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Comment by kelsey9876543 | Hacker News Reader

they kept the unlocked laptop and bought an icloud locked device on ebay and sent that one to you, thats why it took a long time and they wouldnt return it to their airport.

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The serial number matches mine. I suppose they could have scratched it off and repainted it, but that seems doubtful.

Is it possible that they swapped the lower case? It's easy to remove.

It’s possible they took it to a local shop that paid them and swapped out the internals with a stolen laptop’s. The external case returned to you would be the same.

I think your second theory about how Activation Lock turned on is the most likely. My understanding is that if Find My wasn't active, then Activation Lock also wasn't enabled. The person who incorrectly received the laptop probably wiped it and set it up under their personal account, activating Find My + Activation Lock.

If the laptop had originally had Activation Lock enabled, the unintended recipient would not have been able to do this, and as a bonus, the location of the laptop would have been trackable.

So, I don't think they had to swap the laptop out for another Activation Locked laptop... they probably locked it themselves, whether intentionally or not.

And entered an incorrect password 90 times?

I don't see how that's relevant; there are many ways bad passwords could have been entered. We have no way to know the package wasn't tampered with during shipping. The unintended recipient could have handed it off to a friend to handle the shipping back to the original owner, and that friend could have been bored. Whoever levied the import duties could have also opened the package and been bored enough to start typing in random passwords, before repacking it and shipping it onwards.

Where did "90 times" even come from? I can't find that number documented anywhere in regards to Activation Lock, even googling specifically for that number in case there were anecdotes online.

Came here to say this. My understanding is that locked Macbooks are unusable, only have salvage value, and are therefore sold at pennies on the dollar. (Many such laptops are quite likely stolen.)

When the OP mentioned a different login, etc, I started to wonder if he'd been sent a different laptop. This fits in with the other guy asking OP to cover the courier costs, etc.

Author would be able to check the hardware serial number to what they bought from and that receipt, no?

Apple confirmed it didn't match with "If you need help removing Activation Lock and have proof of purchase documentation, you can start an Activation Lock support request." -> "We are unable to process your request at this time."

Sure. I’m saying OP could confirm explicitly by turning the device upside down (and looking near the regulatory markings) and pulling the receipt up. Apple is being too opaque considering Apple has the purchase history on file and could communicate, “this device is not in your purchase history, that is why we can’t unlock it.” This leaks no information of value.

Edit: no worries!

ah yes, correct. I don't know if disassembly is required for the HWID when its forced into bootloader lock, and i am not going to experiment to find out haha. But yes correct reasoning.

edit: sorry for bad reading comprehension it's late for me >_<

No disassembly required, the serial number is printed on the bottom exterior of the case.

It’s easy to swap the bottom. It’s also easy to search for a similar model brick the device, swap bottom with the serials, and send that.

You can also reprogram the serial with the right equipment but that is a much harder task

It is a good security policy in general to not disclose reasons for denials, because doing so gives attackers a hint as to what they need to target. (But yes, it is better customer service to disclose.)

But it also frustrates legitimate users. I think we should balance the extra security needed to prevent attacks versus creating a kafkaesque nightmare for ourselves.

The problem here is that Apple fraud is big business. There are even venture funds that invest in Apple-related scams.

> There are even venture funds that invest in Apple-related scams.

Can you be more specific?

It’s etched in the bottom of the laptop and I think is easily swapped between chassis.

That's a good guess! Checked eBay and iCloud locked M2 MacBooks Air go for around $400.

What are they useful for?

Scamming people

parts?

they aren’t locked down for parts like the phones but some major parts have issues. swapping the lcd on the m1 and m2 MacBooks will result in strange artifacts because the backlight needs to be recalibrated to the new computer. This is only possible if you buy the replacement lcd via apple as this will give you access to their system configurator tool. If you harvest an lcd from a dead/locked unit there is no way to access the tool and recalibrate the backlight, so the artifacting remains forever.

Swapping the logic board can also cause this issue. Additionally Touch ID is paired to the logic board so if you change one without the other that won’t work anymore.

Not sure if there are other paired parts or limitations like that, I’ve only done 2 of the lcd repairs and have only read about the Touch ID pairing (which isn’t a surprise)

Serial is on the bottom of the case of the laptop. OP would be able to see the serial of the mac he bought either from his original order email or from his list of signed-in apple devices, which he mentioned his mac still showed up on.

The bottom case being the piece of the laptop that can be removed by undoing eight screws?

Swapping the plates on a MacBook seems like a pretty easy move.

What stops them from just keeping the laptop altogether? Unless the departing airport is also in UAE, I highly doubt the airport would send interpol to confiscate a laptop.

Since they did return the laptop, maybe assuming benevolence is way to go? It took them long time maybe because they waited the airport to send their laptop back first.

It’s the UAE. Deportation risk.

Likely the airport looked at footage and made a strongly worded request to return the property or face some legal charge.

Why? Just so they could have a higher specc’d machine?

Profit. A locked device that can’t be unlocked is unusable, probably stolen, and therefore cheap. An unlocked device is worth something.

It doesn't matter, they didn't do this. OP confirmed it was the original serial on the mac he got. HN is full of useless rabbitholes...

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