Stefan Mileschin

Attempt to kill third-party repairs

The Tame Apple Press has made much ado about the fruity cargo cult Apple’s super cool game-changing T2 security chip which is supposed to make Macs like Fort Knox. But according to the Verge, the T2 chip is a nasty bit of DRM whose main job is to lock down Apple devices from third-party repair services.

iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens has warned that the T2 is "a guillotine that Apple is holding over" product owners.

It's the key to locking down Mac products by only allowing select replacement parts into the machine when they've come from an authorised source -- a process that the T2 chip now checks for during post-repair reboot.

"It's possible the goal is to exert more control over who can perform repairs by limiting access to parts", Wiens said.

Wiens thinks that this could be an attempt to grab more market share from the independent repair providers. Or it could be a threat to keep their authorised network in line.

Apple confirmed to The Verge that this is the case for repairs involving specific components on newer Macs, like the logic board and Touch ID sensor, which is the first time the company has publicly acknowledged the tool's use.

But Apple could not supply a list of repairs that required this or what devices were affected. It also couldn't say whether it began this protocol with the iMac Pro's introduction last year or if it's a new policy instituted recently.

https://fudzilla.com/news/pc-hardwar...out-lock-downs