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Comment by sangnoir | Hacker News Reader

> The whole point of Activation Lock is to ruin the resale value of stolen Apple products.

Software-locked products are just be broken up and/or sold for parts[0] - so thieves will only be slightly less motivated. The downside is donated and estate sale M1 mainboards will be condemned to the trash heap. Less technical people are also more likely to throw the whole computer away.

0. I do this already to feed my repair addiction. I buy from my favorite charity thrift store, so the goods are not likely not stolen. A device with cracked screen can be fixed by parts from an activation-locked device.

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> Software-locked products are just be broken up and/or sold for parts

Yeah, but the value is a fraction of a working machine. Base M1 Macbook Airs are selling for 800€, I doubt you'd get half of that for the parts in an activation locked Macbook. And it would take 10 times as long to sell it, because the market for parts is tiny compared to the market for working Macs.

If there was a big market for used parts, then the M1 MacBooks would not be getting scrapped as the video implies.

> Base M1 Macbook Airs are selling for 800€, I doubt you'd get half of that for the parts in an activation locked Macbook

All true, but the next question is: would a thief not steal a MacBook Air if they are only getting €400[0] rather than €800? IMO, halving the reward won't make a dent on the rate MacBooks are stolen, whole inconveniencing everyone else who cares about aftermarket repairs.

0. Actual thieves are unlikely to sell their wares at anything close to full price, unless it's a an organized ring - so the actual difference might be between getting €200 or getting €100. Either is free money, from thieves perspective

Thieves might need a fence to sell a locked Macbook for parts, but there's no way a thief would sell an unlocked, working Macbook to someone for 200€. It's trivial to sell working Macbooks on local classified websites. You don't need a fence to sell an unlocked Macbook.

In my experience, if you sell it for a good price (10-20% below average) it's going to be sold within days. So the reward would be 800€ for unlocked Macbook vs maybe 100€ for a locked Macbook if you are lucky selling it for parts to a repair shop that doesn't ask questions.

And that's assuming you have a base model: Models with extra RAM and SSD go for higher prices, but if you sell it for parts those upgrades are worthless.

> So the reward would be 800€ for unlocked Macbook vs maybe 100€ for a locked Macbook

As someone who frequently browses used electronics - you're way off on the locked Macbook prices - you probably won't even get a locked iPad (latest 3 generations) for €100 - let alone a MacBook.

A locked 2020 M1 MacBook Air is going for $319[1] on eBay. Compared to $600[2] for an unlocked version of the same model on the same site. So my instinct of about half-price for locked device checks out

1. https://www.ebay.com/itm/364344402004

2. https://www.ebay.com/itm/266332684599

I wasn't saying that you could buy a locked Macbook for 100€, I was trying to say that the thief might sell it for 100€ to a dealer, because it's harder to sell a locked Macbook for parts than a working Macbook.

But maybe I was wrong, and locked Macbooks are just as easy to sell as unlocked Macbooks.

I guess one pro to the lack of end user repairability, due everything being soldered to the mainboard, is that the majority of components are permanently affixed to the bricked ssd and security chips.

Battery and screen are about all that could be chopped and some imo

People are surprisingly resourceful: there's an old YouTube video I saw of someone in Shenzen building a working iPhone from parts.

> Battery and screen are about all that could be chopped and some imo

Battery and screen, and case, trackpad, keyboard, speakers, audio daughterboard, ports, touch Id button, hinges.

I dream of learning to do electronics repairs (as a hobby). Were / are you a (former) professional?

I'm a complete noob, I can only do assembly-level repairs: replacing batteries, screens & such. All I do is unscrew things, remove ribbon cables and put things back together - and maybe some terrible de/soldering if replacing a battery.

I only got into it when I had to replace a cracked tablet screen (the Nexus 7 was great!) All you need are basic tools, spare parts, the right YouTube/iFixIt video, patience, and the accepting that you may make a mess of your current project.

If you want to try it out, I'd recommend fixing a broken gadget that would have otherwise been discarded. You'll exercise finding the right repair tools and how to find the spares online

That's great to hear! I've got a few devices laying around that roughly match that description, would like to find a good source for stuff with cracked screens. Until then eBay it is!

Is there no serial matching on M1 preventing reuse of mobo and other parts?

To my knowledge - not for laptop parts like display assembly or keyboard. Do you think such system would be a net-positive? I.e. 3rd party recyclers & repair shops having to contact previous owner before they can use parts that have been sitting for months/years on a shelf.

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