Apple's Mac security is so good, it's sending used M1 MacBooks to the scrap heap

Posted By TheNewsCommenter: From Macworld.com: “Apple's Mac security is so good, it's sending used M1 MacBooks to the scrap heap”. Below is an excerpt from the article.

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Apple’s efforts to protect a user’s data are a major selling point for customers. If your MacBook is stolen, it’s extremely difficult for the thief to bypass the laptop’s security measures and access the data as long as you’ve taken advantage of the tools at your disposal to lock down your machine. However, those same security measures can render a Mac useless in a legitimate sale on the second-hand market.

A report by Vice highlights the frustrations of an independent computer repair specialist and refurbisher John Bumstead, who tweeted about the “millions” of MacBooks that have been “condemned…to death” because of Apple’s Activation Lock. Activation Lock associates a device with an Apple ID, and that Apple ID username and password have to be entered to gain access to the Mac, even if it has been erased. It is automatically turned on when Find My Mac is activated within the Apple ID settings on your Mac.

Hey @tim_cook @apple, why have you condemned this beautiful M1 MacBook and millions like it to death? Its battery has only 4 load cycles, and it wants to LIVE! #righttorepair #activationlock pic.twitter.com/R2Mr2PeTCH

Bumstead told Vice that Apple’s security is “formidable” and has become practically impossible to jailbreak or bypass on Apple’s M-series Macs. The T2 security chip that Apple introduced on Intel Macs in 2018 is now integrated into the M1 and M2 system on a chip and if it’s not properly deactivated, it’s causing Macs that are less than two years old to be scrapped and stripped for parts.

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Hey @tim_cook @apple, why have you condemned this beautiful M1 MacBook and millions like it to death? Its battery has only 4 load cycles, and it wants to LIVE! #righttorepair #activationlock pic.twitter.com/R2Mr2PeTCH

— John Bumstead (@RDKLInc) January 22, 2025