This is a foolish statement.
Any bad actors with power can just add themselves to that subset of humanity - this is the same reason we dont add software special backdoors that only special sets of humanity can unlock.
This analogy doesn't make sense.
The alternative to adding backdoors is to not add backdoors (which is safer). The alternative to restricting hardware repairs to a subset of humanity is not restricting them at all (which is more dangerous).
Sometimes I think people vastly overestimate the skills and powers of the security services...
And the analogy to backdoors doesn't work, because for the user who isn't a crypto-analyst (and, tbh, even for those) this system is almost tautologically safer than not having it.
It bears mentioning that security of personal computers has vastly improved over the last decade or so, both Windows and Mac. It's ridiculous to disparage their efforts as useless.
And this is assuming you trust apple to inspect their parts closely. Their computers are still made in china. Why couldn't the chinese governnent coerce their suppliers to commit sabotage?
Also, when was the last time your Mom was the target of a hardware attack? Is she a foreign diplomat or intelligence officer?
I don't see how this removes any choices. It's still possible to buy other non-Apple hardware that doesn't have those restrictions.
And note that, as mentioned in the article, Apple is actively lobbying against Right-to-repair, which will help other corporations get away with similar practices. So for how long is it "still possible" to have any choice whatsoever? Can you buy, for example, a mobile device with an open baseband? No - already the consumer can't vote with their wallet nor have choice in many, if not most, matters of consumer technology.
If security was the primary concern, Apple would sell this as a separate model variant (manufactured in the USA) and charge a lot more for it.
Gays, minorities, journalists, dissidents, whistleblowers etc are all being targeted and jailed in many countries in the world. And in China it's entire swathes of the general public. And so much of this is directly attributable to lax privacy and security.
And I don't know believe that there is a huge market for cheaper repairs of Macs. Most people are still just going to local service providers who are authorised by Apple anyway. Otherwise getting hold of parts can be difficult.
If they weren't actively shitting on repair companies, I'd say there'd be more of a market.
You can get an iPhone screen repaired for peanuts. Apple quoted $190 to do it. Shop did it for $95.
Speakers replaced on a MacBook Pro? $45.
Third party iPhone screen replacement is generally not worth it due to shoddy warranty by the shop and noticeably worse screen quality. Where it is worth it is when you are already out of warranty and trying to extend the life of your phone.
The SSD is probably closest, although Apple does have custom part #s with custom firmware.
See, it's all about pricing, not quality of the parts. Last iPhone I sent for repairs at work came back with an invoice of 340€ for a screen replacement. At work that's something we _have_ to do, we can't send the phones anywhere we want. But if it was a personal phone, if I'm out of warranty and I'm going to be billed 1/3 of the cost of the phone for a new screen, or 100€ for a refubrished part somewhere else, it would be an easy decission.
Now, if that aftermarket repair was out of the question, you start wondering if it's worth to spend 1100€ for the more basic version of the phone, or you just spend 200€ on a Xiaomi and if it breaks you still can buy 4 phones more if they break. Or maybe you buy an iPhone still, but then when it breaks you just throw it away and buy an Android phone. Maybe the first time it won't happen, but after you have spent 1500€ on a phone and something else breaks(battery? lightning connector maybe?) it comes to a point where you stop throwing money into the hole.
On the laptop side, I get what Apple is doing. It has their new flashy T2 chip with integrated Touch ID and they're trying to do the same thing they did with the iPhones and nobody is going to stop them (well, maybe in EU they force them to allow the sale of Apple Diagnostic software to 3rd parties or fine them)
They're trying to convert their computers into big iPhones and treating everyone like a child that has to be taken by the hand and told him what to do all the time. And that is my problem with Apple. I'm not worried of somebody putting a backdoor in my laptop (and if they wanted to backdoor my laptop a year ago they only had to type 'root' [enter] [enter], no need to open the case), I'm not that interesting to anybody or any agency, but I don't like to be treated like I have no rights on the things I buy, and I don't need permission from anybody to do whatever I want with whatever I paid with my money.
With the exception of the SSD. The screen and speakers etc are the same as Apple uses.
The issue is with allowing replacement of parts where you could do something that compromises security. Replacing someone's display assembly with one that disables the on light. Or swapping keyboard with one that has a key logger.
It has nothing to do with ensuring product turnover whatsoever.
If society as a whole constantly falls for the "security" argument then it won't be long before every aspect of your life is controlled by some central entity.
I feel obligated to bring up that timeless quote again: "Those who give up freedom for security deserve neither."
In fact chances are, most third-party repair shops are going to end up finding such an employee who's prepared to authorize a bunch of additional repairs for a little extra cash on the side.
Also, Louis Rossmann on Youtube one of the most vile, deeply corrosive personalities out there and his audience enjoys the bashing of Apple left and right. He has essentially marketed himself as Anti-Apple and his message is always "Apple is Evil".
He points out bad engineering/manufacturing in $2000+ laptops and I agree with his insights regarding how Apple makes it seem like the customer/user is wrong to cover their bad engineering.
Ala -- the antenna is fine, it's your fault you have bad reception. You are not holding the phone correctly
https://venturebeat.com/2010/06/24/steve-jobs-on-iphone-4-re...
But it turned out Apple was right about that; the iPhone 4 sold for years after the bumper program ended and with high consumer satisfaction.
This is the RDF in action.
"I trust Apple to run this CA and gate access to it _far_ more than I trust my personal self to do so. This security improvement will make me safer, as well as my non-engineer coworkers, and my mom."
Holy goodness. In the 2000s it was Google will save the world "Do no evil". Now it's Apple "Keeps us safe".
You might trust Apple but do you trust your government to not pressure Apple? Apple cares about making money, not its users.
Hardware attacks are virtually a non issue now. Pretending this is about security is just nonsense.
The correct way to handle this, however, is to offer to sign the customer's key for a given unit or order, with a mechanism for succession (i.e. simultaneously sign a successor key, and expire the current one).
Yes, in a theoretical world, you could set up your own crypto authority and sign your own device repairs, assuming Apple were to build support for this. But if you brick your CA you’d brick your laptop if it ever needed repairs someday, which would leave you thousands of dollars poorer and in need of a laptop.
I trust Apple to run this CA and gate access to it _far_ more than I trust my personal self to do so. This security improvement will make me safer, as well as my non-engineer coworkers, and my mom.