7 ms·

Avoidant as I am of Apple's ecosystem, I can only imagine the "security" justification for serializing a display panel. Covert exfiltration of sensitive informa

Avoidant as I am of Apple's ecosystem, I can only imagine the "security" justification for serializing a display panel. Covert exfiltration of sensitive information from password managers and such? At any rate, I continue to be unamused by how difficult it is for normal people to service their own Apple devices.

redeeman 3y ago
> their own Apple devices. thats a slightly different interpretation of the situation than what the mighty apple has :) and I suspect thats where most of the "confusion" is :)
randomuser23423 3y ago
> Avoidant as I am of Apple's ecosystem, I can only imagine the "security" justification for serializing a display panel. Covert exfiltration of sensitive information from password managers and such? They're a more valuable target for theft the more parts that can be "cleanly" sold.
- hsbauauvhabzb 3y ago
  Are ipad thieving gangs really breaking down and on selling stolen components?
  - TillE 3y ago
    If you make Apple devices totally worthless to thieves, you discourage theft. Make them bricks which can't even be harvested for parts. That's the goal apparently, and it makes sense.
    - can16358p 3y ago
      This. As a user I'm okay with using only authorized components if it makes theft virtually impractical as there wouldn't be much to use even if the device is stolen. It will give me more peace of mind as no one will have the incentive to steal an iPad anymore.
      - userbinator 3y ago
        I'm not. It's only creating more e-waste, and thieves will find a way around it sooner or later anyway.
        can16358p 3y ago
        Well there are many other alternatives then. It's good to have at least one company to go this way for people who want to be (relatively) safe from theft.
        kaba0 3y ago
        Does it? Apple products have an absolutely blooming 2nd, 3rd hand markets, they easily serve 4-6 years I might even say on average.
        Timon3 3y ago
        Yes, it does, and there is no way it doesn't. If you want to argue otherwise, you'll have to logically explain how not being able to replace parts of a device leads to longer lifetimes. Because we're not talking about selling your iPad that fully works, we're talking about selling one with a broken display.
        Retric 3y ago
        Your argument fails because you can replace parts of the device. The goal is to make stolen components useless, not prevent repair.
        Timon3 3y ago
        You can let the parts be replaced by authorized repair shops. You can't do it yourself, you have to pay a hefty markup. This makes the replacement uneconomic for many older devices, thus creating e-waste.
        3y ago
  - Retric 3y ago
    Discouraging chop shops for phones seems silly, but 3rd party repair shops have major incentive to find cheaper components. Compare the history of car stereos vs catalytic converter thefts. I support the right to repair, but there are real issues that should be addressed. Steps like stamping catalytic converters with the cars VIN really can help.
  - BoorishBears 3y ago
    Yes, in Shenzhen.
  - kmeisthax 3y ago
    Yes. I have a friend who works at Geek Squad and had to service someone who got their iPhone chop-shopped. Someone had stolen the phone, swapped out everything with knock-off parts, and then left the phone behind. The victim flagged the phone as lost on Find My so they at least got a free warranty replacement. The fact that chop-shopping is a thing with phones now does not excuse Apple's parts serialization shenanigans.
    - somat 3y ago
      I am not doubting you, it just is really weird that they would bother to replace the parts at all. my guess would be to try and sell the chopped unit as a real iphone? but why leave it behind?
  - veave 3y ago
    "ipad thieving gangs" makes it sound like a joke, but yes, there are people who steal iphones and ipads, and they know who to talk to to sell them, which in turn disassemble them and know who to talk to to sell the components, etc. If you go to aliexpress you will find tons of used, original Apple components. Where do you think they came from?
kiririn 3y ago
For displays I imagine the reason is more reputation and experience - normally just about every apple product has a factory calibrated display, but that promise can be broken (intentionally or not) on the used market. It’s nice to have a means of checking whether a display is legit other than eyeballing it That being said, I can’t think of a reason for blocking correct pencil functionality. It doesn’t seem like something that would need individual calibration
- can16358p 3y ago
  It might actually need calibration. And if it does it would damage the reputation of Apple's products (iPad and Pencil) as they won't work accurately and will glitch, creating a subpar experience which Apple would obviously not want to be associated with their products.
  - rasz 3y ago
    Calibration is like wheel alignment. What is happening here is : Changing tires for same brand and model car came from the dealer. Car no longer drives in a straight line, steering wheel feels wobbly at certain steering angles. You saying its a wheel alignment issue. Replacing TPMS sensors with ones from the old wheel set. Car magically starts driving straight and no more weird wobbles.
    - kaba0 3y ago
      More like putting on the new wheels but forgetting to put enough pressure in them.
      - rasz 3y ago
        Turns out wheels came off another fully working car and worked perfectly fine before being removed. The _only_ difference is TPMS sensors serial numbers.
- xenadu02 3y ago
  The Apple Pencil is designed for extremely low latency and high accuracy to make it feel as close to writing on paper as possible. The API offered to developers presents predicted digitizer points and retroactively updates them in subsequent frames because even the latency introduced by a standard 60/120Hz draw loop introduces cognitive dissonance - your brain can tell something is off if you wait for the next frame update. People are making a lot of bold claims with absolute certainty without so much as a test rig... how they can determine that such precision doesn't require any calibration or that using the old controller with a new screen is "accurate" is a very interesting question. I'm not sure drawing a few lines in one app is sufficient to draw such strong conclusions.
gandalfgreybeer 3y ago
> At any rate, I continue to be unamused by how difficult it is for normal people to service their own Apple devices. I am also a proponent of being able to self-repair (but can sort of see what risks Apple are minimizing by how they're doing it now). However, I would say most "normal" people are fine or would prefer to just go to Apple service centers. It is only with the more technologically-oriented communities where I see that preference. Of course this varies across communities across countries.

redeeman 3y ago

> their own Apple devices. thats a slightly different interpretation of the situation than what the mighty apple has :) and I suspect thats where most of the "confusion" is :)

randomuser23423 3y ago

> Avoidant as I am of Apple's ecosystem, I can only imagine the "security" justification for serializing a display panel. Covert exfiltration of sensitive information from password managers and such? They're a more valuable target for theft the more parts that can be "cleanly" sold.

hsbauauvhabzb 3y ago
Are ipad thieving gangs really breaking down and on selling stolen components?
- TillE 3y ago
  If you make Apple devices totally worthless to thieves, you discourage theft. Make them bricks which can't even be harvested for parts. That's the goal apparently, and it makes sense.
  - can16358p 3y ago
    This. As a user I'm okay with using only authorized components if it makes theft virtually impractical as there wouldn't be much to use even if the device is stolen. It will give me more peace of mind as no one will have the incentive to steal an iPad anymore.
    - userbinator 3y ago
      I'm not. It's only creating more e-waste, and thieves will find a way around it sooner or later anyway.
      - can16358p 3y ago
        Well there are many other alternatives then. It's good to have at least one company to go this way for people who want to be (relatively) safe from theft.
      - kaba0 3y ago
        Does it? Apple products have an absolutely blooming 2nd, 3rd hand markets, they easily serve 4-6 years I might even say on average.
        Timon3 3y ago
        Yes, it does, and there is no way it doesn't. If you want to argue otherwise, you'll have to logically explain how not being able to replace parts of a device leads to longer lifetimes. Because we're not talking about selling your iPad that fully works, we're talking about selling one with a broken display.
        Retric 3y ago
        Your argument fails because you can replace parts of the device. The goal is to make stolen components useless, not prevent repair.
        Timon3 3y ago
        You can let the parts be replaced by authorized repair shops. You can't do it yourself, you have to pay a hefty markup. This makes the replacement uneconomic for many older devices, thus creating e-waste.
        3y ago
- Retric 3y ago
  Discouraging chop shops for phones seems silly, but 3rd party repair shops have major incentive to find cheaper components. Compare the history of car stereos vs catalytic converter thefts. I support the right to repair, but there are real issues that should be addressed. Steps like stamping catalytic converters with the cars VIN really can help.
- BoorishBears 3y ago
  Yes, in Shenzhen.
- kmeisthax 3y ago
  Yes. I have a friend who works at Geek Squad and had to service someone who got their iPhone chop-shopped. Someone had stolen the phone, swapped out everything with knock-off parts, and then left the phone behind. The victim flagged the phone as lost on Find My so they at least got a free warranty replacement. The fact that chop-shopping is a thing with phones now does not excuse Apple's parts serialization shenanigans.
  - somat 3y ago
    I am not doubting you, it just is really weird that they would bother to replace the parts at all. my guess would be to try and sell the chopped unit as a real iphone? but why leave it behind?
- veave 3y ago
  "ipad thieving gangs" makes it sound like a joke, but yes, there are people who steal iphones and ipads, and they know who to talk to to sell them, which in turn disassemble them and know who to talk to to sell the components, etc. If you go to aliexpress you will find tons of used, original Apple components. Where do you think they came from?

kiririn 3y ago

For displays I imagine the reason is more reputation and experience - normally just about every apple product has a factory calibrated display, but that promise can be broken (intentionally or not) on the used market. It’s nice to have a means of checking whether a display is legit other than eyeballing it That being said, I can’t think of a reason for blocking correct pencil functionality. It doesn’t seem like something that would need individual calibration

can16358p 3y ago
It might actually need calibration. And if it does it would damage the reputation of Apple's products (iPad and Pencil) as they won't work accurately and will glitch, creating a subpar experience which Apple would obviously not want to be associated with their products.
- rasz 3y ago
  Calibration is like wheel alignment. What is happening here is : Changing tires for same brand and model car came from the dealer. Car no longer drives in a straight line, steering wheel feels wobbly at certain steering angles. You saying its a wheel alignment issue. Replacing TPMS sensors with ones from the old wheel set. Car magically starts driving straight and no more weird wobbles.
  - kaba0 3y ago
    More like putting on the new wheels but forgetting to put enough pressure in them.
    - rasz 3y ago
      Turns out wheels came off another fully working car and worked perfectly fine before being removed. The _only_ difference is TPMS sensors serial numbers.
xenadu02 3y ago
The Apple Pencil is designed for extremely low latency and high accuracy to make it feel as close to writing on paper as possible. The API offered to developers presents predicted digitizer points and retroactively updates them in subsequent frames because even the latency introduced by a standard 60/120Hz draw loop introduces cognitive dissonance - your brain can tell something is off if you wait for the next frame update. People are making a lot of bold claims with absolute certainty without so much as a test rig... how they can determine that such precision doesn't require any calibration or that using the old controller with a new screen is "accurate" is a very interesting question. I'm not sure drawing a few lines in one app is sufficient to draw such strong conclusions.

gandalfgreybeer 3y ago

> At any rate, I continue to be unamused by how difficult it is for normal people to service their own Apple devices. I am also a proponent of being able to self-repair (but can sort of see what risks Apple are minimizing by how they're doing it now). However, I would say most "normal" people are fine or would prefer to just go to Apple service centers. It is only with the more technologically-oriented communities where I see that preference. Of course this varies across communities across countries.