Can someone explain for those of us less familiar with Apple - can a Macbook not be used without a valid Apple ID, that Apple can revoke at any time?
The AppleID you use is used for the AppStore and iCloud (you can use different ones and to some extend multiple ones). Usually you create an additional AppleID for just buying/downloading sofware from the AppStore, just like you would do on Android or the Microsoft store. Same deal here. And use a different iCloud account, if you want to use any of it's offerings.
If an account is locked or disasbled you usually just reset the password as one of both is usually done on suspicious login attempts.
Never heard of what the OP descibes, unless it is a pre-owned device still associated with a different account or some enterprise management profile in installed. Both should not be the case if he just bought it from Apple directly.
In any case sounds more like an issue with the device itself than the AppleID. But I can just speculate here, which is ofc not helpful for the OP.
For this reason, I always leave it off, and recommend everybody does the same.
However, the Mac is still usable and they can reboot into Recovery mode to download and re-install the OS. Not sure about Find My (for iPad/iPhone), as it's an anti-theft feature it can't be disabled or factory reset.
Weird. I rotate my password on a regular basis and I’ve never had this happen. I wonder what service triggers it for you.
$ brew install wireguard-tools
$ port install wireguard-tools
You can also log into the OS with an Apple ID but also not required.
i recently walked a friend through setting up a their MacBook Air M1. and, like you said, i told them to skip setting an Apple ID. that it was not necessary.
but the first setup doesn't allow you to skip. or didn't make it obvious how to do so. (dark pattern?)
i suppose one could use keyboard shortcuts, or install in safe mode, etc... but for the regular users won't be able to skip that step.
While this is true (to my increasing chagrin), having an Apple ID in and of itself doesn't cost you anything. It does create an account that you can then tie charges to.
I don't, however, recall this quite rising to the level of what I'd call a "dark pattern"; IIRC when I set up my M1 MacBook Air not that long ago, the "Enter your Apple ID" had a "Skip this step" link that was pretty easy to find.
Privacy.
You can't get an Apple ID without an email and a phone number.
When you enter it during the machine setup, it ties that identity to that hardware serial, which maintains a persistent TLS hardware-serial-linked connection to Apple at all times, letting them know in what cities and at what times that phone number's owner is using their computer.
It does allow you to skip, and it is obvious.
There’s a screen asking you to log in to your Apple ID. There’s a button that says “Set up later”. When you click it, it asks you if you are sure. You confirm. That’s all.
Here are the screenshots:
At least, on Android you can use the Aurora store, or install .apk files manually... but that's another story.
Can it be kept updated with system updates? Don't know any more.