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

Apple Unveils The iPhone 5S

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 715 posts

Re: Apple Unveils The iPhone 5S

#91

Post by lfuller »

cwilson wrote: post #81
pilif wrote: post #73

Now that we have to consider the iPhones to be backdoored by the NSA, I wonder whether I really want to give them my fingerprint together with the rest of my data. I'm also not so sure whether a fingerprint can't still be easily faked (like it was possible on that Mythbusters episode for example). Personally, I think I'd rather stay with my passcode. Did you btw know that you can turn off "simple passcode" and then u…

Apple specifically stated that your fingerprint is stored and encrypted only on the A7 chip, and not iCloud or anywhere else. It's mentioned in the video as well: http://www.apple.com/iphone-5s/videos/#video-touch

I believe that pilif's issue is with potential undisclosed storage of the fingerprint data on Apple's servers.

Re: Apple Unveils The iPhone 5S

#92

Post by windexh8er »

rdl wrote: post #34

I'm sad it seems most likely the 5S will be fingerprint OR pin/passphrase to unlock. I can imagine situations at borders or in interactions with police where compelling a fingerprint swipe is physically easier than compelling a passphrase entry, and I think it is also legally easier to compel later. The ideal would be a 4-8 digit numeric PIN with strong "10 tries and it dies" plus fingerprint, and as a backup, a full…

They need some finger boolean options... If 'index right' unlock, if 'pinky left two times within 10s' wipe.

Re: Apple Unveils The iPhone 5S

#93

Post by awestley »

aw3c2 wrote: post #62
sdoowpilihp wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First of all, this is not a constructive comment. Second, they explicitly said that the fingerprint never leaves the phone (and believe me, people will be looking to verify. It would be a huge boon to a persons career to be the person that caught apple in that lie).

How are you going to check? iOS is closed-source. You cannot monitor the traffic 24/7 over the whole lifetime of the device. Maybe the fingerprint delivery can be ordered remotely.

It's a phone... If you are concerned that your fingerprints MIGHT be uploaded you need to consider just not using a smartphone. AKA "a voluntary spy device".

Re: Apple Unveils The iPhone 5S

#94

Post by jontas »

cwilson wrote: post #81
pilif wrote: post #73

Now that we have to consider the iPhones to be backdoored by the NSA, I wonder whether I really want to give them my fingerprint together with the rest of my data. I'm also not so sure whether a fingerprint can't still be easily faked (like it was possible on that Mythbusters episode for example). Personally, I think I'd rather stay with my passcode. Did you btw know that you can turn off "simple passcode" and then u…

Apple specifically stated that your fingerprint is stored and encrypted only on the A7 chip, and not iCloud or anywhere else. It's mentioned in the video as well: http://www.apple.com/iphone-5s/videos/#video-touch

I'm just playing Devil's Advocate here, but if in fact the NSA required copies of all fingerprints, I doubt Apple would be allowed to publicize it.

Re: Apple Unveils The iPhone 5S

#95

Post by gfodor »

pilif wrote: post #73

Now that we have to consider the iPhones to be backdoored by the NSA, I wonder whether I really want to give them my fingerprint together with the rest of my data. I'm also not so sure whether a fingerprint can't still be easily faked (like it was possible on that Mythbusters episode for example). Personally, I think I'd rather stay with my passcode. Did you btw know that you can turn off "simple passcode" and then u…

Serious question -- what is the big deal if someone gets your fingerprints? I can't think of the last time my fingerprint was used as some infallible method of identification, if ever. If the spooks want it, they already have it. I'd rather someone get their hands on my fingerprint than my passport, driver's license, and credit cards, and it seems much more difficult to steal than those things.

I think the fingerprint scanner is positioned not to be some indestructible lock like RSA or a safe-deposit box, but a reasonably decent deterrent like door locks and The Club. It seems to be at the same level of security as your iPhone passcode -- a well-equipped intruder can certainly get into your stuff, but your mom or a pickpocket won't be able to.

Re: Apple Unveils The iPhone 5S

#96

Post by klodolph »

cliveowen wrote: post #39
United857 wrote: post #13

Two biggest new things for developers: * OpenGL ES 3.0 support (things like true HDR rendering, etc. will finally be possible) * 64-bit support. For most app developers, this will just be a recompile. The tricky part is that any closed-source 3rd party SDKs/libraries/frameworks used will also have to be rebuilt first by their authors.

More importantly, what are they talking about when they say 64-bit? The architecture uses 64-bit addresses? The processor uses 64-bit registers? What are the main advantages to current CPUs?

"64-bit processor" almost universally refers to using a 64-bit word size: 64 bits of virtual memory space (even if only some of it is mappable) and 64-bit ALUs.

This was well covered when desktops switched, but the main advantages are that certain operations are faster (e.g. RSA) and the extra address space lets you use mmap() and the page cache for everything, instead of writing your own stupid cache.

Disadvantages are that 64-bit code consumes more memory. There are ways around this.

Re: Apple Unveils The iPhone 5S

#97

Post by cocoflunchy »

pilif wrote: post #73

Now that we have to consider the iPhones to be backdoored by the NSA, I wonder whether I really want to give them my fingerprint together with the rest of my data. I'm also not so sure whether a fingerprint can't still be easily faked (like it was possible on that Mythbusters episode for example). Personally, I think I'd rather stay with my passcode. Did you btw know that you can turn off "simple passcode" and then u…

If you've ever left the country, they already have your fingerprints anyway...

Re: Apple Unveils The iPhone 5S

#98

Post by uptown »

bedhead wrote: post #45
alxbrun wrote: post #3

When I see Apple putting forward as a key feature the number of bits in their processor in a general public announcement... I'm really feeling the "new" product is not really new. In the past Apple was always laughing at the PC ads boasting processor speed and memory capacity.

Smartphone hardware is in the 9th inning. These devices have mostly hit the natural limits of what's achievable for now. Bad for Apple since this effectively levels the playing field.

"These devices have mostly hit the natural limits of what's achievable for now."

Isn't that always the case? But "now" is a moving target.

Re: Apple Unveils The iPhone 5S

#99

Post by seiji »

Cookingboy wrote: post #74
mikeash wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple laughs at numbers-based ads when they are behind, and play up the numbers when they are ahead. Remember the Pentium snail ads? There's nothing surprising here. They have a spec advantage right now and they're playing it up. If and when they drop behind again, they'll be back to talking about more qualitative aspects.

Isn't that what EVERY company does when it comes to marketing? I have never taken a single marketing class but I'd think putting emphasis on your strong points and gloss over your weak ones is common sense?

Not on Hacker News. On Hacker News your press conference should alternate new feature paragraphs with apologies.

"We have a new fingerprint sensor! But, you probably don't want to use it because privacy crazies online think Apple is a front for the NSA."

"We're moving to a 64-bit architecture! But, geeks with low reading comprehension think it's not that useful because we have tiny RAM, so you should just ignore this point too."

"We have the best mobile phone camera ever created! But, everything was already good enough, so we've probably just wasted two years developing this and wasting shareholder dollars instead of entering the virtual cow social abuse market."

Post reply on HN