4 ms·
> We are hearing reports that Apple is continuing their hostile path of pairing parts to the phone, requiring activation of the back glass after installation.
by dmitrygr 4y ago
> We are hearing reports that Apple is continuing their hostile path of pairing parts to the phone, requiring activation of the back glass after installation.
On the other hand, this makes stealing an iPhone more and more pointless, as more and more parts cannot be parted out and sold. After activation lock was added, thieves started parting out screens and batteries to sell them and get at least some value out of an otherwise useless stolen iPhone. Want to see how useless an activation locked iPhone is? Check eBay. I assume that for iP14+ it'll be even less. I welcome this move.
(all opinions my own)
- formerly_proven 4y agoThere’s no expectation of getting an open platform with iDevices so anything that disincentives stealing them is a plus.
- Swenrekcah 4y agoThat goal could presumably also be accomplished by enabling the owner to check a "stolen" box in their iCloud and after that all serialized parts of that phone go on a blacklist. An iPhone checks every day or something if any of it's parts are blacklisted and refuses to work if true. To prevent a massive attack on Apple by corrupting the blacklist, the phones would only perform this check if any of the factory parts have been replaced.
- dmitrygr 4y agoYour plan has serious a flaw. Imagine this timeline: 1. steal iphone A 2. split it into parts 3. install parts into iPhone B 4. parts not yet marked stolen, they work, check passes 5. Iphone A marked stolen ...
- Swenrekcah 4y agoI did actually think of that but decided it would be a net good. People would learn to buy from trusted sources (which would probably work in Apple's favour) and also it would out the thieves in a rather unfortunate way for them, so they'd probably get the reputation they deserve rather quickly.
- dmitrygr 4y agoYou miss the point. I do not care what "the people" learn. I care that my car window is not smashed if some low-life sees an iPhone inside, cause it is known that it holds no value if stolen.
- Swenrekcah 4y agoYeah I mean I get that. I'm assuming enough people would care to mark their devices stolen so that the same happens.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- spookthesunset 4y agoYou are missing step 6, which is for iphone B to stop working after step 5. And part 6 would also include some kind of nasty "your phone has stolen parts in it" message to the user. Just like the "don't boot with non-registered hardware", this is all software and can be changed. Maybe in future releases of iOS they change how this "check for legit parts" process works.
- dkonofalski 4y agoI don't think they missed it. I think this is exactly the flaw they're pointing out.
- e44858 4y agoThe thief could just ask you for your iCloud password and unlock the phone (with a gun/knife for motivation). https://xkcd.com/538/ https://xkcd.com/538/