5 ms·

Ooohhh! This will be interesting from a reverse engineering perspective. Also, does that mean I can get iMessage on PC?

• 0x0 5y ago
  I think you need a valid iPhone serial number to activate iMessage?
  • lostgame 5y ago
    Curious, would this not apply to Macs and iPads as well? Can you access iMessage just through the Messages app on Mac?
    • vulcan01 5y ago
      Yes, you can, but only if you are signed into your Apple ID and connected to Wi-Fi. I believe Macs and non-cellular iPads send messages over Wi-Fi to the iMessage servers.
      • Nextgrid 5y ago
        iMessage is entirely internet-based so cellular, if present, is only used as a data connection and otherwise plays no role.
      • rosndo 5y ago
        This is so weird, why specifically “Wi-Fi”? Why wouldn’t wired internet or 4G work?
    • 0x0 5y ago
      I think for that case you need a valid mac serial number, too. I think virtualized macOS does not support iMessage either (although googling seems to suggest that you might be able to get it working by copying a valid mac serial number from another device or something. Basically, if you haven't bought a real apple device, you probably won't be able to use iMessage. "Borrowing" your friend's serial number is probably not the smartest idea either.)
      • lostgame 5y ago
        Would any old MacBook, functional or not, work?
• smithza 5y ago
  Apple likes to validate hardware through serial numbers or other identifiers before connecting to apple services. I suspect this will be near impossible.
  • Nextgrid 5y ago
    This is currently possible with Hackintoshes, but only because Apple tolerates plausible-but-fake serial numbers that follow their usual format. They can trivially restrict this if they want to.
    • arilotter 5y ago
      Couldn't I go to the Apple store & copy down a real serial number?
      • otterley 5y ago
        Let's not endorse committing fraud here. (Also, such activity could harm innocent purchasers of devices with stolen serial numbers.)
        • samtheprogram 5y ago
          Exactly; the Hackintosh community explicitly provides instructions on how to ensure the serial number you generate is not another real Mac’s serial number, but is “valid” for the model you need to emulate for your hardware. Otherwise this could cause issues with a real owner or the Hackintosh community, and is just acting in bad faith.
        • eggsome 5y ago
          It's an interesting thought experiment though. Who is harming the purchasers? Apple, or the hacker copying down a publicly available piece of information?
          • otterley 5y ago
• Nextgrid 5y ago
  It's technically already possible by installing/virtualizing macOS and giving the SMC emulator a plausible serial number - it's tolerated by Apple for now, however they can trivially block this (both for Hackintosh as well as this iOS emulator) by requiring a real serial number.
  • Gigachad 5y ago
    >by requiring a real serial number I assume you could just buy some $10 iphone 3gs to grab a number from.
  • trollied 5y ago
    They have started to introduce random serials to some product lines: https://www.macrumors.com/2021/05/05/purple-iphone-12-randomized-serial-number/ https://www.macrumors.com/2021/05/05/purple-iphone-12-random... I imagine this will be extended in the future so that they can begin to clamp down.
    • muttled 5y ago
      If you know a valid serial number (say from a decommissioned Mac) do you know if you're able to just use that or is there some sort of validation of the device to the serial number?
      • Ardon 5y ago
        There's no validation right now, but they could do that if they wanted to.
  • Quikinterp 5y ago
    I have an old iPhone, could I use a serial number from that potentially?
  • icelancer 5y ago
    I used a real serial number for this and still never had much success doing so, was a giant pain in the ass about a year ago.