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Apple’s T2 security chip blocks some third-party repairs of new Macs

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Re: Apple’s T2 security chip blocks some third-party repairs of new Macs

#31

Post by agoodthrowaway »

macintux wrote: post #3

> “This could be an attempt to grab more market share from the independent repair providers. Or it could be a threat to keep their authorized network in line. We just don’t know.” Good grief. "Apple adds systems integrity hardware to reduce the risk of local compromise" becomes "Apple is out to destroy your repair business" because reasons.

Thee articles are getting ridiculous. I recall the complaints about 3rd party repairs to the fingerprint reader on iPhone. I never understood the spin that Apple is blocking repairs on the device. The fingerprint reader is used to unlock sensitive information and make payments. Locking that prevents all kinds of Backdoor hacks around fingerprint security.

Re: Apple’s T2 security chip blocks some third-party repairs of new Macs

#32

Post by andrewstuart2 »

overcast wrote: post #18
andrewstuart2 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, it takes a lot more engineering to squeeze high-end components into a tiny case. I would there to be a much lower form-factor tax to pay on a Pro. That said, I'll probably always build my own just for the upgradeability and performance angle.

No one asked for a $10,000 small as humanly possible trash can. What pro user cares about how small their desktop machine is? All we wanted was the cheese grater with upgrade components. Unfortunately for them, I'll be building another machine this time around. Especially since I've moved all of my dev environments, and resource intensive tasks to PC.

What I meant was that I would expect the Pro to have a much smaller form-factor tax than a Mac Mini. Your $2k price point is probably not directly comparable to the price ranges you'd see from a larger case.

Re: Apple’s T2 security chip blocks some third-party repairs of new Macs

#33

Post by acid303 »

agoodthrowaway wrote: post #31
macintux wrote: post #3

> “This could be an attempt to grab more market share from the independent repair providers. Or it could be a threat to keep their authorized network in line. We just don’t know.” Good grief. "Apple adds systems integrity hardware to reduce the risk of local compromise" becomes "Apple is out to destroy your repair business" because reasons.

Thee articles are getting ridiculous. I recall the complaints about 3rd party repairs to the fingerprint reader on iPhone. I never understood the spin that Apple is blocking repairs on the device. The fingerprint reader is used to unlock sensitive information and make payments. Locking that prevents all kinds of Backdoor hacks around fingerprint security.

It was fine when they were blocking the readers, however the whole outcry started because Apple started bricking these phones with error 53.

Re: Apple’s T2 security chip blocks some third-party repairs of new Macs

#34

Post by wpdev_63 »

agoodthrowaway wrote: post #31
macintux wrote: post #3

> “This could be an attempt to grab more market share from the independent repair providers. Or it could be a threat to keep their authorized network in line. We just don’t know.” Good grief. "Apple adds systems integrity hardware to reduce the risk of local compromise" becomes "Apple is out to destroy your repair business" because reasons.

Thee articles are getting ridiculous. I recall the complaints about 3rd party repairs to the fingerprint reader on iPhone. I never understood the spin that Apple is blocking repairs on the device. The fingerprint reader is used to unlock sensitive information and make payments. Locking that prevents all kinds of Backdoor hacks around fingerprint security.

Well it's a damn shame that apple allows backdoors into their os as it makes this point mute.

Re: Apple’s T2 security chip blocks some third-party repairs of new Macs

#35

Post by mrobins »

The newest Above Avalon podcast makes the case that Apple is embracing secondhand markets and key to that is increasing device longevity.

If it’s true they’re thinking about devices as likely to have multiple owners it makes sense to take precautions against hardware backdoors.

https://www.aboveavalon.com/podcast/2018/10/26/above-avalon-...

Re: Apple’s T2 security chip blocks some third-party repairs of new Macs

#36

Post by 64738 »

overcast wrote: post #10
64738 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mine's a mid-2010 MBP, only paid $1600 new (later upgraded the memory and swapped to an SSD). It's still my main system eight years later. Unfortunately, I can't install newer versions of the OS. I'm stuck at no higher than 10.12(?), so now there's mainstream software I can't install because of OS version requirements. Kind of a bummer since it's still a good machine. 8+ years is a pretty good run, but that doesn't m…

You can definitely install a newer MacOS, they run fine. It's a 5 minute patch to the installer, and away you go. My 2008 has been running High Sierra without any issues. http://dosdude1.com/software.html

Very interesting! I have looked for ways to fake what version MacOS reports to installers, but was unaware of methods to install the newer OSes. Thank you, I sincerely appreciate the link :D

Re: Apple’s T2 security chip blocks some third-party repairs of new Macs

#37

Post by kalleboo »

andrewstuart2 wrote: post #32
overcast wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one asked for a $10,000 small as humanly possible trash can. What pro user cares about how small their desktop machine is? All we wanted was the cheese grater with upgrade components. Unfortunately for them, I'll be building another machine this time around. Especially since I've moved all of my dev environments, and resource intensive tasks to PC.

What I meant was that I would expect the Pro to have a much smaller form-factor tax than a Mac Mini. Your $2k price point is probably not directly comparable to the price ranges you'd see from a larger case.

The iMac Pro starts at $5000. I'd expect the Mac Pro to start somewhere around there. At the very cheapest, $4000 since you don't get a screen.

Re: Apple’s T2 security chip blocks some third-party repairs of new Macs

#38

Post by SEJeff »

fraudsyndrome wrote: post #28
SEJeff wrote: post #23

And by blocking some third-party repairs, it is also making it harder to replace components with "backdoored" ones like the "big back" bloomberg article posted recently. These types of changes at their core are good, even if they're annoying.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/22/aws-ceo-jassy-follows-apple-... Apparently that was debunked.

I realize it was debunked, but the core attack vector still exists. This type of thing makes it harder (but definitely not impossible) to pull off.

Re: Apple’s T2 security chip blocks some third-party repairs of new Macs

#39

Post by SEJeff »

21 wrote: post #27
SEJeff wrote: post #23

And by blocking some third-party repairs, it is also making it harder to replace components with "backdoored" ones like the "big back" bloomberg article posted recently. These types of changes at their core are good, even if they're annoying.

If all the apple shops in the world will get that tool, you can assume anybody capable of a hardware backdoor will also have access to it and a way to use it without raising flags (presumably the tool will phone back home for authorization).

Hence me saying it makes it harder, not that it makes it impossible.
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