I could go into this territory, but it would get very political very quickly, and I don’t desire getting kicked off of the forum.
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Replacing MBP 16" PC due to CSAM?
- Thread starter crymimefireworks
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I think a lot of the people here who've decided to bail the fruit store environment were fed up with how things have been anyway and this latest surveillance fiasco was the last straw that sent them over the edge.
Enough is enough. Time to move on.
Enough is enough. Time to move on.
This is the real point. I've _never_ trusted cloud services, because I'm not hosting them. And I don't care about that, I've never relied on those cloud services for anything even slightly private.
But if I take a picture with my phone, and don't publish it anywhere, I don't want anyone to even have the ability to look at it without breaking the law and every privacy agreement that I have accepted. And now, Apple has said you can't have that guarantee if you use their products.
No big loss for me, honestly. I don't use my phone for anything of importance, other than voice calls. But I won't continue to provide financial support to this company.
Genuine question, for all the people freaking out over CSAM. Why not just turn off iCloud photos? I have been a Mac / iPhone user since 2007 and have never used iCloud photos and never will. CSAM won't affect anyone who doesen't use iCloud photos.
My genuine answer is there are multiple threads about this on Mac rumors and you can read those. I won't try to represent what others have said.
No comment, just cheering.
I just switched off iCloud Photos.
Then I realised I didn’t need to be paying extra for storage, so I decided I didn’t need 2TB of storage, which led to a quick calculation that Apple One wasn’t really worth it … so I’ve saved a few quid a month at least. 🤷♀️
I said in a different thread that I’d become too Apple-centric: not giving other platforms and companies a fair shake because … well … you know … “privacy”.
I’ll stick with the MacBook Pro and Big Sur while ramping up my knowledge on alternatives.
I don’t actually store anything private on my cloud account; I just don’t like being taken for a ride.
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Same here, one of the main sale points of iPhones and apple devices in general was paying a bit more for better support and more privacy. With Google developing their own SoC which will get them out of Qualcomm **** support cycle, and privacy being moot between the two I’m having a hard time justifying staying in the ecosystem.
I flip back and forth anyway, but my next upgrade is likely going to be a pixel.
Yeah, but by this logic, one shouldn’t have any devices connected to the internet. That was when Pandora’s Box was opened.
Actually, it was people decided to start putting personal stuff onto computers.
If folks are all spun up over CSAM, what do all those unfortunate T-Mobile iPhone users going to do? 
Thanks for all the suggestions about how to switch.
Switching is harder than it sounded initially. "Oh right I need to use this Mac only app occasionally for work".
Purism and System76 are building Linux-first devices - but are entirely sold out. Dell and Lenovo offer solid Linux options, but it's more an aside for them.
I got Linux dual booting on my 16" MBP using t2linux.org. Their forum and Discord is a blessing. It still requires some tweaking, but I'm almost there.
For others, stay committed, it will get easier. I believe turning off iCloud entirely is a good goal. It really starts to erode the value of iOS quickly.
And I'm glad MacRumors has this "Mac Alternatives" forum to discuss this without too much distraction.
Switching is harder than it sounded initially. "Oh right I need to use this Mac only app occasionally for work".
Purism and System76 are building Linux-first devices - but are entirely sold out. Dell and Lenovo offer solid Linux options, but it's more an aside for them.
I got Linux dual booting on my 16" MBP using t2linux.org. Their forum and Discord is a blessing. It still requires some tweaking, but I'm almost there.
For others, stay committed, it will get easier. I believe turning off iCloud entirely is a good goal. It really starts to erode the value of iOS quickly.
And I'm glad MacRumors has this "Mac Alternatives" forum to discuss this without too much distraction.
Yeah it took let's say 3 hours one night but if I was re-doing it now it would be an hour. T2linux.org has a guide for Ubuntu - and you can follow my steps on the Discord.
What works:
Keyboard
mouse
WiFi
Speakers
What doesn't:
Screen flickers every 10 sec (they suggest downgrading my kernel)
Internal mic
Bluetooth (kernel should fix this)
KB backlight
The T2Linux community is incredibly helpful and supportive. It's wonderful.
I don't even know what a kernel is. They walk you through it all.
Nice. Thanks for the info. I've been using Linux for over a decade, starting as a hobby and then becoming a normal thing for work stuff. I've read about which kernels to avoid, so I'll keep that in mind.
This is going to be fun...
This is going to be fun...
Depends on what is being stored there. Personal stuff, definitely, but generic PDFs and data pulled off the web- who freaking cares? It's worthless
Woohoo, 5.10 worked. No more screen flicker. And bluetooth works.
still no mic or backlit keyboard though. Will be my next search.
But it doesn’t scan your device it only scan photos that are being uploaded. When you use a cloud service, it doesn’t exactly make sense for things to “stay on your iPhone” in the first place. If you don’t use that service, nothing is scanned.
Oh? I think it’s a much better path than scanning on the server. Like this Apple needs to access far less data server side.
How wasn’t it already open with server side scanning? That has happened for years. Has tomorrow come yet?
What did they lie about? Certainly nothing in this case, where they have released extensive documentation before the feature even exists.
No, Apple hasn’t said that, on the contrary. Nothing is scanned if you don’t use the cloud service. If you don’t trust Apple, of course you shouldn’t their devices and services. But that’s unrelated to this.
"Instead of scanning images in the cloud, the system performs on-device matching"
"Before an image is stored in iCloud Photos, an on-device matching process is performed for that image"
We can go back and forth on what is being scanned and where it is doing it but as Apple notes above, it is performing an on-device scan. That is the issue.
Why do they need to have the ability to do on-device matching at all? Why not wait until it has been uploaded and then perform the scan on their own servers? Which I am sure they already do.
Turn off iCloud to disable it is just a policy decision. The problem is not solved. We are just given an "illusion" of remaining in control, while in fact they are taking away our actual privacy keys.
The Core OS contains a backdoor now (a new door in any case), policy "for now" allows you to flip the scan button on/off. Such policy can change overnight and there is already a door ready for it, not to mention the precedent for further expansion.
It always starts with an inch.
Privacy is not secrecy, privacy is not hiding, privacy is a pillar of your individual freedom. There can be no good compromise when someone else (not you) holds the keys to your privacy. It doesn't matter at all for what they say it is being used for. Apple building this backdoor (call it new doors if you prefer) is holding the keys, not you. All you will be able to from iOS15 onwards is, open or close those new doors. You will never be able to lock this new door in case you wonder.
Apple made a new door you didn't ask for, unlocked those doors for your convenience and told you: "Don't worry, as long as you keep this new door closed (not locked, as you can't be trusted with actual privacy), your privacy remains same as always, all we did is taken your privacy keys (ability to remain private from us) but we remain committed to allow you (for now) to close/open "our new" doors (for scanning on your property and you paying for it) so you can continue to feel safe and private as always."
In other words, we, the Apple can bring some new furniture to your living space anytime our policy changes, we may also invite some guests you don't know, all to keep you safe and more private than ever. For the time being nothing should change for you, those iCloud doors is something you are already used to being either closed or open, all we did is take your ability to remain private from us (shut us out) but we will use this to add new features we otherwise would not be able to add.
As obvious as all of this is to "screeching voices" some of us have, it sounds like unreasonable paranoia to the majority. Two decades of being committed to apple, a family of 6 trusting them, with our wallet and privacy …lost forever. Even if they reverse their announced policy, never again can they be seen as champions of privacy. This is not something to be happy about, I feel we, the users, all of us, even those who don't see the threat yet at this time (or ever) have lost much with it.
I have very little hope for this being reversed. If this gets reversed it will be a big win for all users …unfortunately trust lost can not be reversed, the damage is already done but it would still be very helpful and seen as a step back towards users privacy.
Exactly.
I actually posted this link in the other topic but as I am newly registered it is awaiting approval still. This is probably the best article yet to make even the deniers think.
Ironically, this whole privacy issue being on hand was the reason I finally registered to voice my concern …before that, I was just reading the forum for years.
You could make the case that it's better to worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. Going to a worst case scenario and assuming that's where Apple will go, especially with their history in not complying with law enforcement requests with on device requests, just seems unlikely.
If anything shifting all of this on device just gives me more hope that we're in the pre-stages of getting encrypted iCloud backups.
Wasn’t sure Lenovo offered this. Is this on all models and only for consumers or ??? Is it downloadable only to the uefi or downloadable ISO to create a bootable drive?
FYI swollen batiereis is an issue in HP EliteBooks as well … this is an industry issue with BIOS needing updates before overcharging or swelling occurs.