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Please explain to me how pairing a screen, vibration motor and battery to the motherboard keeps me secure... I'd understand faceid (which is paired of course),

by _V_ 4y ago

Please explain to me how pairing a screen, vibration motor and battery to the motherboard keeps me secure... I'd understand faceid (which is paired of course), sure. But not these. I really have a strong feeling that some folks have Stockholm syndrome or something.

simondotau 4y ago
For the record, I don't think Apple does this entirely for security. I think they do it to stop the illegal distribution of items which leak from Apple's supply chain, as well as counterfeit goods sold as though equal in quality to Apple parts. (I know multiple people who have had non-genuine screen replacements and they've always been low quality fragile glass.) If someone tried to sell whole iPhones assembled entirely from parts leaked from Apple's supply chain, it ought to seem obvious to anyone that this is wrong. Why is the principle any different when it's not an entire iPhone?
- _V_ 4y ago
  If they sold the parts outright with resonable pricing as any other manufacturer I don't think there would be any reason for supply chain leaks... Why would it be any different for Apple?
  - simondotau 4y ago
    I agree that spare parts should be more widely available, but I take issue with your broader assertion. Are you seriously arguing that when something is too expensive, theft is justified? Hmmm, I always wanted a Ferrari.
    - _V_ 4y ago
      Wow that strawman is really quite poor. I really hope you can do better than that... If you want a Ferrari, go buy one. They have quite long waiting lists from what I've heard. edit: In order not to be completely off topic: Apple might have just the same problems with parts stolen from their suppliers but since every single iPhone needs to be activated, I'm very sure they would be able to catch "iPhones made entirely from stolen parts". So this is clearly not it. The fact that they don't sell anything will probably make this whole thing quite worse because if you could buy a genuine display for 250$ from Apple, why would you really buy from anyone else? That market would of course exist but it would be much much smaller. I would not expect them to sell motherboards or for exampe face id sensors without some kind of pairing. But batteries and LCDs? Come on! They are doing it just to stick it to anyone who wants to repair their device. Quite sad when you think about the origins of that company :-(
mwint 4y ago
Couldn’t an adversary replace the screen in my phone with one that records the contents of what it displays? And/or tap locations. Modern keylogger. My guess is Apple started doing all this pairing stuff due to some security threat they saw before we did.
- _V_ 4y ago
  Apple does not do this for security but just to piss user off - hence disabling the TrueTone & autobacklight features. These features are hardly anything that could be argued is "security relevant". I mean would you really velieve that vibration motor or battery could compromise security of your phone? One has to (unfortunately) stay in the realm of possible and feasible despite all the James Bond & CSI Miami & Bones TV shows... Apple does somewhat care about users privacy (I like that very much) but this is really not it. And it goes for the battery as well. And vibration motor. And rear facing camera. All these are just plain and simple middle finger to third party repair shops. You could argue about FaceID sensor and motherboard and I would agree with security concerns, but that's pretty much it.
jquery 4y ago
It makes your phone a much less ripe target for thieves who sell it for parts. Depending on where you live, this might greatly increase your personal security.

by _V_ 4y ago

simondotau 4y ago

For the record, I don't think Apple does this entirely for security. I think they do it to stop the illegal distribution of items which leak from Apple's supply chain, as well as counterfeit goods sold as though equal in quality to Apple parts. (I know multiple people who have had non-genuine screen replacements and they've always been low quality fragile glass.) If someone tried to sell whole iPhones assembled entirely from parts leaked from Apple's supply chain, it ought to seem obvious to anyone that this is wrong. Why is the principle any different when it's not an entire iPhone?

_V_ 4y ago
If they sold the parts outright with resonable pricing as any other manufacturer I don't think there would be any reason for supply chain leaks... Why would it be any different for Apple?
- simondotau 4y ago
  I agree that spare parts should be more widely available, but I take issue with your broader assertion. Are you seriously arguing that when something is too expensive, theft is justified? Hmmm, I always wanted a Ferrari.
  - _V_ 4y ago
    Wow that strawman is really quite poor. I really hope you can do better than that... If you want a Ferrari, go buy one. They have quite long waiting lists from what I've heard. edit: In order not to be completely off topic: Apple might have just the same problems with parts stolen from their suppliers but since every single iPhone needs to be activated, I'm very sure they would be able to catch "iPhones made entirely from stolen parts". So this is clearly not it. The fact that they don't sell anything will probably make this whole thing quite worse because if you could buy a genuine display for 250$ from Apple, why would you really buy from anyone else? That market would of course exist but it would be much much smaller. I would not expect them to sell motherboards or for exampe face id sensors without some kind of pairing. But batteries and LCDs? Come on! They are doing it just to stick it to anyone who wants to repair their device. Quite sad when you think about the origins of that company :-(

mwint 4y ago

Couldn’t an adversary replace the screen in my phone with one that records the contents of what it displays? And/or tap locations. Modern keylogger. My guess is Apple started doing all this pairing stuff due to some security threat they saw before we did.

_V_ 4y ago
Apple does not do this for security but just to piss user off - hence disabling the TrueTone & autobacklight features. These features are hardly anything that could be argued is "security relevant". I mean would you really velieve that vibration motor or battery could compromise security of your phone? One has to (unfortunately) stay in the realm of possible and feasible despite all the James Bond & CSI Miami & Bones TV shows... Apple does somewhat care about users privacy (I like that very much) but this is really not it. And it goes for the battery as well. And vibration motor. And rear facing camera. All these are just plain and simple middle finger to third party repair shops. You could argue about FaceID sensor and motherboard and I would agree with security concerns, but that's pretty much it.

jquery 4y ago

It makes your phone a much less ripe target for thieves who sell it for parts. Depending on where you live, this might greatly increase your personal security.