If the individual wanted to share then they could have created albums and shared those albums with the relevant people. Photo sharing is a solved problem.
Also, a
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There may be an argument to be had that at least some of these are not stolen but rather replaced with M2 Macbooks since those came out (and there are tech companies out there that will updgrade), however yes, most of these are likely to be stolen since the M1 is still such a formidable machine.
At the same time one would think that M1 Macbooks that are part of a replacement program with M2 silicone would be unlocked and already reset when they reach a used machine store since those companies would likely ha
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Why would you buy a car without getting the key? If it's a newer car, that's gonna be an expensive key to replace.
This is vastly lowering the value of the product to the thief, greatly lowering the fence value and making them re-assess the risk-to-benefit of stealing a macbook. The same thing is happening to cell phones, they're not targeted by thieves nearly as much as they used to be because they can't get much or anything at all for them.
This is llke complaining about the cost of replacing the key on t
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If you're a business you might legally repo a car without the key.
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then you continue like you'd do with any partial repossession, you continue to work to get back the rest of your property. No different than if you got back the car and the stereo was gone. decide if its worth the effort, and if it is, continue to pursue it.
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RTFA is unpopular, so that must be why they started putting everything in the summary.
End-of-life, according to a corporate contract. The corporation doesn't want to invest more money into it, so they dump it for recycling. Instead of being re-usable, however, now they're reduced to raw materials -- but most of that is too toxic to separate and process, so they're just trash.
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I'd like to see some evidence that this is a com
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I'm sure Apple can do that. What's Apple going to pay for a collection of old, working, recent Macs, again?
1. if going-out-of-business, it's a case of recovering value from assets. Sell them as used, to be resold; as used, to be parted out/recycled; as... whatever. Sell them. Give them to Apple? for free? and _pay_ someone to drop them off at Apple? That's a cost, and no value recovered.
2. For end-of-li
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What's Apple going to pay for a collection of old, working, recent Macs, again?
The current trade in value.
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- https://www.apple.com/shop/tra... [apple.com]
Great for businesses, so convenient!
https://www.digitaltrends.com/... [digitaltrends.com]
If another "recycler" is willing to offer them more, then why settle?
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I was in the market for a fully loaded 2023 MBP until they told me the trade-on on my 2021 fully loaded (a $6000 machine) was $1500.
They then turn around and sell it for $4500. Pretty good racket if you ask me.
So now I need to find someone who wants to pick mine up for $4000 or so ($500 under refurb price seems reasonable).
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Your point on Apple taking without compensation is also irrelevant to the article as Apple definitely will compensate you for devices that are remotly recent which the article is focused on.
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Remember the situation as described is they are locked, so who would pay you anything for them? No matter what they are going out for free if not unlocked.
LOL! They'll get sold on eBay as "untested" or Facebook Marketplace to some sucker. If you think they're "going out for free" you're even more delusional than I thought!
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"recycle"
Sure. Whatever you say.
So then don't buy used MacBooks (Score:2, Insightful)
This is dumbassery. They're buying used, locked laptops then complaining that they're locked. Duh! I wonder what percent of these are stolen. 75%?
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This is dumbassery. They're buying used, locked laptops then complaining that they're locked. Duh! I wonder what percent of these are stolen. 75%?
~100% would be my guess. Approximately nobody is going to replace a 2020 MacBook yet. That's only 26 months old.
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Owner dies?
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Owner dies?
There's an existing process for that. The executor of the will brings a certified copy of the death certificate, proof of executorship, and proof of identity. With that, any Apple store will be able to wipe the device and disassociate it from the Apple ID. At that point, it is indistinguishable from a new device.
If the executor also brings a court order ordering Apple to grant access to the Apple ID, the executor will also have access to iCloud backups, iTunes purchases, etc. (but not the actual contents
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You don't know how often people lock themselves out of their own stuff. People are stupid, and these are Mac users.
And if you can actually prove that it is yours, Apple will reset it for you. This is only a problem if you are not the registered owner and cannot provide proof that you purchased the device legally from its registered owner.
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How many people do you think can do that? I'd be willing to bet it's less than 1%.
Wrong.
Apple's tech support is actually quite helpful and patient with owners legitimately trying to get back into their own locked device.
Based on my experience trying to help a friend get back into his iPhone after forgetting the pw, I'd say the success rate for legitimate owners is likely near 100%.
Bankrupt startups (Score:3, Informative)
Re: Bankrupt startups (Score:2)
Any recycler worth their salt would get a bill of sale then and get the recovery key from Apple if not already contracted to have access to them.
Professional recyclers know damn well what theyâ(TM)re doing. Theyâ(TM)ll even yell at you for removing the RAM and SSD. All these devices are stolen by some crackhead that hasnâ(TM)t realized yet theyâ(TM)re worthless.
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Long since been paid (Score:2)
Laptops, tablets, and cell phones are quick smash/grab targets for thieves. They sell out immediately to a middleman or a fence who then tries to flip them for more. Your high-dollar electronics get sold for pennies on the dollar. Car smash and grabs are so bad people are leaving their cars open, including trunks and lift gates to let thieves know there's nothing inside. [newsweek.com]
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I live in a major metropolitan area, and I have never head anything about this. I don't know anyone who does this. Everyone I see routinely locks their cars. You can see it being done when they get out of their vehicles, or when they walk up to their cars and remotely unlock them. The lights flash and sometime it makes a beep.
I have never been to the universe you live in, and for t
Re: Long since been paid (Score:3)
Re:Long since been paid (Score:4, Insightful)
Or you just make them bricks and valueless if they get stolen and wear and Apple logo, which seems to be the current route. Unfortunately, thieves aren't too particular about what they grab and the whole "don't prosecute" movement will only make it worse for the consumer. The middlemen and the guys trying to resell stolen property are the losers and that's actually a good thing.
The lesson here I guess is get insurance on all of your stuff, have the data encrypted at rest in the device, and use cloud storage to keep your important data.
No Jailtime (Score:2)
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Re: No Jailtime (Score:2)
California is a capital punishment state.
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If there is not going to be jailtime for petty crime, petty crime is just going to increase. Well we have a pandemic so we dont want jail overcrowding so we need to impose other kinds of costs to deter petty crime.
Lack of enforcement has nothing to do with jail overcrowding. It has been an ongoing problem for a decade or more. The problem is, most of these crimes are committed in ways that make it almost impossible to find out who took them.
I've seen videos of these smash-and-grabs. They manage to conceal their faces, they wear gloves, the license plate is never visible from the car's cameras, and they're gone in 30 second flat. Realistically, the only way to catch these people reliably is with a sting operation
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Or you just make them bricks and valueless if they get stolen
Stuff does get recovered occasionally, sometimes well outside any reasonable time window.
I'm fairly sure most owners are happy to get their stuff back, even if it's half a year or a year later, and would prefer to be able to unlock it over getting back a brick.
This is absolutely the right approach. Lock it in a way that ensures only the owner can unlock it. Legitimate shops will have the owner unlock and reset on a trade-in. The only legitimate owners who are screwed are people who inherit a device from som
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well Louis Rossman can get lots of parts from them to repair other Macs, but I agree theft is wasteful and costs us all.
So they want a back door? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Granting anyone except the previous owner the ability to unlock the system is indeed a bad idea. But there could be a way to generate a new encryption key such that the system can be wiped and reinstalled for someone new to use.
Re: So they want a back door? (Score:2)
There is, itâ(TM)s called a bill of sale.
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NOT AT ALL - this is simply to unlock access to the machine not to decrypt everything. What they need is a backdoor to factory reset.
Apple has reset and wipe functionality (Score:2)
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Nope. I got an iPad as a hand-me-down from my Dad. He managed to remember the main password, so I can boot it up. However, he has no idea what the Apple ID or whatever is. This means that I can't reset the machine at all, and it's permanently stuck with his personal data that can't be removed. Call this a "security feature" if you like but, it looks like a mandatory obsolescence scheme. My best bet is to hit it repeatedly with a large hammer and discard the pieces in separate trash cans.
Re:Apple has reset and wipe functionality (Score:5, Interesting)
If you can unlock it, you should be able to go into Settings to see the Apple ID it's activated with. I think it's always the top option; the label has changed with OS versions, though. If he doesn't remember the password, it's fairly likely you'll be able to use Apple's tools to reset it — you'll need to go through some steps to verify the account ownership. If you trust clicking a Slashdot link link to reset your Apple ID (I might not, myself), you're looking for https://iforgot.apple.com/pass... [apple.com]. Searching the web for "reset apple id password" should get you to the same place.
Anyhow — if you can get into the Settings app and actually have access to the Apple ID's owner (and they set it up with actual question answers and such) you should have some routes to fully wipe the device and set it up from scratch, no hammer involved.
There may be some additional routes you and your Dad could access by going to an Apple store in person, but you really should be able to do this all over the web and/or phone.
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If you don't have access to the email or phone number associated with your account, odds are against you being able to recover your account. People are just as likely, it seems to forget their security question answers as their passwords. What is the name of your favorite pet? Did you put the state as well when you answered the 'city you were born in' question? I've seen people fail to recover their account this way minutes after creating it.
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For every person like your Dad, there's someone out there that's glad that their stolen lap is inaccessible to whoever stole it. And that drives the value of a stolen Mac down, so hopefully fewer of them are stolen.
I'm sorry that your Dad didn't write this stuff down or whatever, but that's really on him.
(This is, incidentally, why Apple never turned on end-to-end encryption for absolutely everything until recently, even though they could have. One of their most common customer service complaints is a forgo
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Are you sure about that? Does Dad have the same phone number and can that line receive text messages? Does he remember the answers to his security questions? Dad didn't even know what an Apple ID was. The odds of recovery are not in his favor.
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If these were legitimate transactions that would have been done.
Not even close. I'd be willing to bet most people selling their Mac or handing it down don't even know that this is something that can be done, let alone something they should do.
Same issue (modulo recycling) elsewhere... (Score:2)
A friend gave me an old android tablet (a ZTC something or other) because I wanted something bigger than my phone for ebooks. The problem was, he hadn't used it in years, and couldn't remember the passcode, so I couldn't get into it, even with a full wipe (which apparently, you don't need the passcode to do).
Where can I get one prior to being locked? (Score:2)
Where can I buy one prior to being locked? I never resell my old computer stuff. It it was mine, and now for sale, it's because someone stole it. When I'm finished with electronics, I either repurpose it myself, or it's ground up and melted down.
Maybe now thieves will stop stealing them (Score:4, Interesting)
Simple Solution (Score:2)
1: If you are charging to recycle computers, charge more for locked ones.
2: If they are lease returns, charge the destroyed item fee for any that aren't reusable.
3: If you are the purchaser, check before you accept the delivery. Never buy "as is." In computer recycling parlance, that means "broken."
That way whoever is responsible for selling the locked computer will be responsible for paying for the fact that it's e-waste.
Reunite the stolen machines with the owners? (Score:2)
If they are locked, chances are they were stolen. And if that's the case, shouldn't they be working with Apple to make sure there is a system in place to reunite stolen goods with their owners? But I guess resellers feel it makes more sense to complain and get a click bait article, rather that do the right thing.
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False.
Yellow Journalism Much? (Score:3)
Does every single thing Apple does have to be spun in the most negative way possible?
Sure seems like that around here.
Grow up.
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Manufacturers should be required to pay the full cost of recycling PCs.
Which would just be added to the price of the PC. So in effect, you'd just be paying for it.
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Really a separate issue from the locking business, but there's an important point to consider: if manufacturers had to pass the cost of recycling on to the consumer, any manufacturer who designed their device to be easily recyclable will enjoy a cost advantage over competitors.
The idea would be to harness the profit motive to encourage manufacturers to design and build their products to be more readily recyclable. It's not the only way to do it, but it's probably the least intrusive way of doing it.
Re: Manufacturer recycling fee (Score:2)
Manufacturer recycling, already factored in prices (Score:2)
if manufacturers had to pass the cost of recycling on to the consumer, any manufacturer who designed their device to be easily recyclable will enjoy a cost advantage over competitors.
The costs of recycling are already passed on. Most (all large?) manufacturers already accept free returns of old hardware, its already all factored in. You save them money they planed on spending when you don't return the old hardware. Hell, I remember 20 years ago you could ask AT&T for a free envelope to mail back an old unused cell phone for recycling.
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Which would just be added to the price of the PC. So in effect, you'd just be paying for it.
Well you already are (paying for it), because anything effectively depleting the secondary market is also boosting the price of new PC's.
IMHO, there are two issues here. Data integrity and anti-theft. Both are easily solvable with modern technology. You should be able to present apple with a bill of sale for which they would check their "reported stolen" list and then (if clear) issue a machine-specific cryptographic reset certificate which wipes the secure enclave of the CPU (clearing BOTH the symmetric
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You neglected the fact that the used device market would have a significantly larger supply, making them less costly, especially for those who can least afford it.
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Perhaps a better solution, then, is for regulators to target companies for their specific practices that impede a functional secondary market, promote planned obsolescence, etc.
Of course this requires functional and thoughtful regulators. Not the kind we have now that promote freedom for the rich and hard dick for everyone else.
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Re: Manufacturer recycling fee (Score:3)
Apple will recycle their products at no cost to the person delivering the product to them.
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Apple would find a way to get these systems back onto the market ...
Apple already has. They sell factory refurbished, and that is just retail. There may be other charitable paths by which they dispose of working used systems.
Re: Manufacturer recycling fee (Score:2)
Apple already does, you can send them your devices for free or even get a gift card for these newer models.
Re:Gotta Hand It to Apple and Fanbois (Score:5, Insightful)
This makes it clear that Apple and the fanbois who buy this crap are definitely not concerned about the environment.
Bullshit. It means that given current conditions, we're more concerned about dropping the resale value of stolen goods to zero, in an effort to eliminate the giant black market for stolen laptops and phones, than we are about the incredibly rare situation where a legitimately sold laptop's original owner cannot be located and asked to unlock the device.
Make no mistake, these are almost certainly ALL stolen, within the margin of error, because if the seller were the actual legitimate owner, a simple phone call and five minutes online would get the device unlocked. Therefore, this is a security mechanism that is working exactly as intended. As for greedy sociopaths who are angry because they can't illegally enrich themselves by reselling stolen goods anymore, I say, "Tough shit."
Apple could have easily provided a mechanism to reset the box without compromising the security of the box. They didn't do that because they get to sell more hardware since the old ones can't be reused.
They didn't do that, because it is what their customers demanded, primarily as a means of reducing the high rate of assault with intent to steal iPhones.
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What is amazing is that, despite my mentioning that Apple could have protected the customers AND buyers/reseller and even providing steps on how they could have achieved that [slashdot.org], people still take Apple's side in this argument.
Requiring someone to respond within a particular period of time isn't reasonable. People take vacations longer than two weeks. And if somebody's laptop gets stolen, it could easily take longer than that to report the theft, much less reply to someone trying to contact them about it — particularly if they don't have access to their accounts while on vacation because their laptop got stolen. Additionally, their contact information with Apple could be out of date, etc., and the messages might never ev
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if the seller can't unlock it, there's a ~100% chance that it was stolen
Nonsense. It just means the previous owner is a moron who can't recover their password, probably because they have a different phone number.
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if the seller can't unlock it, there's a ~100% chance that it was stolen
Nonsense. It just means the previous owner is a moron who can't recover their password, probably because they have a different phone number.
What do phone numbers have to do with unlocking a device? You've never used an Apple product before, have you? They're locked to your Apple ID, not to a phone number.
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Do I really need to explain this? They'll need their phone number to recover their Apple ID password, which they forgot seconds after creating it.
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Apple would be able to identify them as stolen
By magic?
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How many users do you think even know that's an option?
Startups (Score:2)
Re: Gotta Hand It to Apple and Fanbois (Score:2)
What is the original owner's incentive to respond to Apple's request to unlock the device?
Re: Gotta Hand It to Apple and Fanbois (Score:2)
Two weeks isn't very long.
What if they are on vacation, or in the hospital or in jail?
Or what if they respond and say yeah, stolen, even if it isn't?
Re:Gotta Hand It to Apple and Fanbois (Score:5, Insightful)
The last time I got broken into, the thief walked straight past the macbook sitting on the table , and grabbed the crappy amazon fire tablet and various other lower value bits and pieces.
The previous break in in 2017, they took the macbook, however it never got turned on past the startup password (Or it would have presumably activated find-my-mac thus leading the cops to the burglar)
I presume the 2017 burglar was somewhat less experienced than the more recent one. Because according to cops that attended my more recent breakin, most fences wont touch apple products with a 10 foot barge pole. They are either locked and unopenable or dial home leading to arrest [and the fence has a LOT more to lose, burglars are hard to catch and arent that high value a catch, but with fences the cops target these guys with a vengence, because these guys are the lynchpin of the whole operation]. They MIGHT be able to flog it to a dodgy scrapped (Presumably the fate of the 2017 laptop) but the devices otherwise have no value.
THATS the advantage of this sort of lock.
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Yep. It's a lot easier to sell new equipment when you can't buy old at all. It's funny that anyone would think this isn't what would happen.
Also anyone who has ever dealt with Apple in in way whatsoever knows every policy and interaction with them is very carefully engineered to put the burden of time and effort on you not them for literally everything. They make it VERY clear their time is more valuable than yours.