Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Apple's Proprietary Software Locks Kill Independent Repair on New MacBook Pros

motherboard.vice.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 455 posts

Re: Apple's Proprietary Software Locks Kill Independent Repair on New MacBook Pros

#81

Post by mleonhard »

qaq wrote: post #52

Bought first non Apple notebook in 12 years turns out Ubuntu is fairly usable and docker performs way better than on OS X.

Which laptop did you get and which version of Linux do you run?

I bought a 2015 DELL XPS 13 (9343) Developer Edition with Ubuntu. Ubuntu 16.04 has worked very poorly on it from the start. The installer crashed and I had to reinstall. Then the wifi was very slow. It would frequently lock up on resume. Hardware video decoding would occasionally crash and switch to software decoding which is choppy and eats battery power. The touchpad registered clicks while typing. One time the wifi suddenly stopped working after an update. Each of these problems was mostly solved by spending a few hours researching and running various commands as root. Some were fixed by updates after a few weeks. The latest bug is that right-clicking on the taskbar (panel? dash?) does not show any popup menu. So the only way to add buttons for launching programs is to make text files on the desktop with a special format.

I'm sick of the bugs in my Linux laptop. I'm about to get a Mac again.

Re: Apple's Proprietary Software Locks Kill Independent Repair on New MacBook Pros

#82

Post by userbinator »

torgian wrote: post #75

Don’t worry. The wizards in China will figure out a way around this.

Most likely by cracking the software and then distributing it amongst themselves, but eventually copies will(should?) find their way out into the larger Internet.

Service software for a lot of other consumer hardware (printers, scanners, cameras, etc.) can be found online if you search hard enough.

Re: Apple's Proprietary Software Locks Kill Independent Repair on New MacBook Pros

#83

Post by paavoova »

thinkling wrote: post #46

Back when end users could replace (upgrade) RAM and storage, I cared about keeping that flexibility. Now those are soldered to the motherboard and generally non-upgradeable from the start. This change affects “display assembly, logic board, top case (the keyboard, touchpad, and internal housing), and Touch ID board”. I could see wanting an alternate, after-market keyboard, but otherwise am happy to stick with Apple p…

> Back when end users could replace (upgrade) RAM and storage

They still can, by purchasing an older laptop or newer "business class" device. A 2011 Sandy-bridge Thinkpad is perfectly usable even today, and is serviceable in most aspects from battery, SATA/PCIe slots, aftermarket display, and even the CPU on some models.

> Now those are soldered to the motherboard and generally non-upgradeable from the start.

Which is exactly why it's so important to have the freedom to repair. It's no longer a simple SSD swap that any end-user can perform themselves, now to do any such repairs you need specialized tools, knowledge of circuitry, and even a dedicated lab. For Apple to hinder these efforts is Apple turning otherwise perfectly serviceable parts into disposable junk that only they have the capacity to repair - it doesn't need to be like this.

> The main hindrance

What about the hindrance in being restricted in servicing and repairing something you paid for and own? Have you heard about John Deere and their practices?

Re: Apple's Proprietary Software Locks Kill Independent Repair on New MacBook Pros

#84

Post by Waterluvian »

thinkling wrote: post #46

Back when end users could replace (upgrade) RAM and storage, I cared about keeping that flexibility. Now those are soldered to the motherboard and generally non-upgradeable from the start. This change affects “display assembly, logic board, top case (the keyboard, touchpad, and internal housing), and Touch ID board”. I could see wanting an alternate, after-market keyboard, but otherwise am happy to stick with Apple p…

Requiring authorized/first party repair is manifestly bad. Consider what the automobile landscape would look like if the same were true.

Re: Apple's Proprietary Software Locks Kill Independent Repair on New MacBook Pros

#85

Post by qubax »

FireBeyond wrote: post #48
fermienrico wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My opinion about Apple has changed recently. They're now actively promoting privacy and I am OK with trading repairability with privacy. Also, Louis Rossmann on Youtube one of the most vile, deeply corrosive personalities out there and his audience enjoys the bashing of Apple left and right. He has essentially marketed himself as Anti-Apple and his message is always "Apple is Evil".

How on earth is this being spun into "Apple protecting your privacy!"? This is the RDF in action.

It's amazing how so many of these comments read like Apple PR.

"I trust Apple to run this CA and gate access to it _far_ more than I trust my personal self to do so. This security improvement will make me safer, as well as my non-engineer coworkers, and my mom."

Holy goodness. In the 2000s it was Google will save the world "Do no evil". Now it's Apple "Keeps us safe".

Re: Apple's Proprietary Software Locks Kill Independent Repair on New MacBook Pros

#86

Post by userbinator »

floatingatoll wrote: post #8

This is an excellent step for protecting MacBook Pro users against hardware invasions (such as US and China border authorities). If you trust the user to replace hardware, you permit the user’s hardware to be altered by malicious actors. By restricting final approval of hardware replacement to a vetted subset of all humanity, you ensure that it’s vastly more difficult for the vast majority of malicious humanity. Yes,…

This security improvement will make me safer

If society as a whole constantly falls for the "security" argument then it won't be long before every aspect of your life is controlled by some central entity.

I feel obligated to bring up that timeless quote again: "Those who give up freedom for security deserve neither."

Re: Apple's Proprietary Software Locks Kill Independent Repair on New MacBook Pros

#87

Post by stale2002 »

Aloha wrote: post #14

If you don't like the particularities of how with how a business does business, don't buy their products. If enough people agree with you, the company will either go out of business, or will change its business practices. The what amounts to hand wringing over Apple, mostly gets people flustered, without actually changing anything, but perhaps the direction of a few electrons somewhere.

Instead of that, we can use any and all means necessary to cause damage to the company engaging in these practices.

There is nothing immoral about attempting to cause monetary damages to bad actors.

Re: Apple's Proprietary Software Locks Kill Independent Repair on New MacBook Pros

#88

Post by aikah »

wrs wrote: post #73
crankylinuxuser wrote: post #40

So, with more of this happening, I have a bigger question for HN. Why does used Apple hardware command a premium, even years later? Is this really come down to status? I don't think I need to discuss the anti-user features that Apple does. This crowd is more than aware.

Because it’s pretty great hardware. And if you price out trying to duplicate it, without arbitrarily discounting for features you don’t want, it’s not even much of a premium.

> Because it’s pretty great hardware.

It's not great, it's pretty, sure, but not great. The Last MBP spec were pretty underwhelming, the keyboard was of dubious quality and for the price it's easy to find better specs, more robust and with no extra fee when it comes to warranty. When you buy a Mac you're buying a brand, not a superior product, the "premium" is the logo on rear... Unfortunately I use both Logic and Final Cut on a daily basis so I have no choice.

Re: Apple's Proprietary Software Locks Kill Independent Repair on New MacBook Pros

#90

Post by stale2002 »

threeseed wrote: post #35
colejohnson66 wrote: post #5

I never understood Apple with this. They fight hard to make long lasting devices (iOS 12 can be installed all the way back on the 5s IIRC), but then fight back against repairability

It's a tradeoff between owner repairability and security. And Apple is betting that the second is more important. This isn't a black/white issue. It's which shade of grey you prefer.

It is not a trade-off.

Apple is instead purposely trying to make it more difficult to repair their devices.

This is evidenced because they ate lobbying against right to repair laws.

What possible, non bad faith reason could apple have for opposing people's right to repair their own property?

Post reply on HN