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Planned obsolescence: Apple attacked for the “serialization” of its spare parts

lemonde.fr

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Re: Planned obsolescence: Apple attacked for the “serialization” of its spare parts

#71

Post by [deleted] »

circuit10 wrote: post #37
lotsofpulp wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More complexity, more chance of problems. For example, my dad used to use Androids. Without fail, he would get malware on them, he simply could not resist bypassing the security prompt to click on something he wanted to click on. Or maybe he does not understand English, or the concept of malware enough to properly heed the security warning pop up. With iPhone, it’s not possible, so there is no worry, and no malware.…

The topic seems have changed to sideloading here, for that they can bury the setting somewhere or require connecting a PC over USB (but hopefully without involving Apple’s servers or requiring a Mac) to enable it if that’s really their motivation But their main motivation is likely control and profit more than safety

[deleted]

Re: Planned obsolescence: Apple attacked for the “serialization” of its spare parts

#74

Post by andsoitis »

Yizahi wrote: post #63

I remember how Apple had been turning magnets in the iPad covers so that reversed polarity prevented them from being compatible with iPad of previous generation despite having exact same form factor and size. Such a pro consumer corpo. :)

> Apple had been turning magnets in the iPad covers so that reversed polarity prevented them from being compatible with iPad of previous generation

That's not actually what happened. See https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/the-case-of-the-myst...

Re: Planned obsolescence: Apple attacked for the “serialization” of its spare parts

#75

Post by rickdeckard »

vr46 wrote: post #56
okennedy wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are simple ways to allow hardware changes without losing security. One straightforward idea: Once the phone is unlocked (e.g. by pin code) allow the user to authorize the new hardware. This is effectively what Apple does already. The usual difficulties with asking users to make security choices don't really apply here: Physical changes to the hardware are requires, so security fatigue isn't as big a deal. Maybe…

I don't think this is quite that simple, because one user's authority could potential trump everyone else's in a company or group, once a vulnerable device infiltrates the system. Having trusted authorities works well when everyone has to rely on the security of the device. Once you can bypass that authority you effectively have a cheap MITM attack.

Why? If this is really an attack-vector a company considers, it could streamline hardware-repairs into their internal processes.

If the device is enrolled in a corporate MDM, the confirmation of HW-changes could be delegated from the user to the admin, with the device working in "degraded" mode (i.e. no FaceID) until the admin approves the Repair.

Even more, large companies could contract with specific repair-companies to authorize them for their company devices and their repairs are synced into the corporate processes.

This would create a paradigm-shift in that market as repair-volume suddenly becomes more predictable ("I'll repair phones when they come in" --> "my company is the exclusive repair-center for a footprint of 10k corporate devices"), repair-companies will commit to certain performance, then drive smaller-volume contracts and individual repairs to offset the cost of such guaranteed turnaround-times, and so on...

Re: Planned obsolescence: Apple attacked for the “serialization” of its spare parts

#76

Post by Kaibeezy »

Hypothetically speaking, if one had substantial data obtained through an atypical usage method that backed the hypothesis a manufacturer “soured the milk” on a widely used technology to pave the way for its removal, what would one do with such information, provided one desired to avoid imperial entanglements?

Re: Planned obsolescence: Apple attacked for the “serialization” of its spare parts

#77

Post by yipbub »

andsoitis wrote: post #74
Yizahi wrote: post #63

I remember how Apple had been turning magnets in the iPad covers so that reversed polarity prevented them from being compatible with iPad of previous generation despite having exact same form factor and size. Such a pro consumer corpo. :)

> Apple had been turning magnets in the iPad covers so that reversed polarity prevented them from being compatible with iPad of previous generation That's not actually what happened. See https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/the-case-of-the-myst...

That article doesn't confirm or deny whether that happened. It outlines the speculation and says that Belkin fixed something.

Some users on ifixit said that switching the polarity worked for them: https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/83099/Smart+Cover+Magnet...

Re: Planned obsolescence: Apple attacked for the “serialization” of its spare parts

#78

Post by Our_Benefactors »

Kaibeezy wrote: post #76

Hypothetically speaking, if one had substantial data obtained through an atypical usage method that backed the hypothesis a manufacturer “soured the milk” on a widely used technology to pave the way for its removal, what would one do with such information, provided one desired to avoid imperial entanglements?

Contact tech reporting outlets

Re: Planned obsolescence: Apple attacked for the “serialization” of its spare parts

#79

Post by sgjohnson »

throwaway290 wrote: post #9
2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #2

Interesting bit (translated) : > A practice contrary to the principle of the anti-waste law > In France, serialization is theoretically prohibited, according to Alexandre Isaac. Since the entry into force of the anti-waste law in November 2021, the consumer code mentions that "any technique, including software, by which a marketer aims to make it impossible to repair or recondition a device or to limit the restoratio…

Any technique with makes it impossible to repair or recondition by definition also makes it more difficult to pwn. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35954422 for one example.

> Any technique with makes it impossible to repair or recondition by definition also makes it more difficult to pwn.

If you can touch it, you can pwn it. This is applicable to every piece of hardware ever existed, including the M2 Macs. Just because we don't have the (publicly available) tools (yet) doesn't mean that they can't be pwned.

More difficult? Yes. So difficult that currently thrown away Macs with Activation Lock on are solid e-waste? Yes. But don't expect it to stay so forever.

Re: Planned obsolescence: Apple attacked for the “serialization” of its spare parts

#80

Post by bluescrn »

flappyeagle wrote: post #61
pibechorro wrote: post #18

What a shitty company. Time and time again they shaft consumers yet people buy into the ecosystem. Marketing works unfortunately.

Apple has by far the longest support for older devices in the industry. 1 phone that’s not thrown away is 1000s of parts saved.

And how many phones+tablets are throw away due to the inevitable expiry of glued-in non-user-replaceable batteries?
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