4 ms·
Ask HN: Can My Former Employer Control My MacBook After I Bought It from Them?
Some time ago, I worked for a company that, on my first day, asked me to buy a MacBook. I did, and they reimbursed me, but they requested information like the serial number and other details, which I provided since the MacBook was theirs. After some time, I left the company, and they offered me the option to keep the MacBook for 50% of its price, which I thought was a good deal and accepted.
However, I have a concern. Since they have those details, is there any way they could control (reset/remove the Apple ID) of the MacBook?
- illuminant 3y agoNo, not unless they installed special software (if so, just do a factory restore! That's why there is a hidden partition!) The serial number was for the warranty and in case it got stolen (you did get a receipt from them right?)
- mococa 3y agoIt makes sense and I think that was the case. They never asked me to install any software and I did a factory reset. Thank you.
- MissTake 3y agoMDM profiles are installed remotely and cannot be removed simply by doing a factory reset.
- illuminant 3y agoMissTake makes a good point regarding MDM. Google around to learn more. I found this stackexchange entry which says "To clean up after removing MDM, you want to follow the steps for your hardware and your macOS level to erase and reinstall a clean OS. Also confirm the company or school has released the device serial number from enrollment if you are taking ownership of the device from them." https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/442147/how-to-check-if-my-device-is-owned-on-mdm https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/442147/how-to-chec... Also, this looks really helpful: https://derflounder.wordpress.com/2018/03/30/detecting-user-approved-mdm-using-the-profiles-command-line-tool-on-macos-10-13-4/ https://derflounder.wordpress.com/2018/03/30/detecting-user-...
- iwanttocomment 3y agoApple Automated Deployment - which allows an employer to automatically install and use a Mobile Device Management profile to automatically monitor and control a MacBook even if it was shipped directly to a staff member - almost always requires the business to purchase the laptop itself through either an Apple Store business account or a certified reseller. If you personally purchased the laptop via retail channels, any software they could have installed to control or monitor the laptop would not survive a factory reset. If somehow the laptop was permanently associated via Automated Deployment with an MDM profile and you did a factory reset, you would get a popup during setup with the name of the company indicating that they would have the ability to control the laptop. You could ask them to remove the laptop from their Apple Business account and/or MDM solution and reset again.
- mococa 3y agoI think that's not the case, they never asked me to install anything, and after leaving the company, I did a factory reset. Thank you!
- daviddever23box 3y agoNo - if it was activated under your Apple ID, you're good to go.