I think it's a bit overstating that it destroys the secondhand market. I still see non-working Macs on ebay for hundreds of dollars. The resale value of a well-maintained Mac continues to be much higher than any other brand. These kinds of changes have also made great strides in reducing the incentive to steal phones. There was a specific update that the NYPD pointed out reduced iPhone thefts significantly.
But, I do wholeheartedly endorse right to repair. I'm very bummed about the recovery options for newer laptops with non-removable drives. I was also bummed to hear that ARM-Macs won't have Target Disk Mode.
It hasn't had a chance to impact the secondhand market yet. The laptops with the T2 chip are relatively new, and aren't getting decommissioned & recycled in significant numbers. It will be a tremendous waste when they are.
Those laptops will still be valuable for some parts, but considering now that not only the RAM is soldered to the motherboard, but the SSD too... there's not going to be much left to use.
I find the "theft" argument very hard to swallow for two reasons. First, thieves will consistently steal electronics -- smash-and-grab first, discard later. A thief unable to sell your irretrievably lost phone is a pyrrhic victory, to be sure. Thieves with domain knowledge may be savvy enough to stay away, but I would bet that is rare and more limited to organized theft rings.
Secondly, and more damning, Apple has repeatedly paid lobbyists to parrot the anti-theft security scenario at hearings discussing enacting right-to-repair laws (as well as spreading misleading FUD on repair safety). Apple could work with legit recyclers to find sustainable ways to recover donated products, but they very deliberately refuse to. IMO this makes their security arguments suspect.
In general, I'm very distrustful of a security model that relies so heavily on their cloud holding all the keys.
> It hasn't had a chance to impact the secondhand market yet.
I do think we're talking about different secondhand markets--or at least different large sections of it. Buying/selling working Macs aren't affected. That's the only one I've ever dealt with. I do think I was wrong above about non-working Macs--I do think there will be no resale value if they had a T2 chip.
> I find the "theft" argument very hard to swallow...
Multiple cities cited 25-35% drop when activation locks were rolled out. Personally, I've only had iPhones stolen before this. I do think most are crimes of opportunity, but a large chunk, especially if they're stealing multiple phones, know how they're going to unload them. But, I don't think this T2 repair thing is relevant. I don't imagine thieves parting off stolen phones because it's not worth it. Even organized crime.
I do agree Apple has misrepresented the situation and right to repair is one of the few topics I write to my representatives about.
The secondhand market I'm referring to is not one-to-one personal sales, but recyclers / refurbishers dealing with donated devices. It's already a huge issue with Apple products. Thousands of perfectly good working iPhones and iPads are not removed from iCloud accounts (either through a lack of consumer education -- resetting a device does NOT do this -- or it being too resource-intensive on the enterprise level) and the activation lock renders them worthless e-waste. This is what is going to happen to T2 chip Apple laptops.
Agreed, thieves aren't parting off stolen phones. I was referring primarily to unattended property theft (car break-ins, theft from public spaces, etc.) not muggings. Probably depends on what is driving the crime.
But, I do wholeheartedly endorse right to repair. I'm very bummed about the recovery options for newer laptops with non-removable drives. I was also bummed to hear that ARM-Macs won't have Target Disk Mode.