Another reason to hate #Apple We're seeing more 2018+ MacBook Pro/Air donations — but Apple's T2 chip means even after iCloud sign-out and reset, the firmware stays locked to the original account.
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@codemonkeymike I haven't donated mine yet (I was just going to take it to the apple store for recycling after wiping it) - as long as I, the user, wipe it first, it's OK..?
@noodlemaz Apple will just shred it.. so it's "recycled" for the metal.. but they're not re-using it.
In my experience, it's best to wipe it, then set it up with a new local account with a dummy admin password.. then put it as a sticky note on the keyboard.
If you plan for it to be useful again. You don't need an icloud password, just a local admin password.
Hope that helps!
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@coreysnipes it really breaks my brain. And it's just starting..
The ONLY solution seems to be this super long and complicated procedure of literally unsoldering the t2 chip, directly reprogramming it, resoldering it, and then hookign it up to another mac in DFW mode,etc.. HOURS of work just to use a machine you own
@codemonkeymike That's just malicious.
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@codemonkeymike Does that apply to the mac os installer or also the UEFI thingy for installing linux or windows too?
@cygnathreadbare thing is.. the t2 disables ANY boot from USB.. so you need to set the boot security to none.. but you can only do that from inside the recovery center.. which.. you guessed it.. you need to authenticate to even use.
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Another reason to hate #Apple We're seeing more 2018+ MacBook Pro/Air donations — but Apple's T2 chip means even after iCloud sign-out and reset, the firmware stays locked to the original account.
Without donor contact, these machines are useless.
I've upcycled ~1,000 older Macs, but T2 era machines will end that. It's controlling, creates e-waste, and will only get worse. #righttorepair matters — Apple couldn't care less.
@codemonkeymike Link to information about this? Are you saying that the donors failed to clear these machines properly before getting rid of them, or that it is impossible for them to do so?
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@codemonkeymike That's just malicious.
@coreysnipes textbook Apple.. I hate it so much.
Like, I can't even tell you how many lives have been improved and SAVED because I was able to install linux on an older mac and give it to someone.
This kills that..
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@codemonkeymike Link to information about this? Are you saying that the donors failed to clear these machines properly before getting rid of them, or that it is impossible for them to do so?
@LoneLocust on more than one occasion i've had a user go through ALL the steps to clear the computer. And yet.. even with all that, I still can't unlock the boot security without a local admin password.
The only thing that seems to work is for someone to wipe it and then set up a dummy account.
But you have to be a motivated user to do all that. Most people are just going to toss it to donate it. Or inherit it, etc.. thats a huge percentage
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Another reason to hate #Apple We're seeing more 2018+ MacBook Pro/Air donations — but Apple's T2 chip means even after iCloud sign-out and reset, the firmware stays locked to the original account.
Without donor contact, these machines are useless.
I've upcycled ~1,000 older Macs, but T2 era machines will end that. It's controlling, creates e-waste, and will only get worse. #righttorepair matters — Apple couldn't care less.
@codemonkeymike those rapscallions
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@codemonkeymike Link to information about this? Are you saying that the donors failed to clear these machines properly before getting rid of them, or that it is impossible for them to do so?
@LoneLocust i feel like Apple should be FORCED to unlock this when a user deletes a device from their appleID devices list.
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@paulywill they can.. of course. But you need to unlock the bootloader to do that.. and you can't do that while its locked
That's the entire issue..
@codemonkeymike I am interested to see if you have tried this method
And
You need a second Mac that works and you control the one with a firmware lock using Apple Configurator. I have converted Apple Macs to run Linux but all of them have been 2017 or earlier.
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@codemonkeymike I am interested to see if you have tried this method
And
You need a second Mac that works and you control the one with a firmware lock using Apple Configurator. I have converted Apple Macs to run Linux but all of them have been 2017 or earlier.
@vicash yup.. doesnt work if you don't know the activation password.. AND if you can't prove ownership.
It's shit mate
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@vicash yup.. doesnt work if you don't know the activation password.. AND if you can't prove ownership.
It's shit mate
@codemonkeymike did you try https://theapplewiki.com/wiki/Checkra1n their site says they have experimental support for T2 processors.
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Another reason to hate #Apple We're seeing more 2018+ MacBook Pro/Air donations — but Apple's T2 chip means even after iCloud sign-out and reset, the firmware stays locked to the original account.
Without donor contact, these machines are useless.
I've upcycled ~1,000 older Macs, but T2 era machines will end that. It's controlling, creates e-waste, and will only get worse. #righttorepair matters — Apple couldn't care less.
@codemonkeymike @ottaross But I *love* that thieves are disincentivized, just like with iPhones.
If I understand, you need the original user to remove the lock before donating, but they don’t know? I wonder if Apple could build in a feature like “contact this locked machine’s registered account holder and ask if they’re really done with it”. Then I could approve if I really donated/sold it, or click “absolutely not, brick it forever w/o my password” if I didn’t. (Hmm, how could that be abused?)
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@LoneLocust i feel like Apple should be FORCED to unlock this when a user deletes a device from their appleID devices list.
@codemonkeymike but if Apple can remove the lock then surely it’s equally possible that someone else could too which would sort of defeat the purpose, wouldn’t it?
Certainly, I would agree that if a person goes through the steps to wipe the machine to give it away or sell then that process should absolutely remove all of the security locks from the machine.
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@codemonkeymike @ottaross But I *love* that thieves are disincentivized, just like with iPhones.
If I understand, you need the original user to remove the lock before donating, but they don’t know? I wonder if Apple could build in a feature like “contact this locked machine’s registered account holder and ask if they’re really done with it”. Then I could approve if I really donated/sold it, or click “absolutely not, brick it forever w/o my password” if I didn’t. (Hmm, how could that be abused?)
@sidb Sadly Apple doesn't show interest in helping unlock.
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@sidb Sadly Apple doesn't show interest in helping unlock.
@ottaross Yeah, they fall down on a lot of things lately
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@ottaross Yeah, they fall down on a lot of things lately
@sidb Sadly so.
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@sidb Sadly Apple doesn't show interest in helping unlock.
@ottaross Still, I don’t think the lock feature itself is villainous. Would be nice if they could do something for locked donations though, at least if the owner it’s locked to can be contacted.
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@cygnathreadbare thing is.. the t2 disables ANY boot from USB.. so you need to set the boot security to none.. but you can only do that from inside the recovery center.. which.. you guessed it.. you need to authenticate to even use.
@codemonkeymike uggh that's awful, I expected you to just be unable to log in on a new mac os installation but at least be able to use something else there
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@paulywill they can.. of course. But you need to unlock the bootloader to do that.. and you can't do that while its locked
That's the entire issue..
@codemonkeymike @paulywill What exactly keeps the bootloader locked ?
If its a password or a config, or anything that is runtime change-able, it is then kept alive by the onboard battery.
So cutting off ALL available power should hard reset the thing.The only way around this is if Apple hard coded the lock/password/whatever on a silicon level.
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@coldclimate it really hurts every one of my brain cells. How could they not have thought about this?
@codemonkeymike @coldclimate Well. The use case they were trying to solve for was someone steals your laptop and tries to access it without your permission.
Hard part is getting owners to unlock it before donating/selling to someone else.
