MacBook Pro Repairs Will Have to Be Done Exclusively by Apple Soon. Is This Legal?

moar bargains on 06/10/2018 - 20:31
Last edited 06/10/2018 - 20:31

News story I just saw - https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/yw9qk7/macbook-pr…

Apple has introduced software locks that will effectively prevent independent and third-party repair on 2018 MacBook Pro computers, according to internal Apple documents obtained by Motherboard. The new system will render the computer “inoperative” unless a proprietary Apple “system configuration” software is run after parts of the system are replaced.

According to the document, which was distributed to Apple’s Authorized Service Providers late last month, this policy will apply to all Apple computers with the “T2” security chip, which is present in 2018 MacBook Pros as well as the iMac Pro.

The software lock will kick in for any repair which involves replacing a MacBook Pro’s display assembly, logic board, top case (the keyboard, touchpad, and internal housing), and Touch ID board. On iMac Pros, it will kick in if the Logic Board or flash storage are replaced. The computer will only begin functioning again after Apple or a member of one of Apple’s Authorized Service Provider repair program runs diagnostic software called Apple Service Toolkit 2.

TL;DR: Apple is planning to make your computer inoperative unless any repairs are performed by Apple.

Is this legal? I'm fairly sure that the ACCC would not look kindly on this (in the same vein as cars can be serviced by any qualified mechanic and not void the warranty) but haven't found a reference to say it's legal or not. Anyone shed some light? I would be absolutely ropable if I had bought a(n expensive) computer and then found out I didn't have a choice where I had to get it repaired. Obviously I'm talking about cases out of warranty.

Disclosure: I don't own a Mac, and this sort of stunt is another reason not to as far as I'm concerned.

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Comments

  • Smashed Avo on 06/10/2018 - 20:40
    +14

    Apple is as anti-consumer as they come.

    ACCC is a toothless tiger.

    Unless you value the Apple logo as a status simple it's incomprehensible why you would support a company with such unethical practices.

    • moar bargains on 06/10/2018 - 20:43
      +3

      Yep, this is my thought exactly. I know most of the big tech companies aren't perfect, but I feel that Apple is really the worst of the bunch when it comes to things like this.

    • Smashed Avo on 06/10/2018 - 21:27
      +1

      status symbol**

      Quality autocorrect.

    • timbertron on 08/10/2018 - 09:31

      In 2012 Apple released their iPad 3 with 4G. Only it wasnt 4G in Australia. The ACCC came down on Apple and they were forced to offer a full refund to anyone who had bought a "4G" iPad and put up large signs in store saying it wasnt 4G. So the ACCC has some power, but not enough

  • PAOK11 on 06/10/2018 - 20:55

    holy sheet you will need the T2 chip out of the terminator just to repair a Macbook ? good luck getting that unless your james cameron

  • [Deactivated] on 06/10/2018 - 21:02
    +8

    If you don't like it don't buy it. I don't like it and I won't buy it.

    • moar bargains on 06/10/2018 - 21:05
      +5

      Agreed! But if it's against the law, they shouldn't be doing it anyway right? And what if other manufacturers follow suit?

      • [Deactivated] on 06/10/2018 - 21:21
        +1

        Interesting article

        https://www.engadget.com/2018/10/05/macbook-pro-imac-pro-rep…

        • moar bargains on 06/10/2018 - 22:05

          Yeah good find. Makes sense though - they'd need to get the word and software out to all their stores first before activating this. It may still be coming, or it may be nothing.

          • resisting the urge on 07/10/2018 - 00:30
            +3

            @moar bargains: Apple write the diagnostics software as well as the POS and CRM software in all their stores. Their logic runs store CX from go to woah. It is no trouble for them to roll new apps out to their stores.

            Locking service tasks is anti-competitive no doubt. At the same time a sad fact of life for anyone making secure kit- we don't really have practical methods to do so otherwise. It has been on the cards for a long time: Stoopid humans built a broken Internet and failed to secure it. Now other humans use it to break everything of value that connects to it. The trouble for all vendors these days is producing hardware OR software that works and is secure. And by secure, I mean resilient to the most likely methods of attack it will face in the field- which includes people installing substitute components in the factory or supply chain (lookup some of the cases of Lenovo malware, Android tablet and phone malware. E.g. In the news this week it has become apparent that no-one knows how long SuperMicro kit has been supplied with secreted surveillance chips). On top of all the various hacks that gear has to encounter online and offline, with tailor-made tools, substituted components.

            The problem with all kit these days is the kinds of attack vectors it needs to protect against. The threat models now involve a lot of advanced hardware hacking, so whenever authentication modules are disconnected (finger print readers/FR Cameras), as is necessary to carry out repairs, there has to be a way of re-establishing inter-module trust before authentication and decryption can begin working with user data again.

            If you want something secure, you have to trust who made it and services it, and to a lesser extent, who accesses it. Therein lies the problem. For those that decide to trust Apple, they are trusting (in most cases) one party instead of a grab-bag of third party vendors, most of whom do half a job and have far more questionable approaches to security and protection of private information.

            No-one likes vendors locking their kit up, but how else to make it secure if anyone can open it up and compromise access or credentials?

            • b-t on 07/10/2018 - 13:32

              @resisting the urge: Very well explained! I’m glad that someone was able to put it in such an easy to understand way.

              Personally I believe all this media coverage is just click bait. Like, what top company doesn’t get negative attention anyway.

              Plus, if we think about it in a bigger picture, in a way it’s a win-win for both the consumer and Apple, as long as everyone is aware of how the ecosystem works.

  • smuggler on 06/10/2018 - 21:07

    oh boo hooo. Just run windows.

  • whooah1979 on 06/10/2018 - 21:23
    +6

    Is this legal?

    Selling proprietary closed systems is legal in many jurisdictions. Apple is protecting their software, hardware and their customers data from unauthorised access by third parties.

    • moar bargains on 06/10/2018 - 21:46
      +1

      Surely this is similar to repairs of a vehicle though? Imagine if, say, Volkswagen decided that any VW that wasn't repaired at a Volkswagen dealer wouldn't start anymore. That would go down like a lead balloon!

      • whooah1979 on 06/10/2018 - 22:05
        +1

        Vw may not legally prevent a licensed mechanic to repair let’s say the fuel injection system. They may however use proprietary software or encryption to prevent the mechanic from tampering with the cpu or mobo.

        • moar bargains on 06/10/2018 - 22:10
          +2

          Yeah, I can understand Apple preventing someone tampering with the firmware for example, but the TouchID board or display would be analogous to a fuel injection system would it not? The article suggests that these components, or even the trackpad or keyboard would be blocked.

          I guess there's the chance that a keylogger could be in a replacement KB, but I'm still sceptical about their approach…

          • whooah1979 on 06/10/2018 - 22:14
            -1

            @moar bargains: Mac users that aren’t happy could always switch to Microsoft and android.

      • whooah1979 on 06/10/2018 - 22:11
        -1

        One of the reasons we use iOS is because of proprietary closed system, encryption and their stance on protecting their consumer privacy.

      • cloudy on 07/10/2018 - 10:34
        +1

        Pretty sure this has happened in cars. And pretty sure ACCC has cracked down on it and stopped it. I cbf googling, but I'm 99% sure I've read this before.

    • cloudy on 07/10/2018 - 10:35

      Apple spokes person right there. Truth is, it makes them loads more money, but never let truth get in the way of a good sales pitch.

  • Randxyz123 on 06/10/2018 - 21:24
    +4

    I don't think it is that unreasonable and I don't think most buyers will care. Except for those on here.

    Given you can't easily buy spare parts for MacBook Pros, who the hell is going to try and repair one themselves? They don't have standard parts or chipsets, the ram and flash memory is all soldered so what's there to replace?

    Has anyone honestly taken an Apple laptop anywhere other than authorised repairers?

    I do own a MacBook Pro and am the go-to IT guy amongst my friends and family a lot of whom also like Macbooks.

    Every single time one of them has taken their computer anywhere other than an apple store to be repaired it's been made worse. A lot of the time they aren't standard like your average laptop and I'd rather take my $3000 laptop somewhere I know they know what they are doing.

    The ACCC will shut this down as they did with the iPhone screen replacements but again, each time any friend or a family member has gotten their screen replaced by some dodgy kiosk in a shopping centre, 2 days later the camera stops working or the thumbprint scanner doesn't work or there is another issue. They then have to take it to Apple anyway.

    • moar bargains on 06/10/2018 - 21:59

      Good to have an alternative opinion, and fair comment that you want to protect your investment. I guess a lot of computer hobbyists wouldn't buy a MBP to tinker with the hardware components. Surely your experience regarding third party repairs isn't universal though? If an alternative repairer wasn't legitimately able to repair them, surely they'd go out of business/stop offering that service?

      Also, to be fair to Apple, it's not clear how far the code/software will be spread. It doesn't actually say that it will be exclusively Apple stores just "a member of one of Apple’s Authorized Service Provider repair program", so could be other repairers will be able to do it anyway.

    • outlander on 07/10/2018 - 09:22
      +2

      This guy does

      Not all repairers are dodgy kiosks

    • try2bhelpful on 07/10/2018 - 09:25

      My other half used online instructions to dry out his Mac after water ingress. The Apple repair guys did a diagnostic and said it would be too expensive for them to touch it. Kudos to them they didn’t charge to look at it. As long as it doesn’t just trigger on case open I don’t have a big issue.

  • N1NJ4W4RR10R on 06/10/2018 - 22:34
    +2

    I don't see how the ACCC wouldn't view this in the same way as the "void if removed" warranty stickers, seeing as this is vastly worse.

    Feel sorry for the Yanks. Seen some critisize the ACCC but they do stuff, yet to hear anything about the US gov actively stepping in and stopping companies doing scummy things.

    • AdosHouse on 06/10/2018 - 23:00
      +1

      In the US normally its the government backing the companies over the consumers. Hence why political party funding is a good business over there.

  • trustnoone on 06/10/2018 - 23:43
    +1

    I'm guessing ACCC will fight it, similar to other countries, we've seen similar here:
    https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/accc-takes-action-agai… over the error 53 issue where third parties repaired

    Pretty sure a few places will fight it, will be interesting to see what comes out of it.

  • b-t on 06/10/2018 - 23:44
    +4

    I find it funny that people have such mixed opinions.

    I agree that it's pretty lame that only Apple (+Authorised Service Providers) can repair the newer hardware, but think about it in another way — if anyone could just replace a critical piece of hardware (for example, the Touch ID sensor), then wouldn't the whole idea of [security] and [privacy] not exist? It would just be a matter of time before someone built Touch ID clones that could effectively unlock anyone's iPhone (+ MacBook Pro) and it'd be selling for top dollar on the black market.

    At least in the current situation, only a limited number of entities can tinker with the hardware and still have it in working order.

    The only thing that I find which is stupid with the whole new AST system (saw this myself when I was getting my MBP repaired by an ASP) is that it's all cloud-based now. You have to get your MBP to connect to Internet Recovery and boot up AST 2, to do most of the diagnostics…

    • moar bargains on 07/10/2018 - 00:06
      +2

      Yeah it's interesting. At the end of the day, it makes no difference to me, as I have no Apple products.

      In terms of security, if someone has physical access to your device it's basically game over. So yeah, limiting this does help I guess, but you still have to trust your device to someone (usually unknown).

      • b-t on 07/10/2018 - 00:12
        +2

        Not exactly though — from my research in the Apple ecosystem.

        Disclaimer: I have a number of Apple products.

        This is the same argument as why Apple didn't help the FBI unlock that terrorist's iPhone. While in all seriousness, they could have, since that specific phone didn't have a Secure Enclave (iPhone 5C), it's slightly off topic. In the newer products, especially those with the T2 chip, encryption is tied to the device and it is impossible (due to the engineering) to get the encryption keys off the device as it's literally burnt into the chip.

        Replacing hardware/components that interact with the T2 chip (like the Touch ID) should break that trust, and I personally believe that is how it should work.

        if someone has physical access to your device it's basically game over.

        If you have FileVault enabled on your MBP, and you have one of the newer Macs you'll be fine.

        INB4 — some says: "that's if you have full trust in Apple and believe they aren't working with the NSA"

  • pjcook on 07/10/2018 - 07:48
    +1

    Stop reading click bait… Not true.

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