Kitz Forum
Computers & Hardware => Apple Related => Topic started by: sevenlayermuddle on February 06, 2016, 09:30:20 AM
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Interesting story doing the rounds.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-35502030
Disregarding the BBC's (and the Guardian's) hysterics, it does appear to me that Apple are validating and enforcing the security and originality of the 'touch ID' built into the button of recent phones when you restore or update. But if you've had the button replaced by an unnoficial 3rd party repairer, the button's validation will fail and the phone will be bricked.
I can see exactly why they have done so. Their customers could be exposed to all sorts of fraud if a 'malicious' home button were substituted for the real item. But worth being aware, you must now resist the temptation for cheap repairs if you drop your phone. :'(
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So what's Apple's issue with having the screen repaired?
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No issue. Apple will repair it for you.
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So what's Apple's issue with having the screen repaired?
As far as I understand it's not the screen that's the issue, it's the home button, which forms part of the device's security by performing the touch-id.
I suppose it is comparable to what happens if you lose or break the remote key fob for your car. Most manufacturers make you jump through a few costly hoops involving their own dealer network, and authorisation by their own factory computer servers, before you'll get a new working key fob.
You can't just stop by the local market stall and get them to give you a new key fob, else cars would be rather too easy to steal.
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I think the problem is that how the upgrade to ios9 has rendered previously working devices into a brick without warning. Having had a quick scan on their forums there are some claiming never to have had any repairs, or those who have replaced cracked screens.
I know my SIL has had a few cracked phone screens in her time, and I know that my bro has had them repaired elsewhere. Despite the fact that he lives in near locality to an Apple store. There are many who dont. For me it would be the best part of a day to visit an Apple store to get a cracked screen repair. I can understand why people opt for a much cheaper and quicker local solution.
I'm not sure about the car analogy as I thought car manufacturers could not insist that repairs and servicing were carried out by them. If someone bumped into your car and you had the bonnet or windscreen replaced elsewhere, then that does not later make the whole car impossible to drive and render it an expensive decoration to sit on your driveway.
I can see exactly why they have done so. Their customers could be exposed to all sorts of fraud if a 'malicious' home button were substituted for the real item. But worth being aware, you must now resist the temptation for cheap repairs if you drop your phone.
Yes fair enough, but it appears to be affecting not just the home button repair. Apple should perhaps give people an option to back out. As you know the enforced upgrades with no going back is one reason why I am unhappy with Apple due to what it did to my ipad. The other moan I have about Apple is the silly stupid prices they do charge for repairs and addons. There should be some sort of backup for those who have already undertaken an unauthorised repair, and not leaving them with a paperweight unable to access data. :'(
What about those who havent had any repairs and also found themselves with a totally useless phone with all your data gone - link (http://www.dailydot.com/technology/what-is-error-53-iphone/).
The iPhone 6 Plus in question had never been taken apart, damaged, or otherwise compromised, and the mystery surrounding why it and others like it had been hit with Error 53 remains.
Tough luck if your phone is over a year old and you have no option but to buy another phone, its particularly not good when most phone contracts are for 2 years. Its fair enough if you drop it and break the screen, then that is your fault.. but disabling a phone through an iOS upgrade is not on.
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You'd think they would of simply made it so the touch ID sensor would be disabled as if couldn't be verified.
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Doesn't surprise me in the least, Apple have such little regard for their customers, they are just after more and more of their money.
As regards cars, their are a few you have to go to the main dealer for new keys and to get them coded, but the majority can be done by a suitable locksmith.
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From The Guardian, some more detail...
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/feb/05/error-53-apple-iphone-software-update-handset-worthless-third-party-repair
A spokeswoman for Apple told Money (get ready for a jargon overload): “We protect fingerprint data using a secure enclave, which is uniquely paired to the touch ID sensor. When iPhone is serviced by an authorised Apple service provider or Apple retail store for changes that affect the touch ID sensor, the pairing is re-validated. This check ensures the device and the iOS features related to touch ID remain secure. Without this unique pairing, a malicious touch ID sensor could be substituted, thereby gaining access to the secure enclave. When iOS detects that the pairing fails, touch ID, including Apple Pay, is disabled so the device remains secure.”
AFAIK, it's an urban myth that you have to buy a new phone once an out of warranty device breaks, Apple will repair or replace for a cost.
https://www.apple.com/uk/support/iphone/repair/other/
These prices are an 'ouch' being of the order of around half the cost of new, but not as bad as a buying new phone.
Of course they won't necessarily repair a phone that's already been tampered with by somebody else. That's quite reasonable, they're not refusing to fix their own product, they are refusing to make good somebody else's repair. The Guardian photographer had already had his fixed in a "local shop" in Macedonia, I suspect that would be the reason he was told he'd have to buy a new one.
As to why not just disable the Touch ID? Good question, and while I have no answer, I suspect it may be tied in to Apples quest to clamp down hard on privacy and security. Controversially, and I don't necessarily support them on this, modern iPhones are locked down so tight now that even the government security services, with all their massive resources, and even with Apple's help, are unable to access data on 'locked' iPhones.
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As you know the enforced upgrades with no going back is one reason why I am unhappy with Apple due to what it did to my ipad.
I'm not sure I'd agree that updates are ever enforced, you can always say 'no', but I do agree about the problems of being unable to go back.
It's odd because with OS X and Macs the policy seems the opposite, you can install later versions, you can go back, or you can multiboot with different versions, all fully licensed and legit. The only restriction seems to be you can't go back to an earlier version than that which shipped with the device, justified on the basis the hardware might not be supported.
I'd be fascinated to know the logic for that fundamental difference twixt iOS and OS X. I could speculate it might be down to the App Store model... would iOS customers start asking for refunds after they downgraded, for Apps that needed the higher version? And who would pay the refund, Apple or the developer? Even then, OS X has an App Store too, so that argument doesn't really stand up. ???
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Update on the Beeb I see, Apple have now issued a fix, and hinted about reimbursing people who were forced to buy new phones. :)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-35611756
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Very happy that that have decided to roll out a 'fix'. :)
Not sure how it would help those devices which are already bricked, but its a start.
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Very happy that that have decided to roll out a 'fix'. :)
Not sure how it would help those devices which are already bricked, but its a start.
I would guess that a restore through iTunes would be all that is needed. That seems to be the process that previously hit the block.
Or for those few who don't have a suitable PC with iTunes, a visit to an Apple Store.
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Or for those few who don't have a suitable PC with iTunes, a visit to an Apple Store.
Or use a 'Virtual computer' with widows os and install itunes. ;)
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In detail, this is the process I am guessing would now fix an affected iPhone, recovery mode and then restore...
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201263
Or use a 'Virtual computer' with widows os and install itunes. ;)
Might work but wouldn't comment, speaking from a Microsoft Free Zone. :graduate:
But I quite liked Apple's suggestion too (from the above link)...
If you don't have a computer, borrow one from a friend or go to an Apple Retail Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider for help.
. :D
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Yet another reason to avoid Apple products in my view.
Stuart
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Yet another reason to avoid Apple products in my view.
Stuart
Your opinion is your own, but have you actually owned or used any Apple product?
I am personally contemptive of Microsoft Operating Systems and Android mobile devices, and of any home AV apparatus bearing the name Sony in recent years. But that is all based on my personal experience of buying and using the products, rather than press reports or forums. Until I have tried things for myself I try to be open minded. :)
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In detail, this is the process I am guessing would now fix an affected iPhone, recovery mode and then restore...
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201263
Ahh, thanks. My concern was based on the previous issue that once the device showed the Error 53 message, all attempts of recovery failed including those who had tried to take it to an apple store or connect to i-tunes. Therefore I was unsure if itunes would even be able to find the device to roll out the fix to.
Ive just seen this on apple
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205628
Interestingly they now say
"This test was designed to check whether Touch ID works properly before the device leaves the factory, and wasn’t intended to affect customers."
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I wouldn't use any Android device because of security worries, but I do own a (apol) Sony WalkPerson that is Android based, a really old os, and because this device isn't connected to the Internet then I have no worries about security. Don't think that counts as enough of a level of experience in Android or Sony products in general. The Sony in-house malware CD scandal is enough to out me off buying Sony anything, same as the Phorm scandal means I will never buy BT.
I am a big Microsoft fan, but Windows 8 put me off using the products and I haven't done so in several years. I would rather like to know a bit more about Linux or BSD. iPad is what I use on a daily basis now, even though its crippled nature makes me frustrated. The fact that iPad apps can be uninstalled is a huge selling point in favour of iOS to me. I love my Blackberry Z10 (QNX) but don't use it much any more because I don't go out, unless I am in hospital, where the BBZ10 gets used as a 3G modem, needs updating to LTE poss.
Apol for wildly off-topic nature of this state-of-the-Union post.
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My dislike of Sony dates back to a nasty experience with a DVD player/recorder. It worked fine until one of the broadcasters switched to a different supplier of kit that encodes the broadcast video stream.
That new broadcast equipment exposed a bug in the Sony device. The DTV spec included reserved bit fields that were meant to be ignored and treated as zero. That is common in protocol specs as it allows future enhancements for later versions whilst being compatible with existing implementations. The new broadcast stream had these bits in use and Sony were clearly not ignoring the field, as it caused the picture to become malformed.
But Sony simply dug in their heels and refused to fix their bug, blaming the broadcaster. That was 7 or 8 years ago and I believe it is still unfixed. Only after several weeks of argument did the broadcaster, as the path of least resistance, agree to modify the broadcast apparatus to avoid the Sony bug.
Quite the opposite really of Apple's customer-friendly approach to this issue. Full credit to Apple here - I have always tended to judge vendors on how well they react to 'issues' and bugs, rather than the bugs themselves. :)
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Regulars will know my love of all things Apple ............ a beautifully crafted product, which is why you get what you pay for like anything in life.
From all the smart phones available in the market place, BTOR chose the i-Phone for our 22,000 engineers to use. With that level of purchase, you'd think BT would have some sway with the purchase price and the renaming of the device to 'O-Phone' ?? Nah nah ..... Apple held true to their nature and said no to both.
When a large corporate invests millions into purchasing e-Devices such as this, believe me, they will have done their homework. MS ??? A very poor relation from what I've used before in the past.
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I wonder if it the privacy & security features, and the ease with which security issues can be fixed, that make iPhones appeal to big corporates?
A friend of mine, in her career, reached a fairly senior position in government science division (not the UK). She's recently retired but tells me that for a while the only phones they were allowed were Blackberries, being deemed the only device that had been approved as being sufficiently safe & secure for senior staff.
Of course, proper blackberries are now no more, being just an Android device with a badge. I am fairly sure that iPhones are now standard issue. :)