UKC

Warning to iPhone users, I think the intent was good, but......

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-35502030

In reply to Stu Tyrrell:


I'm less trusting/more cynical. I think they are just securing their repair business.
I'm also wondering if it is legal when thinking back to the judgements made about car servicing and how the manufacturers can't compel you to use a franchised dealer for servicing.

In reply to gethin_allen:

80 quid for a screen repair in corner shop, 265 with Apple. Sure, no other way they could secure user data.

D

In reply to gethin_allen:


Agreed - and can you remember the drama of the anti-trust legislation against Microsoft over Internet Exploder? Yet now Apple and Google are the world's big evil, no one bats an eye. Weird.

In reply to ByEek:


Apple and Google do not have effective monopolies in the way Microsoft did (or were heading) in the 1990s and 2000s. They are more of a duopoly, which is less concerning.

In reply to Stu Tyrrell:


... instead they lost one so far loyal customer, who bought his first Apple computer in 1987. I had anyway decided to switch to Unix boxes when upgrading my lab computers (three or four planned for this year alone), but now I will also not stick with my iPhone when it will eventually need a replacement.

I will rather replace the three or four commercial apps that I regularly use. I do not need the help of Apple for taking the piss out of myself.

Also, such tie ins have been ruled to be illegal under European antitrust law for car repairs, so I wonder how long this will last if it goes to court.

CB

In reply to ByEek:


Apple have always been good at pulling that trick though. The reason they lost out to MS in the first place was because they didnt play well with others and locked everything down.
As Neil Williams says though they arent at monopoly stage. Personally I suspect thats at least part of why they run their pricing the way they do. They cant afford to get too large a market share.

With regards to google there are various investigations going on. Particularly in Europe and around the ad side of things. For Android think some have been started but struggling to get anywhere.

In reply to Dauphin:

Could you clarify this please? I managed to crack my screen and so am taking my phone to Apple on Weds to repair. I was lead to believe the cost of a the job is £86.44 unless the frame is bent. I thought this is actually fairly good value given OEM parts. A 'cornershop' fix is likely to use very cheap digitizers and cost at least half as much.

Not to mention the vulnerability to data theft...

In reply to A Longleat Boulderer:

I replace mine myself when they crack, but there's no way in hell I'd pay £80+ rather than pass it in to a local store for a quick 30 quid job.

I suspect the 'very cheap digitizers' is likely paranoia on your part, the digitizer is a hardy bit of equipment and they are pretty much all one and the same.

We won't discuss the data theft, I assume you buy a new computer every time yours breaks as well.

In reply to Removed User:
I replace all other parts myself- broken sleep wake button on iPhone4 for example. But a quality digitizer costs more than £80 that Apple charge from any of the reputable online retailers (iFixit etc). In my experience the cheap digitizers crack incredibly easily - it's a false economy. When I bought an OEM it was fine. However, maybe this was poor luck. I only have my own experience. This isn't even to mention A, B+, B- quality with dead pixels.

Re data theft. What do you mean? I use my mac for the one every few years I physically back up and don't rely on iCloud. It's seriously easy to steal data from a phone. Hence the reason for the invention of these: http://syncstop.com/

In reply to A Longleat Boulderer:

Have you seen how busy the high street repair guys get? The one nearest to me (liverpool) sometimes has upwards of 100 phones in the queue for repairs. They trade on their reputation so I'm not sure why you think they would be after your data. Seems very cynical to me.

In reply to A Longleat Boulderer:

IIRC the digitiser and glass are separate components (they certainly are on HTC phones) and cracking the screen doesn't necessarily involve replacing the digitiser.

Also, why do you assume that the risk of data theft is not there if you send stuff to Apple? If you look at cases where insurance/incident data has been stolen you'll see that it's normally rogue operator inside massive companies.
And in many cases it's possible to back up and wipe your data from your phone before sending it in.

In reply to Removed User:

Data isn't main issue for me. Far from it. In fact I only tacked it on as an afterthought to first post. However, it's not hard to see how simple it'd be for an employee to make a bit of cash on the side selling on iPhone data. Within about 20 seconds on Tor you can find people advertising to buy private data. Really would be simple.

My main issue is with the quality. In the past, cheap screens I've fitted have seemed to break if they even look at a hard surface. OEM displays seem to me to be significantly tougher and with fewer dead pixels. In fact since iPhone 3G in 2008 I've only ever broken two OEM screens (second being the one I broke last week when my phone fell out of my backpack at a climbing wall), I've broken four cheap screens (all replacements for the first OEM I broke and never broke again one an OEM was back on there).

I've also heard of people selling phones to Mazuma or similar with cheap screens... Mazuma have not paid the price they offered as the phone isn't 'standard'.

In reply to gethin_allen:


Sorry, referring to digitiser assembly. Changing just the 'glass' is fiddly and leaves a gluey residue. My issue is with the quality of the product and just how easily cheap ebay versions break.


To be clear, this isn't my main problem. Just a smaller one in addition. Definitely possible for Apple employees to steal data. However, personally I trust Apple hiring protocol more than I do my local cornershop in Brixton.


Yes, very true.

In reply to A Longleat Boulderer:



Fair enough. I can only go off my experience as well (and being a technical sort I'm consistently passed phones to fix so that plays into it somewhat) and haven't had issues with buying whatever the cheapest digitizer available is. I've used my local repairer when I haven't had time to do them myself and they do a great job at a decent price, never had issues with dead pixels or things breaking after replacement due to component failure rather than it being a fault of the user. Maybe I've just been lucky. That must be /at least/ 50 digitizer+glass combos for iphones, from 3gs up to 6.

In reply to Stu Tyrrell:

The screens for apple phones consist of several parts that are bonded together - outer glass, digitiser, LCD screen and finally the backlight. Quality varies and higher priced reputable repairers will be using the exact same spec as apple (probably made in the same factory as the apple screens) There are cheap screens out there that are junky, probably factory seconds. It took me a while to nail down a good supplier of quality parts.
This latest 'problem' exists not because of the screen being replaced but because of the biometric home button has been replaced during the screen replacement repair.
On the iphone 5S, 6, 6S and higher end ipads the home button serves as the finger print reader. The finger print data is stored on an IC on the button ribbon cable and not on the logic board. When the screen is removed it is very easy for the ham fisted or inexperienced to lift the screen too high off the frame and tear the ribbon cable. This is a disaster as the fingerprint data can never be read by the phone however the button, ribbon cable and IC can be replaced along with the screen and everything is good, or was until this latest update. The update process will check the home button security id against the database from when it was manufactured and if they don't match its 53 error code.
Reputable repairers know all about this and forearmed is forewarned. They'll use tools such as a padjack or an ishclack which lift the screens but limits the amount they lift them not to damage the ribbon cable so it can safely be disconnected then before the entire screen is lifted.
I suspect full details of the IOS security features are contained in the small print and users agree to them by downloading and installing the update.

In reply to Stu Tyrrell:

They say it is only touch ID for iPhone 6. But there are countries (like where I am now) where iStuff is sold but there is no authorised repairer.

In reply to A Longleat Boulderer:

IPad air 2 just to clarify, OEM digitizer in the local repair shop vs return to Apple. Im assuming since it has touch ID it will be bricked in the shop around the corner on ISO 9 There's definitely revenue margins being fought for here as the number of units being sold falls.

D

In reply to Dauphin:

A screen replacement would be fine.

They are only bricking devices that have had the home button (touch ID reader) replaced. If the home button isn't genuine, in theory, a nefarious type could use a fake home button to communicate to the iPhone/iPad and unlock any device. This is an obvious security risk, but coupled with Apple Pay, it could be a right disaster if someone's phone was stolen.

In reply to Paul Phillips - UKC and UKH:

From the website

A spokeswoman said: "When an iPhone is serviced by an unauthorised repair provider, faulty screens or other invalid components that affect the touch ID sensor could cause the check to fail if the pairing cannot be validated."

Doesn't appear that way, seems that the touch ID is paired with several components including the screen, if critical pieces of hardware are replaced by non-authorized center the cryptography produces the incorrect key and the device is bricked. I'll have a further look at this today.

D

In reply to Dauphin:

Security problems - That's what I was trying to say, when I posted this.