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On the other hand makes theft of Macbooks unprofitable. Which I am super happy about. I want all my devices to be worth scrap if they are ever stolen. And I am
by twawaaay 4y ago
On the other hand makes theft of Macbooks unprofitable. Which I am super happy about. I want all my devices to be worth scrap if they are ever stolen.
And I am even happy as a second hand laptop buyer. The last thing I need is to buy a stolen laptop. At least here, I am still liable even if I don't know for a fact that it is stolen. In any case I don't want any part in stolen goods market.
I think, over time, laptop owners will learn to preserve their key so that they can unlock the laptop when they want to resell it and buyers will learn to check if the laptop is unlocked. What's the problem?
- aftbit 4y ago[flagged]
- misnome 4y agoThey can resell it. They just need to log out first.
- detaro 4y agoYou just need to reset/unlock it before you sell it, so for your scenario that's not an issue.
- jen20 4y agoYour viewpoint is extremely contrived. A legitimate owner CAN reset the activation lock and resell a machine. A thief cannot. Simple as that.
- lizknope 4y agoThey can still resell their laptop. They just need to google "how to resell macbook" and find this Apple support document and follow the instructions. It seems pretty easy and specifically mentions the T2 security chip. https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/erase-your-mac-mchl7676b710/mac https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/erase-your-mac-mchl...
- twawaaay 4y agoThere will always be people incapable of doing simple things. Google your problem and follow instructions. Can't be helped. Not a reason to stop progress (most of the time).
- smith7018 4y agoIf they're legitimately reselling the laptop and didn't know about the activation lock, the person/company they sold it to could contact them to unlock it. I'm confused how this harms any legitimate reseller or buyer.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- pmontra 4y agoTheft is still profitable. They are maybe getting less money by selling for parts to a fence than if selling a laptop that can be resold straight away, maybe by themselves. Still some money.
- eterevsky 4y agoWith some devices like iPhones Apple goes even further preventing swapping the components between phones. This prevents selling stolen devices even for parts.
- theshrike79 4y agoYep, this is exactly why the TouchID component is paired with the motherboard/display. Otherwise the thief could just steal the phone, wire in a hacked Touch ID that accepts any thumbprint and resell the phone. This way it's way too expensive to be profitable unless you're doing it on an industrial scale. Most thieves resort to trying to con the previous owner into giving their Apple ID for unlocking.
- seltzered_ 4y agosortof, it may just mean more complicated networks for selling/shipping for use as parts. see this example of a stolen iphone from london getting shipped to china: https://hachyderm.io/@em0/109494729273725207 https://hachyderm.io/@em0/109494729273725207
- dev_tty01 4y agoSure, but the incentive is still reduced. That is a good thing.
- rchaud 4y ago> On the other hand makes theft of Macbooks unprofitable. Only if the thief knows that. An organized robbery ring might. The opportunistic kid hanging around the cafeteria or coffee who has 5 seconds to swoop may not. If my laptop gets stolen, I might have the last laugh, but it'll be a forced one.
- s_dev 4y agoThe reason laptops or phones are stolen is simply because they're perceived as valuable. If stealing an Apple product isn't perceived as a good opportunity people will opt to steal other phones and laptops instead. It will take time for this feedback loop to be circled a few times.
- fmajid 4y agoEven the thickest of individual thieves will soon get it that "Apple log" == "impossible to fence". They'll still be stripped for parts and there are some shady Chinese factories that can actually defeat Apple's locks, but it's statistically insignificant.
- tomjen3 4y agoIt will participate in Find My, so you can take your phone, get the location and have a chat with the person who stole it. But yeah, I wish Apple would run some ads about this feature, so that would be theives would realize they were worthless.
- hyperbovine 4y ago> I want all my devices to be worth scrap if they are ever stolen. A device which exploded if it was ever more than 15 feet from you would also satisfy that desideratum. There are other things to take into consideration.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- GuB-42 4y agoThe problem is that they are not properly scrapped. A perfectly good laptop ends up as electronic waste, and not just stolen laptops, it happens to end-of-life laptops from big companies too. If you could ask Apple to pick up the laptop for free, so that they can refurbish it and sell it at a discounted price, it would be no problem. No business for thieves, no waste, and more good machines available for a budget. But they have no reason to do that as it goes against their business model.
- foldr 4y agoApple couldn't do that because they'd potentially be making money off reselling stolen goods. If you can contact the original owner, then you can ask them to unlock it. If you can't, then how can you know that the device wasn't stolen?
- GuB-42 4y agoAren't there legal exceptions when you give out something? Otherwise it could cause a lot of trouble to charities that work with donations. It would be a big problem for the recycling industry too.
- katbyte 4y agoI steal a MacBook and then give it to a charity for the tax deduction. The problem with making any exception is you open it up for thieves
- foldr 4y agoEven if there's a legal loophole (I doubt it), why would Apple want to become known as a reseller of stolen laptops? I don't know the legal technicalities, but if you have a reasonable suspicion that an item might be stolen, then reselling it is at least unethical and probably legally dubious too.
- widowlark 4y agowho cares about the earth or reusability when I can stick it to the errant thief once
- jen20 4y agoYes - quiet. The upshot is that such devices stop being theft target, so remain usable by the owner or a legitimate subsequent owner. I refuse to buy any expensive device without this feature. Your trolling disguised as moralizing is not particularly welcome.
- widowlark 4y agoIts not trolling, I find this design absolutely morally abhorrent. I dont buy new devices, I always buy used, and theres nothing more disgusting to me than a bricked but perfectly usable device. In the future there will be stacks and stacks of these m series macbooks, the owners will be long gone and no longer care what happens to them, and people who need them wont be able to use them, ever. Thats horrendous and not at all what I want from my technology.
- mannerheim 4y agoIf you buy it from the legitimate owner, they can transfer the ownership to you.
- widowlark 4y agoand if the legitimate owner is dead? What about if they simply also forgot the credentials? What about items that have been forgotten, or left in a drawer for some time? How about devices from a business that went bankrupt? what about donated school laptops?
- mannerheim 4y agoYou can contact Apple and they can unlock it for you.
- zamalek 4y agoIf Apple actually cared about solving stolen devices, it would be possible to return the device to Apple. Failing a reunification with the owner, it would be passed on to a recycling center. Forcing laptops to be scrapped only solves the problem of Apple's bottom line.
- foldr 4y agoApple do recycle devices, don't they? https://www.apple.com/uk/recycling/nationalservices/ https://www.apple.com/uk/recycling/nationalservices/