Wipe a Macbook without a password?

[sapphirescales]

I try to never assume anything

You don't have to assume anything. It's obvious by what they've said. If you can't boot a Mac using a USB, it's got a T2 security chip or it's an M1/M2. If you boot in recovery mode and it insists that you have to have a password, it's iCloud locked. If he's using Apple+R to get into recovery mode then it's a 2018-2020 MacBook Pro with an Intel processor and a T2 security chip. If that's the case then he can get rid of the iCloud lock by using another Mac and putting it into DFU mode and erasing the T2 chip. If it's an M1/M2 model then there's no way to remove the iCloud lock except by perhaps using one of those online services or by taking the computer directly to Apple. Or you can replace the M1/M2 chip by soldering on a replacement or you can just replace the entire logic board. Just make sure you enter DFU mode and re-flash the firmware if you replace the motherboard or the M1/M2 chip otherwise the fingerprint reader won't work afterward.

Apple computers have gotten stupidly difficult to repair. It's by design. This isn't an "Apple hate" thread, it's a reality thread. I'm sorry if Apple fanboys can't handle it but it's the truth. Apple computers suck.

 

[lan101]

You don't have to assume anything. It's obvious by what they've said. If you can't boot a Mac using a USB, it's got a T2 security chip or it's an M1/M2. If you boot in recovery mode and it insists that you have to have a password, it's iCloud locked. If he's using Apple+R to get into recovery mode then it's a 2018-2020 MacBook Pro with an Intel processor and a T2 security chip. If that's the case then he can get rid of the iCloud lock by using another Mac and putting it into DFU mode and erasing the T2 chip. If it's an M1/M2 model then there's no way to remove the iCloud lock except by perhaps using one of those online services or by taking the computer directly to Apple. Or you can replace the M1/M2 chip by soldering on a replacement or you can just replace the entire logic board. Just make sure you enter DFU mode and re-flash the firmware if you replace the motherboard or the M1/M2 chip otherwise the fingerprint reader won't work afterward.

Apple computers have gotten stupidly difficult to repair. It's by design. This isn't an "Apple hate" thread, it's a reality thread. I'm sorry if Apple fanboys can't handle it but it's the truth. Apple computers suck.

Apple is the Tesla of computers lol. No easily done repairs and they can control everything about the device. Pretty soon Apple will have a subscription program to unlock the true potential of your computer. $99 per month for full processing and graphical capabilities. Sounds crazy but I saw recently Mercedes is doing that with some of their upper end cars now.

I only see a few apple computers a year usually but the last one I got was locked up with a user password no one knew etc. It was a 2018 model so I was able to wipe it through the normal recovery mode thankfully. A few years down the road probably won't be able to do much anymore.

 

[sapphirescales]

It was a 2018 model so I was able to wipe it through the normal recovery mode thankfully.

Yup. 2020 is the last year of Mac that you can erase without the password. M1/M2 Macs are 100% locked down. I haven't tried that online service I linked to for an M1/M2 Mac but I might do it for mine just for kicks to see if it works. If I didn't fix Macs I wouldn't own one. Terrible machines.

$99 per month for full processing and graphical capabilities.

Yeah, that wouldn't surprise me. And Apple sheep will praise them for it "they're saving people money by locking performance behind a subscription! Instead of charging $5,000 for the new M4 MacBook, they're only charging $3,000! That way only people who need the extra performance are paying for it! What a deal! I'll buy 3!"

A few years down the road probably won't be able to do much anymore.

We're already here, 100%. M1/M2 Macs have everything soldered to the board. Absolutely nothing can be upgraded or replaced. If a stick of RAM goes bad? Too bad. That's integrated in the SOC. $1,000+ for a new logic board please! If the SSD starts to fail? Same thing. Need more RAM or storage capacity? Too bad! Time to buy a new Mac! For now at least you can re-load Mac OS if something goes terribly wrong with the software but it wouldn't surprise me if the Macs of the future kept the OS on onboard ROM like smartphones do.

The Right to Repair laws are anemic at best and they don't address these a$$hole corporations intentionally designing things to be 100% disposable and non-repairable. So Apple is forced to provide parts and service manuals for their Macs? Big deal if the cheapest part is $1,000 because everything is soldered/glued together. In the near future not only will people be paying out the a$$ for shoddy hardware, but they'll be paying subscriptions for everything including cloud backup, Office, the OS, and to "unlock" the full power of their computer's CPU. Maybe they'll also lock long battery life behind a paywall too. You can only charge your battery past 50% if you pay for the "extended battery life" subscription.

I used to think there was hope, that people would just refuse to go along with this BS. But what I've learned is that most people are incredibly stupid and will accept anything. Hence why Office 365 is a thing. Paying a monthly fee to use a typing program is absolutely idiotic. I know it includes OneDrive and it's worth it if you actually use OneDrive, but I have tons of clients who just buy Office 365 and don't need OneDrive.

 

[lan101]

We're already here, 100%. M1/M2 Macs have everything soldered to the board. Absolutely nothing can be upgraded or replaced. If a stick of RAM goes bad? Too bad. That's integrated in the SOC. $1,000+ for a new logic board please! If the SSD starts to fail? Same thing. Need more RAM or storage capacity? Too bad! Time to buy a new Mac! For now at least you can re-load Mac OS if something goes terribly wrong with the software but it wouldn't surprise me if the Macs of the future kept the OS on onboard ROM like smartphones do.


I used to think there was hope, that people would just refuse to go along with this BS. But what I've learned is that most people are incredibly stupid and will accept anything. Hence why Office 365 is a thing. Paying a monthly fee to use a typing program is absolutely idiotic. I know it includes OneDrive and it's worth it if you actually use OneDrive, but I have tons of clients who just buy Office 365 and don't need OneDrive.

I think Louis Rossman has shed a lot of light on these issues but it's just not enough people that care enough to make a difference. His channel has like 1.75 million subscribers and it should have well over 10 million honestly by now. It might be shadow banned on youtube for all we know. All this subscription software and non repairable hardware only helps the corporations and no one else. It'll be interesting to see what the breaking point is...seems like there has to be one eventually.

 

[timeshifter]

Can you add more RAM to a Samsung phone?

 

[sapphirescales]

Can you add more RAM to a Samsung phone?

No, but this is a computer, NOT a phone. Phones have never been upgradeable. Computers always have been.

 

[NviGate Systems]

I just had a unit today that had this exact symptom. Mine was a MacBook Air, T2 security chip. Password unknown, security set to no external media.

It was not icloud locked. However the security features would not let me go any further. I had to startup in recovery mode (Command R) and go to reset password. It wanted an Apple ID, which I didn't have, but it gave me the option to erase the Mac to ensure data security. When it was done it failed to boot and I had to do Internet recovery which failed at least 6 times then finally it worked. System is now fully reset.

So this goes to show that at times even if the unit is not icloud locked, the security can leave you with little ways of reset anything. Thankfully they have an option to erase the Mac. I don't remember the exact dialogue but essentially it was something like " I don't know the Apple ID. Erase the Mac so it's secure" This was Catalina.

 

[sapphirescales]

Thankfully they have an option to erase the Mac.

Unfortunately that's only because it was an Intel Mac. The M1/M2 models are bricks if you ever forget the password and don't have another Apple device that's tied to the same iCloud account that you can use to reset the password with. I don't think they lock like that if the user doesn't sign into iCloud but pretty much everyone does so I wouldn't count on being able to unlock an M1/M2 Mac unless the user can reset their iCloud password using another Apple device.