Apple’s New OS “Activation” for Touch Bar MacBook Pros
Erik Gomez (via Hacker News):
Last week Joe Chilcote discovered an interesting message when imaging a Late 2016 MacBook Pro TouchBar […]:
A critical software update is required for your Mac. To install this update you need to connect to a network. Select a Wi-Fi network below, or click Other Network Options to connect to the internet using other network devices.
[…]
Attempting to skip this page would lead to an additional failure […] Even more worrying was the final note:
Your Mac can’t be used until this update is installed.
[…]
Welcome to the future of Apple’s hybrid ARM/x86 platform.
It’s also quite clear that destroying entire disks is going to lead to some pain points for people still imaging.
Online Activation is typically required after Internet Recovery or a full disk wipe and subsequent re-image.
[…]
Offline Upgrades seems to occur each time the machine there is a new firmware detected in the iBridge1_1Customer.bundle.
[…]
My spidey sense tingled when I first noticed offline activations and offline upgrades. It was clear that Apple didn’t want to force a “Critical Update required” screen every time there was a new point release and we could use this to our advantage.
His crucial question, to my mind:
I'd guess the answer is almost certainly, yes. And probably not too long in the future in coming...