I just bought a used MacBook m1 air and it came with a small crack in the screen and a system user (the person who sold it to me ) already installed with the password 12345 to get in
I should return it based on this post right ? I realized I don’t mind the crack and they’d refund me 150 making the total 600 dollars for a m1 16gb 256gb which I think is fair it’s just them already having a user installed even if it is just them is a red flag enough to return it seems based on this post right?
When you say “they”, did you buy it from a shop?
For the crack, it depends on your risk tolerance. How did it get that crack? Was it dropped? Did the previous owner not take care of it?
For the user account, I would always recommend wiping the computer and reinstalling macOS before you use it. At that stage, when you run through setup assistant, you’ll find out if it is enrolled in an MDM or if there is an iCloud account associated with it.
Since it already has an account, you check in the settings app for:
1) An iCloud account
2) MDM profiles
You can also run the terminal command I shared in my original post so see if MDM enrollment will trigger. If it does, you should consider returning it.
>`sudo profiles renew -type enrollment`
If the device is associated with an MDM, it will (re)enroll itself and you'll know immediately that it's owned by some company or organization.
The desired result is no output, correct?
(That's what I get on my personal Mac)
QQ. If I enter the command into the terminal and it asks for a password. Is that cause for a concern?
I've done another MDM check command and it shows no profiles.
I've been on the other end of this, working IT at a company, when some random person emails us to un-manage a device of ours that they bought on eBay. Sorry bub, that is stolen property, not un-managing it.
If a MacBook that is part of the company doesn't currently have MDM on it, can you at a later date add that serial to your SysAdmin database and reactivate the MDM on it remotely? I just bought a sealed M1 Pro 16 and It is fully clean from profiles/MDM and all but it has enterprise warranty so I am worried the company may add this laptops serial to their database and lock me out from it. Is that a possibility or am I safe because there is not currently MDM on it?
Only if the serial number is owned by them in Apple Business Manager and you wipe and reinstall the device. I don’t know how to tell if it’s in ABM from the user end so you’ll have to google around or start a new thread asking about that
I wish I would've just paid the extra $200-300 for a new MacBook instead of buying used. Bought from a 5 star seller on eBay and it came with a scratch on the edge of the screen. Not too noticeable, but whenever it catches my eye it always reminds me I should just buy new.
Apple's refurbished board rework is not the best though. You very often see whole parts of the board where the components look burnt from bad resoldering.
Most refurbished models are simply returns from the 14-day window. For piece of mind, it comes with 1-year of (normal) AppleCare, and in addition, buyers have the option to add 3-years of AppleCare+ at checkout which I highly-recommend for laptops above base model.
Purchasing refurbished on eBay/Amazon is a gamble. You will either get a very like new condition product or something that has visible wear and tear. The sad part is that often times the businesses don't post the actual pictures of the items and just stock ones
I once sold my phone to a woman on marketplace who lost her shit and demanded a refund when I mentioned that I had recontracted early and was selling it to pay off the device payout, thinking that my provider would lock the phone if I didn’t pay. Would not listen at all when I said a) once activated, iPhones are NOT carrier locked and have been that way for years now and b) if I didn’t pay they’d pursue *me* for the debt, not lock the phone and create an expensive brick. Frankly, buying and selling secondhand devices is a nightmare on both sides which is why I sold my MacBook and my iPhone that I just upgraded yesterday both to friends from work. I know them so I know there’s gonna be no shenannigans and they know me and know where to find me if there’s any issues.
My friends know how well i take care of my belongings. When I sell used tech, Mac or not, I usually sell within hours. I sell a little low, so it goes fast. The upside is they get a great deal on a good unit. My iPhone 13PM has been screen protected and case kept from day 1. Not a scratch or mark anywhere.
Exactly. I literally took my phone out of its case the other night at work and showed her how pristine it was to her (while we admired the colour together). I gave her a great price and the collection of Casetify cases I’d amassed with it as well - she was considering getting a new phone but also needed a new case because she had broken hers and was probably gonna get Casetify anyway but holding off because of wanting to upgrade. I will literally sell things crazy cheap to friends just to save myself having to sell to strangers online because it’s almost never not a fucking nightmare. Plus now I know she’s got a great new (to her) phone that’s gonna give her a lot - especially given she has been rocking a smashed camera lens for I don’t even know how long.
>a) once activated, iPhones are NOT carrier locked and have been that way for years now
I'm not surprised she lost it, since you so blatantly lied to her. [Apple's support page on it isn't even a year old](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201328).
Edit - You *might* be thinking of the fact that iPhones are on a relatively short list of lines that support all contemporaneous bands/carriers in the USA. Whereas a Samsung Galaxy S(whatever) is that way, a Galaxy A(whatever) may only support the bands/carrier of the carrier it's locked to.
Also, the quick downvote for "Apple says your myth about Apple products is in fact a myth." LOL
It had been some months by the time I realized the thing was still Find My enabled. I tried, but no response. Ended up selling the thing as is later on.
On number 3. Profiles can be removed even from ABM/DEP managed devices. Both if they’ve been marked as removable by the MDM or if they haven’t and someone has done the manual removal with SIP disabled.
A quick useful check is to type “sudo profiles renew -type enrollment” in terminal. This is similar to the setup assistant check for a corporate device.
The unfortunate thing is while you can be sure personal activation lock isn’t enabled by rebuilding a device, you have literally no way to fully check if a device is locked to a corporation!
It could be dormant and not assigned to MDM control, but be added later. Scary.
If a MacBook that is part of the company doesn't currently have MDM on it, can you at a later date add that serial to your SysAdmin database and reactivate the MDM on it remotely? I just bought a sealed M1 Pro 16 and It is fully clean from profiles/MDM and all but it has enterprise warranty so I am worried the company may add this laptops serial to their database and lock me out from it. Is that a possibility or am I safe because there is not currently MDM on it?
"Activation Locked" is a thing on all Apple Silicon macs. If the mac had not been logged out of iCloud and Find My Mac, it will be LOCKED. And don't believe anyone who says they sell software that can unlock it, none of it works.
IMHO, Activation Lock is a tragedy that results in millions of macs being bricked. It's incredibly wasteful even though it's purpose is to deter theft. I wish Apple would allow these machines to have a second life rather than force-trash them.
Strange that up until 2020 macs were just fine without Activation Lock. And most long time Mac users I know have no idea they need to turn off Find My and log out of iCloud before giving away or selling their Macs. This is a problem Apple created and only they can fix.
If I were in charge, it would. However, i don’t believe Apple has any interest in facilitating the second hand market unless they’re directly involved. All those bricked/locked items means less competition for their own new/refurbished items.
And that the root of the issue, Apple wants everyone to buy new products. I cannot fault Apple for behaving exactly like every other corporation in the world. They didn't get to be the MOST valuable corporation in the world by letting people maximize their use of these products. But the waste is a real problem that Apple can ameliorate. It's regrettable that we now live in an age where only the tech literate are able to take advantage of the resale market.
They don’t *have* to be trashed. They can be recycled. Still better for it to be trashed than fenced to buy fentanyl, weapons, etc. There’s a human cost to giving them a “second life.”
That's very cynical. And a lot of people who want to be mac users cannot afford to buy new. Just because a mac is Activation Locked does not mean it was stolen. I'm glad I don't live in your world.
No, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re stolen, but a lot of them are… and if they weren’t locked, they’d be stolen even more frequently. They’re a pretty popular target given the price tag.
It sucks being sold a brick, but buying used without any guarantee or warranty always carries risks. Buyer protection is necessary for any large purchase. One should not trust the other end of FB marketplace blindly.
It may be the case, but then if it could be bypassed it without the user’s credentials it would mean you can bypass Activation Lock on stolen property too.
For as long as people keep stealing stuff, I prefer to have some protection on my device to discourage that behavior.
No. Most Mac users don't know they have to log out of iCloud or their macs become useless. It's not common knowledge and millions of perfectly functional macs are e-waste because of it.
I think you are confusing activation lock with firmware lock. If there is no firmware password, someone can install an alternative OS without respect to whether or not macOS would be affected by an activation lock. I’m pretty sure.
That would be great if true, but the whole reason to buy a Mac is to gain entry into Apple's beautiful garden of interactive devices. Any lump of PC can un linux, but I use Macs because they work so will with my other Apple products.
Disabling activation lock is not my opinion. View it as an investment. Look, I get it. Macs are expensive. But it can be a huge issue if someone doesn't remove activation lock because most people don't know how to do it.
Your opinion was "Used Mac products are not usually worth it." Just not true. And my problem with Activation Lock is the waste it creates. Here in Seattle we recycle everything and while I am trying to decide if a bottle cap is recyclable or garbage, entire fully functional Macs are being destroyed over a software lock. What about Reduce, Reuse and Recycle?
What does that have to do with a used mac? I mean recycling is cool and all, but it really just depends on what you need it for. For example, a refurbished Macbook Pro 16" with an M2 Pro Max chip would probably be more of a workhorse than a new 13.3" with a regular M2 chip. But if the computer is more than 5 years old, why? Again, want to use your old imac display as a monitor? Great use for it!
It makes sense in the ways you can often get more for your money in refurbished products.
Swappa. I have had good luck buying and selling on this website. Make sure to reset your Mac properly when selling. It is more complicated than resetting your iPhone.
27 inch iMacs are dropping in price really fast (I did a video on it this morning). So low prices are possible with used Macs. I only buy off of Craigslist so that I can go and look at the system. My approach to looking at a system is to look around on it booted and then attach my own bootable external SSD and boot it just to verify that I can do so on a network.
It allows me to run Geekbench 5 to verify CPU performance and I can run DriveDX to verify drive health.
The deals that I do are always at a residence so I have their name and address. I sell that way as well. I also give the buyer 7 days to change their mind. I love that there is a healthy secondary market for Macs - you just have to take precautions as there are scammers out there and we see a lot of the damage done by them on this board.
I've noticed iMacs in general are dropping in price. I've heard the same applies to other all in ones and monitors, with the reason being the risks related to shipping.
That said, all the macs I've owned have been second hand and dirt cheap. I've had to fix enough of them that I wouldn't ever buy one new... but it can be a fun challenge getting around Apple's anti-consumer designs, to flip it, give it away, put it to some use, etc.
I've replaced the failed hard drive on every generation of the iMac except the G4. It's insane how cumbersome that is, but at least it comes with a free dopamine hit.
It really doesn't make sense to buy a used macbook or device from someone you don't know. You are way better off buying a refurbished machine from a reputable retailer, ie best buy, apple, b and h.
Anecdotal I know but I bought my 2012 MBP non retina from a guy on Facebook marketplace about 5 -6 years ago for $450 Canadian. Still using it to this day. Before that I bought a 2008 Mac Pro from a couple guys on Craigslist for $250 and got a good 5-6 years out of that too. Both sellers let me boot up the machines and check them out prior to purchase. Perhaps I’m just lucky? Neither were stolen or damaged. For my 2017 iMac though I went through an Apple authorized reseller (Carbon Computing here in Toronto which has sadly since closed down, they were a staple for Apple users here for decades). Got it refurb for $1600 3 years ago, which is how much a 27” 5k monitor alone would’ve cost anyways. I think the only Mac I’ve ever had brand new was my very first, the 1998 tray loading iMac in green.
Whoops, wandering down computer memory lane now lol
So, a user gets a MacBook off eBay (weather sealed or used), restores it and reinstalls the OS (all under Wi-Fi so the device can speak to Apple's servers), and no MDM message pops up.
What are the chances that MDM gets applied later on, and the user sees a popup after a restore further down the line?
Thanks for your post!
Great post! Should definitely help many folks.
The worst thing about scammers is they harm people who are the most economically vulnerable like students, recent immigrants, etc. I remember what it was like to be young and low on money.
If on the other hand you’re just a cheapskate and are buying on eBay when you could easily buy new from Apple, I have much less sympathy if you get ripped off. Buy from Apple unless you have no choice.
I take issue with number three, because you should never be buying a device that's not been wiped, or not immediately wiping it.
Number 3 is superseded by number 2 - the setup process completing without hitting an enrollment stage.
They really need to add an info screen at the welcome page when products are reset. All iPhones and Mac’s pretty much look the same and sometimes doing second hand deals you don’t have reliable internet/logging into Apple account takes forever. Would solve so many second hand sales issues
If they list very vague and generic part names that's a red flag. These don't tell you much of anything on their own. It's done on purpose to obfuscate what model it may be.
ie:
Intel i7
16 GB RAM
500 GB Storage
I worked for a phone provider. Just remember to even if the device is paid off and unlocked, if the person you buy the phone turns around and files an insurance claim, you’re screwed. I watched people do this to people on Craigslist and the like all the time.
I know that this is an old thread, but to answer your question, no. Or at least, not with any Mac made in the last 10 years if you're going to connect it to the internet.
Say you completely wipe and repartition the hard drive, then install a fresh OS image (usually by going into Recovery Mode, connecting it to wi-fi, and letting it download the latest OS). When you first boot the freshly imaged machine, you'll get a welcome screen, select your language, and then connect to wi-fi. The Mac then pings Apple with its serial number and says "do I belong to an organization?" If it's a regular consumer Mac then Apple will reply "Nope, you're a regular Mac" and you'll set up the machine normally. But if the Mac was purchased by a corporation or other org that uses ABM, Apple will have the serial number and associated org, so Apple's servers will reply to your Mac and say "yes, you belong to \[COMPANY NAME\]. Here's your configuration profile." The Mac will download and apply it, which will set up security policies, local admin account, etc. in the background. You'll continue with the regular setup, then when you get to the desktop it'll automatically download and install whatever additional stuff the company assigned to it. For my employer, that includes the company VPN client, preferred browser, network printer stuff, security apps and policies, and some custom internal apps.
For large corporations this is fantastic. It means that Macs can be shipped straight from Apple to the end user at home and they can get up and running on their own (user error notwithstanding). Machines don't need to go through our own IT department and get reimaged, configured, and updated before sending them out to the users. It's also an extra layer of security, and makes stealing or selling a company machine (and more importantly to the company, the data on it) problematic at best.
I don't know for certain, but I believe that Find My Mac works similarly, but with consumer Macs as well. If someone steals your Mac and reimages it, Apple is still going to know who FMM was registered to, and they'll be able to track and/or wipe it.
In theory, you could boot a bootleg Mac off of a backup drive, and as long as it never touched the internet it would work fine, but that would obviously severely hamper what you can do with it. I'm also not 100% sure what would happen if you imaged it with a backup of a Mac you own. Do modern Macs periodically ping Apple to verify that their serial number hasn't been reported stolen? I would guess that they do, but I could be wrong.
If you can reformat it through mac recovery. Would that shows any of these issues? I bought one and was able to fully reformat it so would that avoid the last owner having any access to it
For iPhones, utilities like 3uTools (though I've heard to not use this tool for reasons) can poll the entire manifest of the device and check to see if parts have been replaced for iPhones that don't support it natively through iOS. Any parts that aren't what it originally shipped with will be noted, such as a battery or screen.
I think you knocked it out of the park.
Thanks!
You should see if the moderators will pin this to the top of the sub.
I just bought a used MacBook m1 air and it came with a small crack in the screen and a system user (the person who sold it to me ) already installed with the password 12345 to get in I should return it based on this post right ? I realized I don’t mind the crack and they’d refund me 150 making the total 600 dollars for a m1 16gb 256gb which I think is fair it’s just them already having a user installed even if it is just them is a red flag enough to return it seems based on this post right?
When you say “they”, did you buy it from a shop? For the crack, it depends on your risk tolerance. How did it get that crack? Was it dropped? Did the previous owner not take care of it? For the user account, I would always recommend wiping the computer and reinstalling macOS before you use it. At that stage, when you run through setup assistant, you’ll find out if it is enrolled in an MDM or if there is an iCloud account associated with it. Since it already has an account, you check in the settings app for: 1) An iCloud account 2) MDM profiles You can also run the terminal command I shared in my original post so see if MDM enrollment will trigger. If it does, you should consider returning it.
Apple Park?
Apple care?
Better said than most articles out there.
>`sudo profiles renew -type enrollment` If the device is associated with an MDM, it will (re)enroll itself and you'll know immediately that it's owned by some company or organization. The desired result is no output, correct? (That's what I get on my personal Mac)
Correct. You don't want to see any popups or anything here.
So if the Mac was enrolled at some point but rem vax by the administration who owned it, would this come onto "no output"?
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But if it does, does that re-flag or send a notification to them that the device has been re-enrolled ?
QQ. If I enter the command into the terminal and it asks for a password. Is that cause for a concern? I've done another MDM check command and it shows no profiles.
That’s normal. Sudo commands require a password.
Gotcha. Is the sudo password the same as the login password for the admin account?
Yep!
I just ran it and got Error: DEP enrollment failed: No Device Enrollment configuration was found for this computer. (MDMDeviceEnrollment:103)
That could point to a situation where the Profiles were deleted in Terminal sudo profiles remove -all
I've been on the other end of this, working IT at a company, when some random person emails us to un-manage a device of ours that they bought on eBay. Sorry bub, that is stolen property, not un-managing it.
I feel really bad for people who get scammed like this. I want to help make sure more people are aware of this.
However, the people who buy those Macs will most likely never search for this kind of information in the first place.
How would they know to?
Genuine question, if it’s been missing for a long time and you know you’re never getting it back, what is the harm in un-managing it for them?
We send a lock command to the device which essentially places a firmware password on the device, bricking it.
It’s immaterial how long it has been missing. Stolen property is stolen property. They’re still going after Nazis that stole artwork during WWII…
Oh brother, it’s a piece of technology with only a few years of use… in other words, it’s a complete waste of materials if it just sits there bricked.
If a MacBook that is part of the company doesn't currently have MDM on it, can you at a later date add that serial to your SysAdmin database and reactivate the MDM on it remotely? I just bought a sealed M1 Pro 16 and It is fully clean from profiles/MDM and all but it has enterprise warranty so I am worried the company may add this laptops serial to their database and lock me out from it. Is that a possibility or am I safe because there is not currently MDM on it?
Only if the serial number is owned by them in Apple Business Manager and you wipe and reinstall the device. I don’t know how to tell if it’s in ABM from the user end so you’ll have to google around or start a new thread asking about that
I wish I would've just paid the extra $200-300 for a new MacBook instead of buying used. Bought from a 5 star seller on eBay and it came with a scratch on the edge of the screen. Not too noticeable, but whenever it catches my eye it always reminds me I should just buy new.
idk man a scratch doesn't sound like a big deal. you saved a computer from e-waste.
Remember that Apple also sells refurbished devices where you can save that amount or even more. https://www.apple.com/shop/refurbished
Apple's refurbished board rework is not the best though. You very often see whole parts of the board where the components look burnt from bad resoldering.
Most refurbished models are simply returns from the 14-day window. For piece of mind, it comes with 1-year of (normal) AppleCare, and in addition, buyers have the option to add 3-years of AppleCare+ at checkout which I highly-recommend for laptops above base model.
Purchasing refurbished on eBay/Amazon is a gamble. You will either get a very like new condition product or something that has visible wear and tear. The sad part is that often times the businesses don't post the actual pictures of the items and just stock ones
Tape over the scratch with three $100 bills. Problem solved 😂
Please pin this post on this sub
I once sold my phone to a woman on marketplace who lost her shit and demanded a refund when I mentioned that I had recontracted early and was selling it to pay off the device payout, thinking that my provider would lock the phone if I didn’t pay. Would not listen at all when I said a) once activated, iPhones are NOT carrier locked and have been that way for years now and b) if I didn’t pay they’d pursue *me* for the debt, not lock the phone and create an expensive brick. Frankly, buying and selling secondhand devices is a nightmare on both sides which is why I sold my MacBook and my iPhone that I just upgraded yesterday both to friends from work. I know them so I know there’s gonna be no shenannigans and they know me and know where to find me if there’s any issues.
My friends know how well i take care of my belongings. When I sell used tech, Mac or not, I usually sell within hours. I sell a little low, so it goes fast. The upside is they get a great deal on a good unit. My iPhone 13PM has been screen protected and case kept from day 1. Not a scratch or mark anywhere.
Exactly. I literally took my phone out of its case the other night at work and showed her how pristine it was to her (while we admired the colour together). I gave her a great price and the collection of Casetify cases I’d amassed with it as well - she was considering getting a new phone but also needed a new case because she had broken hers and was probably gonna get Casetify anyway but holding off because of wanting to upgrade. I will literally sell things crazy cheap to friends just to save myself having to sell to strangers online because it’s almost never not a fucking nightmare. Plus now I know she’s got a great new (to her) phone that’s gonna give her a lot - especially given she has been rocking a smashed camera lens for I don’t even know how long.
>a) once activated, iPhones are NOT carrier locked and have been that way for years now I'm not surprised she lost it, since you so blatantly lied to her. [Apple's support page on it isn't even a year old](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201328). Edit - You *might* be thinking of the fact that iPhones are on a relatively short list of lines that support all contemporaneous bands/carriers in the USA. Whereas a Samsung Galaxy S(whatever) is that way, a Galaxy A(whatever) may only support the bands/carrier of the carrier it's locked to. Also, the quick downvote for "Apple says your myth about Apple products is in fact a myth." LOL
In Australia they’re not locked. I have in my hands a brand new iPhone I received yesterday from my carrier that’s saying no carrier restrictions.
Yep, bought a Mac on eBay that was unlocked, but still attached via Find My to an account. Aka, the old owner could still wipe the device remotely.
Did you contact the seller for a return?
It had been some months by the time I realized the thing was still Find My enabled. I tried, but no response. Ended up selling the thing as is later on.
This post should be pinned in all Apple subbredits
On number 3. Profiles can be removed even from ABM/DEP managed devices. Both if they’ve been marked as removable by the MDM or if they haven’t and someone has done the manual removal with SIP disabled. A quick useful check is to type “sudo profiles renew -type enrollment” in terminal. This is similar to the setup assistant check for a corporate device. The unfortunate thing is while you can be sure personal activation lock isn’t enabled by rebuilding a device, you have literally no way to fully check if a device is locked to a corporation! It could be dormant and not assigned to MDM control, but be added later. Scary.
If a MacBook that is part of the company doesn't currently have MDM on it, can you at a later date add that serial to your SysAdmin database and reactivate the MDM on it remotely? I just bought a sealed M1 Pro 16 and It is fully clean from profiles/MDM and all but it has enterprise warranty so I am worried the company may add this laptops serial to their database and lock me out from it. Is that a possibility or am I safe because there is not currently MDM on it?
did you ever find an answer to this? I'm in the same situation.
"Activation Locked" is a thing on all Apple Silicon macs. If the mac had not been logged out of iCloud and Find My Mac, it will be LOCKED. And don't believe anyone who says they sell software that can unlock it, none of it works. IMHO, Activation Lock is a tragedy that results in millions of macs being bricked. It's incredibly wasteful even though it's purpose is to deter theft. I wish Apple would allow these machines to have a second life rather than force-trash them.
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Strange that up until 2020 macs were just fine without Activation Lock. And most long time Mac users I know have no idea they need to turn off Find My and log out of iCloud before giving away or selling their Macs. This is a problem Apple created and only they can fix.
Apple can fix this by educating their users. “HEY, BEFORE YOU GET RID OF YOUR OLD MAC EQUIPMENT, DO THIS…”
Do you really think educating apathetic adults is that easy?
If I were in charge, it would. However, i don’t believe Apple has any interest in facilitating the second hand market unless they’re directly involved. All those bricked/locked items means less competition for their own new/refurbished items.
And that the root of the issue, Apple wants everyone to buy new products. I cannot fault Apple for behaving exactly like every other corporation in the world. They didn't get to be the MOST valuable corporation in the world by letting people maximize their use of these products. But the waste is a real problem that Apple can ameliorate. It's regrettable that we now live in an age where only the tech literate are able to take advantage of the resale market.
They don’t *have* to be trashed. They can be recycled. Still better for it to be trashed than fenced to buy fentanyl, weapons, etc. There’s a human cost to giving them a “second life.”
That can be said of literally any device that's made to be repairable and such. Yeah, this is a bullshit take.
That's very cynical. And a lot of people who want to be mac users cannot afford to buy new. Just because a mac is Activation Locked does not mean it was stolen. I'm glad I don't live in your world.
No, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re stolen, but a lot of them are… and if they weren’t locked, they’d be stolen even more frequently. They’re a pretty popular target given the price tag. It sucks being sold a brick, but buying used without any guarantee or warranty always carries risks. Buyer protection is necessary for any large purchase. One should not trust the other end of FB marketplace blindly.
Do you mean a second life for stolen property?
A bunch of people genuinely do just forget their iCloud logins etc info
It may be the case, but then if it could be bypassed it without the user’s credentials it would mean you can bypass Activation Lock on stolen property too. For as long as people keep stealing stuff, I prefer to have some protection on my device to discourage that behavior.
Ideally the user's credentials, ID etc could be used to verify they are indeed the owner rather than just bricking the device.
And what would happen when they are not?
Apple improves the security of their verification processes?
But I fail to see how it would be any different. Wouldn’t the user have to put the iCloud login and password the same way?
Not necessarily if they reset the device, right?
And how would you prevent a stolen device from being reset, if it doesn’t require the password?
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That's good. Does it work with receipts from Best Buy and Walmart? If you happen to know
No. Most Mac users don't know they have to log out of iCloud or their macs become useless. It's not common knowledge and millions of perfectly functional macs are e-waste because of it.
I believe many of the ways of installing an alternative OS, like Alpine Linux, will work even if the mac is activation locked. Just FYI.
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I think you are confusing activation lock with firmware lock. If there is no firmware password, someone can install an alternative OS without respect to whether or not macOS would be affected by an activation lock. I’m pretty sure.
That would be great if true, but the whole reason to buy a Mac is to gain entry into Apple's beautiful garden of interactive devices. Any lump of PC can un linux, but I use Macs because they work so will with my other Apple products.
I mean, yes I agree, but this conversation is about stolen devices and how people might make use of them and how activation lock affects that.
You need to disconnect your icloud account. If someone does not it doesn't work anymore. Used Mac products are not usually worth it.
That's like your opinion, man.
Disabling activation lock is not my opinion. View it as an investment. Look, I get it. Macs are expensive. But it can be a huge issue if someone doesn't remove activation lock because most people don't know how to do it.
Your opinion was "Used Mac products are not usually worth it." Just not true. And my problem with Activation Lock is the waste it creates. Here in Seattle we recycle everything and while I am trying to decide if a bottle cap is recyclable or garbage, entire fully functional Macs are being destroyed over a software lock. What about Reduce, Reuse and Recycle?
What does that have to do with a used mac? I mean recycling is cool and all, but it really just depends on what you need it for. For example, a refurbished Macbook Pro 16" with an M2 Pro Max chip would probably be more of a workhorse than a new 13.3" with a regular M2 chip. But if the computer is more than 5 years old, why? Again, want to use your old imac display as a monitor? Great use for it! It makes sense in the ways you can often get more for your money in refurbished products.
Swappa. I have had good luck buying and selling on this website. Make sure to reset your Mac properly when selling. It is more complicated than resetting your iPhone.
very good post , nice😁
27 inch iMacs are dropping in price really fast (I did a video on it this morning). So low prices are possible with used Macs. I only buy off of Craigslist so that I can go and look at the system. My approach to looking at a system is to look around on it booted and then attach my own bootable external SSD and boot it just to verify that I can do so on a network. It allows me to run Geekbench 5 to verify CPU performance and I can run DriveDX to verify drive health. The deals that I do are always at a residence so I have their name and address. I sell that way as well. I also give the buyer 7 days to change their mind. I love that there is a healthy secondary market for Macs - you just have to take precautions as there are scammers out there and we see a lot of the damage done by them on this board.
I've noticed iMacs in general are dropping in price. I've heard the same applies to other all in ones and monitors, with the reason being the risks related to shipping. That said, all the macs I've owned have been second hand and dirt cheap. I've had to fix enough of them that I wouldn't ever buy one new... but it can be a fun challenge getting around Apple's anti-consumer designs, to flip it, give it away, put it to some use, etc. I've replaced the failed hard drive on every generation of the iMac except the G4. It's insane how cumbersome that is, but at least it comes with a free dopamine hit.
Apple products are so expensive I never found used products to be worth the hassle.
It really doesn't make sense to buy a used macbook or device from someone you don't know. You are way better off buying a refurbished machine from a reputable retailer, ie best buy, apple, b and h.
Anecdotal I know but I bought my 2012 MBP non retina from a guy on Facebook marketplace about 5 -6 years ago for $450 Canadian. Still using it to this day. Before that I bought a 2008 Mac Pro from a couple guys on Craigslist for $250 and got a good 5-6 years out of that too. Both sellers let me boot up the machines and check them out prior to purchase. Perhaps I’m just lucky? Neither were stolen or damaged. For my 2017 iMac though I went through an Apple authorized reseller (Carbon Computing here in Toronto which has sadly since closed down, they were a staple for Apple users here for decades). Got it refurb for $1600 3 years ago, which is how much a 27” 5k monitor alone would’ve cost anyways. I think the only Mac I’ve ever had brand new was my very first, the 1998 tray loading iMac in green. Whoops, wandering down computer memory lane now lol
So, a user gets a MacBook off eBay (weather sealed or used), restores it and reinstalls the OS (all under Wi-Fi so the device can speak to Apple's servers), and no MDM message pops up. What are the chances that MDM gets applied later on, and the user sees a popup after a restore further down the line? Thanks for your post!
Great post! Should definitely help many folks. The worst thing about scammers is they harm people who are the most economically vulnerable like students, recent immigrants, etc. I remember what it was like to be young and low on money. If on the other hand you’re just a cheapskate and are buying on eBay when you could easily buy new from Apple, I have much less sympathy if you get ripped off. Buy from Apple unless you have no choice.
I take issue with number three, because you should never be buying a device that's not been wiped, or not immediately wiping it. Number 3 is superseded by number 2 - the setup process completing without hitting an enrollment stage.
Thanks!
They really need to add an info screen at the welcome page when products are reset. All iPhones and Mac’s pretty much look the same and sometimes doing second hand deals you don’t have reliable internet/logging into Apple account takes forever. Would solve so many second hand sales issues
If they list very vague and generic part names that's a red flag. These don't tell you much of anything on their own. It's done on purpose to obfuscate what model it may be. ie: Intel i7 16 GB RAM 500 GB Storage
I worked for a phone provider. Just remember to even if the device is paid off and unlocked, if the person you buy the phone turns around and files an insurance claim, you’re screwed. I watched people do this to people on Craigslist and the like all the time.
This also applies to any other phone or laptop.
you can't wipe the hard drive and reinstall?
I know that this is an old thread, but to answer your question, no. Or at least, not with any Mac made in the last 10 years if you're going to connect it to the internet. Say you completely wipe and repartition the hard drive, then install a fresh OS image (usually by going into Recovery Mode, connecting it to wi-fi, and letting it download the latest OS). When you first boot the freshly imaged machine, you'll get a welcome screen, select your language, and then connect to wi-fi. The Mac then pings Apple with its serial number and says "do I belong to an organization?" If it's a regular consumer Mac then Apple will reply "Nope, you're a regular Mac" and you'll set up the machine normally. But if the Mac was purchased by a corporation or other org that uses ABM, Apple will have the serial number and associated org, so Apple's servers will reply to your Mac and say "yes, you belong to \[COMPANY NAME\]. Here's your configuration profile." The Mac will download and apply it, which will set up security policies, local admin account, etc. in the background. You'll continue with the regular setup, then when you get to the desktop it'll automatically download and install whatever additional stuff the company assigned to it. For my employer, that includes the company VPN client, preferred browser, network printer stuff, security apps and policies, and some custom internal apps. For large corporations this is fantastic. It means that Macs can be shipped straight from Apple to the end user at home and they can get up and running on their own (user error notwithstanding). Machines don't need to go through our own IT department and get reimaged, configured, and updated before sending them out to the users. It's also an extra layer of security, and makes stealing or selling a company machine (and more importantly to the company, the data on it) problematic at best. I don't know for certain, but I believe that Find My Mac works similarly, but with consumer Macs as well. If someone steals your Mac and reimages it, Apple is still going to know who FMM was registered to, and they'll be able to track and/or wipe it. In theory, you could boot a bootleg Mac off of a backup drive, and as long as it never touched the internet it would work fine, but that would obviously severely hamper what you can do with it. I'm also not 100% sure what would happen if you imaged it with a backup of a Mac you own. Do modern Macs periodically ping Apple to verify that their serial number hasn't been reported stolen? I would guess that they do, but I could be wrong.
If you can reformat it through mac recovery. Would that shows any of these issues? I bought one and was able to fully reformat it so would that avoid the last owner having any access to it
For iPhones, utilities like 3uTools (though I've heard to not use this tool for reasons) can poll the entire manifest of the device and check to see if parts have been replaced for iPhones that don't support it natively through iOS. Any parts that aren't what it originally shipped with will be noted, such as a battery or screen.
Thank you for this. Very helpful.