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iPhone 15 teardown reveals software lockdown
- dmitrygr 3y agoGod, I am so tired of this nonsense. Making stolen phones hard to part out is good! Check eBay for price of iCloud locked phones. Thank Apple for making stealing your phone so unprofitable.
- krasin 3y ago[flagged]
- wilg 3y agoThis makes sense only if you don't know what slavery is.
- fshbbdssbbgdd 3y agoI pay to use a product and that makes me a slave? That’s intense. Back in the day I learned to replace the headphone jack on my iPod because it kept breaking. I’ve never encountered any need to do something similar with an iPhone. I guess it’s some sort of loss that I don’t have the option, but it just can’t bring myself to care. The freedom from fear of phone-jacking is worth so much more to me.
- Osiris 3y agoI’ve replaced several broken screens and dead batteries on Android and iPhones. It’s a very common issue. Screens break and batteries wear out.
- gandalfgreybeer 3y agoAnd Apple has services for replacing that. Although I used to repair my devices myself, it makes sense from Apple’s POV. There’s far more people who don’t know how to do this (or couldn’t be bothered to learn and when they fuck up, they blame Apple) than people in HN’s demographics that are willing and knowledgeable enough.
- howinteresting 3y agoDo you sincerely believe what Apple is doing is the least restrictive means to achieve that goal?
- Dylan16807 3y agoThe bigger problem is not techy owners, it's locking out repair shops from doing a quick and cost-effective job. Everyone knows how to use a repair shop.
- wilg 3y agoAnd what's the problem with having Apple authorize and vet repair shops to ensure they use genuine parts and whatnot?
- Dylan16807 3y agoThe vetting isn't anywhere near the biggest issue. Did you think that's the main thing people were complaining about? The inability to take parts out of broken phones is one of the big ones. The inability to stock up on parts so they can do a same-day replacement is also one of the big ones.
- wilg 3y agoPeople are complaining about a lot of things. I don’t know. If there’s a secure way to stock up on parts and use parts from broken phones that also works with anti-theft goals then yes they should do that.
- brokenmachine 3y ago[flagged]
- gandalfgreybeer 3y agoDigital slavery and slavery both have definitions that are pretty different from how you use those terms.
- circuit10 3y agoIf this is really the motivation then they should have a way to unpair parts using your iCloud account
- ClumsyPilot 3y agoWhy is my right to drap eith my phone violated in order to protect me from theft? Freedom for securiry and all that? This isnt even than usefull, a friend of mine had an iPhone stolen, and then he was contacted by the guy who 'found it' and wanted a reward. Basically extortion.
- mark_up 3y ago[dead]
- trustingtrust 3y agoWow ifixit editors really messed this up. ‘Broadcom’ is not the company that makes Snapdragon.
- tomcam 3y agoSeems to me more a slip than a “really messed this up” situation
- dehrmann 3y agoYes, but it's a little confusing that there's Qualcomm and Broadcom, and they both make chips for wireless.
- AndrewDucker 3y agoIt's confusing that companies that make parts for communication have variants of "com" in their name?
- trustingtrust 3y agoFaceID data is stored in the front module. Can’t swap it else anyone can unlock your phone with a swapped FaceID module. LiDAR not sure what’s happening.
- clort 3y agoSurely if the FaceID module provides a key to decrypt the encrypted contents of the phone, if you swap a module then another module might be able to verify a face but not provide the correct key, and the phone remains locked? If, before you remove the module, you wiped the phone then of course no key is required.. Having a module which could be removed and replaced just say Yes or No would seem to be a very poor design. Also in that case, Apple could presumably authorise a new module, meaning they would retain the capability to break into any phone (which I understood they did not want)
- zlsa 3y agoThat wouldn’t prevent the case of “the module is swapped for one that unlocks no matter what, and upon noticing the phone isn’t unlocking, the owner resets and sets up Face ID again” right?
- Dylan16807 3y agoUpon noticing the phone isn't unlocking and reading the big warning message that the Face ID module was replaced, which doesn't seem like a big threat vector to me.
- Someone 3y agoI think it is because it’s not “the module is swapped for one that unlocks no matter what, and upon noticing the phone isn’t unlocking, the OWNER resets and sets up Face ID again”, but “the module is swapped for one that unlocks no matter what, and upon noticing the phone isn’t unlocking, the THIEF resets and lets the owner set up Face ID again”. They’re also is the case of “Steal two phones, swap a few parts, reset the phones, and sell them second-hand”. Both phones will have 100% genuine parts.
- dannyw 3y agoI think parts blacklisting (i.e. you report a phone as stolen, all of its OEM parts are blacklisted) is good as an anti-theft measure and achieves the same functionality. I can also understand parts pairing for Face ID for security, and maybe even the battery. I've had aftermarket battery repairs swell up, which is a safety risk. But what Apple is doing is using this as a pretense to lock down repairs.
- asddubs 3y agoI suppose the awkward part of blacklisting is that if a phone isn't immediately reported, someone may sell a stolen part to a repair business, which installs it, and then a week later the customers phone is locked down, through no fault of either the person who had their phone repaired or the repair shop
- AussieWog93 3y agoThe customer then kicks up a fuss, the repairman realises that the part came from a stolen phone and the supplier of these parts is either reported or blacklisted by the repairman and every other repairman they know.
- rekoil 3y agoA repair business doing that wouldn't be in business for long though. There are APIs available for verifying whether FindMy is disabled for the device in question, that might be a better proof that the device is honestly sold to a repair shop for parts. For devices broken enough that they don't turn on there needs to be a way to remove them from FindMy without using the device though... is removing them from the list available at https://appleid.apple.com https://appleid.apple.com enough?
- Dylan16807 3y agoThat's a situation where some kind of delay could handle it. They don't need to reuse those parts instantly. I doubt the fraction of people that report a theft after months have gone by is very big.
- Gigachad 3y ago
- PeterStuer 3y ago"That dystopian future that science fiction authors warned us was coming, where DRM infected every part of our lives? We’re living in it. The result of these extensive limitations is a major infringement of ownership rights and amplification of the e-waste crisis." "Unfortunately, software is the anchor around an otherwise exceptionally designed phone. But without the ability to swap components, repairability suffers dramatically. We don’t purchase products for our team that score below a five, so iFixit will not be purchasing the iPhone 15 for internal use."
- renegat0x0 3y agoSome time ago Ballmer called Linus a cancer, but it seems DRM and corporate walled gardens are becoming one.
- flangola7 3y agoThis is disgusting and should be illegal. There's no morally sound justification for this.
- baq 3y agoActually there are plenty. Look at second hand car parts market and ask yourself how many of them come from stolen carts which are dismembered and packed in boxes the night they're stolen. iPhones are the same. There's a whole phishing industry to get people to unlock stolen iphones just so they can be wiped and resold.
- originalvichy 3y agoI guess you live in a country with lower amounts of theft
- Toutouxc 3y agoI don't know, I kind of get the security and theft deterrent angle. It's even something I'm willing to pay extra for — I mean, a phone is not a toaster, there's lots of important personal and work stuff on the phone, passwords, documents. None of my Apple devices has ever had to be repaired, but if something happens to my iPhone's Face ID camera tomorrow, I'm heading straight to an authorized shop, no way I'm letting some shopping mall booth tech take chances with something this important.
- _ph_ 3y agoIn my eyes, iFixit is doing the customers and the environment a disservice with mixing the actual repairability with the question of "DRM" in parts. Yes, limitations of self-repair should be clearly pointed out and discussed critically. But on the other side, if the phone becomes easier to repair for Apple-certified shops and Apple shops themselves, this is very important. Because repairs do get cheaper for the customer and repairing phones is good for the environment. Progress there should not be conflated with the DRM issue. They should rather introduce a second score, if they want to score on that.
- Hamcha 3y agoiFixIt repairability was always about end-consumer repairability. Why would they care if some shops can do it easier? Once it's off the consumer's hand it's their problem how they deal with it. The environmental impact of Apple's own internal practices is their problem not yours (and so far it's been just PR move after PR move to mess with consumers)
- _ph_ 3y agoIf the shop can do it easier, prices tend to be lower. Exchanging a broken back is vastly cheaper on the iPhone 15 compared to the 14. And of course, it makes a difference for the environment, whether a device can be repaired for a reasonable cost. First of all, because it can be repaired and isn't thrown away, and it is more likely that people are willing to pay for repairs, if they are cheaper.
- al_be_back 3y agoeven a simple charging cable (apple lightning) used to charge iphones etc have a chip, so your device can read cable capabilities when connected and configure it for: power, audio, video, data. there's a great DEF CON 30 presenhacktion on this [1]. as parts/ports are ever-increasingly multi-functional (and more advanced), there needs to be regulations in place to ensure no lockdowns, or preferential treatment. Of course we need hardened security and privacy, but I think Software should be used to detect & notify of atypical/dubious device parts so the User can chose/decide - akin to an AntiVirus. If certain level of security/safety is required (say gov device, Chief Execs, VIPs etc) then create an Industry Standard and let the OS report on device's Compliance. This way, the market (users) brock low-quality/nefarious tech, not a corporate. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p_njRMqzrY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p_njRMqzrY
- pcdoodle 3y agoWont buy a new iPhone until this is fixed. I usually keep a backup unit for parts, never have I needed to have a 3rd party "help me" keep my production equipment running.
- joshstrange 3y ago> But even we couldn’t convince them to switch to a standard port—it took the European Parliament to force that particular change. Anyone with a half-functioning brain knew USB-C was coming to the iPhone well before the EU decision. It's so annoying to see so many people parrot this line. Apple was one of the first to go all-in on USB-C and has been slowly expanding it to whole line. It only makes sense that the iPhone was the last to get the change.
- alphabettsy 3y agoThis. And they said the lightning connector would be the iPhone connector for the next ten years when it launched in 2012. IMO USB-C is just now in the last year or so truly ubiquitous and has the ecosystem to back it. That said, it probably would’ve been accelerated if Apple made the move on the iPhone shortly after the Mac. Of course, it would’ve pissed people like my best friend off, who complained for like two years about the last iPhone connector change.
- Theodores 3y agoThis is fine because anyone wanting a phone to call their mum, text their mates, take selfies, wake up with an alarm and get the football scores can buy a generic Android phone. It all works and the generic android phone can be replaced rather than repaired. Nobody is forced to be in the Apple ecosystem, and, since when did we all need a supercomputer in our pocket? Next we will be complaining about tyre prices on Bugattis. People can just buy a Ford.
- leotravis10 3y agoRelated discussions on this and Apple's deep history of hating right to repair: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37615238 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37615238 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37614279 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37614279