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reset macOS firmware password
- Thread starter rich1812
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Really. Multiple People. Really. You know multiple people with expensive Mac computers, they use only ‘sporadically,’ never once do any troubleshooting or visits to the Genius bar for the YEARS it would take them to forget the firmware password (it allows unlimited tries), but are tech savvy enough to put a firmware password in the first place, and on top of all that somehow have lost all proof of purchase, as well as have 0 access to the iCloud account associated with the device.
Really. Multiple people.
Yes, an I am one of them. I have a late 2013 13" MBP that I purchased from the Apple online store in February, 2015. I've never had anything replaced in my MBP. My original battery has 15 cycles.
I purchased a BNIB Macbook Air mid-2013 for my sister-in-law. I added a firmware password, told her about it, emailed it to her and myself. She has been using it to this day and has never asked me about the password because she has never needed it.
Is it really that hard to believe?
That didn’t happen in your case, did it?
Apple asks for proof of purchase for verification purposes, but given the store, a rough timeframe of purchase, and something like the seriel number of the device or credit card, Apple can look up the purchase history easily. Sometimes with just the seriel number. And moreover, with a death certificate, power of attorney, etc., there are many ways to transfer ownership for expensive purchases depending on state. Apple doesn’t ask for proof of purchase to verify it was purchased. They ask YOU for it, to verify YOU purchased it.
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Yes, because none of the situtations you described dispute my point: It’s almost unheard of for a legitimately purchased Mac to have an impossible to reset firmware password.
Proof of purchase from the online store is easily retrievable. You emailed your sister the firmware password. Presumably your sister would be able to provide proof of purchase if she found that firmware password lost or forgotten (tbh there’s a likely chance she’s even de-activated the firmware password you set years ago via a routine trip to the Genius Bar by now, but I digress).
None of those situtations involve an impossible to reset firmware password.
There are lots of people who won’t run diagnostics or boot into recovery until something bad happens, and that bad thing may not happen for years after original setup.
While I agree this is an uncommon scenario, “EXTREMELY” and “astonishly unlikely” may overstate the odds against this happening. I’ve seen this sort of thing happen often enough that I wouldn’t immediately assume theft when encountering the situation.
In the end, it may be a matter of how we view human nature. I’ve seen enough examples of people doing unexpected things that I’m willing to give humans the benefit of the doubt.
All my scenario requires is a manager telling a departing employee, “Sure, you can keep that old laptop, IT is just going to retire it anyway.” Did the manager violate corporate procedure? Yes. Were both parties unmindful of the existence of the passcode? They probably never had to run diagnostics or boot to recovery - that’s what IT is for.
Similar things can happen when institutions dispose of retired surplus property. Some unit(s) go out the door without proper processing.
Error. It’s what humans do.
I know it might sound fishy for some people but I’ll share my story. I was laid off and they let me keep all my corporate devices – iPad, iPhone, Dell LT and MacBook Pro (they just wiped all their data). I gave MacBook to my 10-year-old kid. About a year ago, in the middle of the night, I’ve received several emails from Find My iPhone that lost mode has been enabled on all of my devices in iCloud and last email was that my MacBook has been locked. On my MacBook, I’ve got a message that is disabled and write email to: pass.apple@mail.com. After spending a couple of hours on the phone with apple they sent me to apple store. In the store, they requested proof of purchase that I did not have and couldn’t get it for them. I explained to them what happened, I showed them my iCloud account was this MacBook is listed as a disabled device, I showed them all the emails I received from apple about lost mode and locked device mode… They definitely could see fishy email on the screen of my Macbook that they confirmed it is not a legit apple email. But after a couple of hours of talking to their management and I believe they call some corporate support they were unable (or did not want) to fix it without “Proof of purchase”. I just glad I did not pay $2k for this piece of junk. I was the PC owner for all my life and when I got a virus on my PC it takes me 10 min to clean it. And to be honest, I’d rather lose my laptop than somebody will be able to brick it… At least that way I will feel it’s my fault. So I can only say - shame on Apple.
So, for those who are in my situation - I did some research and here is the option to get it to unlock:
1. Send somebody to unlock it. Found some services on the ebay. ~$60. I am little afraid about this option.
2. Buy “unlock device” – a little device that you plug into USB and it will try all possible combinations. It will brute force password ~$200.
3. Replace BIOS chip - ~$20. But you need to solder a new one in.
4. Buy “unlock chip” - ~$70- there is a chip you plug in into BIOS service port and it should “bypass” password.
I have not tried any of these options. If any of you tried any of the options, please share your experience.
So, for those who are in my situation - I did some research and here is the option to get it to unlock:
1. Send somebody to unlock it. Found some services on the ebay. ~$60. I am little afraid about this option.
2. Buy “unlock device” – a little device that you plug into USB and it will try all possible combinations. It will brute force password ~$200.
3. Replace BIOS chip - ~$20. But you need to solder a new one in.
4. Buy “unlock chip” - ~$70- there is a chip you plug in into BIOS service port and it should “bypass” password.
I have not tried any of these options. If any of you tried any of the options, please share your experience.
I see this or similar problems all the time and it is getting more frequent. I live in a small town with an aging population and quite frankly some of the people I deal with have a hard time remembering their own names on a bad day. The other consideration is that few people bother to keep a receipt past the warranty period. I for one have a hard time believing that a sweet little 70 year old lady ripped off that computer, I could be mistaken but I think it is unlikely. Why could Apple not simply institute a waiting period, for example someone comes in with a reset request and it is filed. After 3 months if the computer is not reported stolen, they do the reset. The other option is just keeping an record of the serial number and the person's identification. If it does turn out to be stolen this record could be used as proof by the police. Thieves tend not to like to give you their id. This is just starting to strike me as an excuse to brick systems so people will have to buy new. Maybe some of the victims should get together and start a class action.
Sorry to read about your scenario. I'm sure it happens more than people think. We send off dozens of Apple laptops to surplus, which resells them for pennies on the dollar ( $100 - $300 for three year old, maxed out MacBook Pro 15, for example ). The laptops are wiped and iCloud removed, although our MDM DEP (mobile device management device enrollment program) occasionally does NOT get removed. This can at a future time ( typically first full OS restore ), brick the device, with no ability to unlock.
I am a bit wary of your story due to several factors. One, remote access to reset/lock/access iCloud is not allowed without express permission from you through two factor authorization.
Certainly, had you paid for it, this post would not have happened.
To be fair, had you owned one of our corporate PCs, we may have remotely bricked it during a future inventory or refresh.
My background, professional apple know it all, *nix guru, computer scientist, hacker wanna be pro ( but this is the internet, I could be a truck driver ). None of the options listed above work.
1: They keep your computer. What can you do about it? Call Apple, call the police and report it stolen? Nope, no proof of ownership.
2: Will not work as your device is not passcode locked, it is iCloud locked.
3: Will not work as your device is not firmware locked, it is iCloud locked.
4: Again, will not work as your device is not firmware locked, it is iCloud locked.
In all my experience ( 22 minutes of googling ) I have only been able to bypass iCloud in a very specific instance. MDM DEP iCloud locked device. I have done this in my lab on two occasions. Once as a proof of concept and second, because you have to show somebody when you do something cool. I have not tried again in the last three years.
Contact your company. The purchasing department might keep POs forever ( ours does ) and at a minimum for 10 years ( if you are lucky ). Maybe they will send you a proof of purchase, via copy of the PO. Why not? I would if I knew that someone was in your situation. I'd feel bad and make the 10 minute call down to purchasing for you.
PS. I was a truck driver ( car hauler, specifically ) for five years, while working on my bachelors.
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Very good points, but you really should watch those old ladies.
I'm all for this. Makes perfect sense. I definitely recommend sending this in to Apple as an 'Idea'.
Liability for stupidity. One of THE golden rules for companies. This would certainly give reasons for a lawsuit.
I'm not 100% sure how they work but there are Apple repair shops that can remove the password through a firmware reset device (possibly a eprom programmer). The device clips to a socket on the logic board and clears the password.
I almost bypassed it. I'm disappointed.
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Also you know it will still ask you for a password, right?
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No unless you don't have a firmware password. I know my macOS password but don't know the firmware password. If you however do not have a firmware password, use command Shift + R when you turn on your computer from shutdown. Then go to Utilities > Terminal, then type /reset password
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Actually I had almost the exact same experience before. Back in 2017 my ex broke up with me and tried to blackmail me with a firmware password set on my 2015 MacBook Pro. When I asked her about the password she said she forgot about it, eventually we went to the court to settle things up... Anyways I did gave apple a call but apple rejected my request because I could not find the receipt of my MBP. I ended up buying a new MacBook pro, until several months later I saw a new post on some hacker forums talking about bypassing the firmware lock. I remembered flashing some rEFind software to a bootable usb stick and loaded that during bootup, so I can reset the NVRAM on that machine and after 4 times of resetting the NVRAM, the Mac just completely forgot about its firmware password. Eventually I was able to remove the EFI lock without Apple's help. Every time when I use my new 2017 MacBook Pro, it constantly reminds me of this traumatic piece of memory in the past, and the huge amount of money I wasted on this new MacBook Pro.
Fantastic lessons learned here... and it only cost you a couple thousand dollars! Remember them well, for the same ( or similar ) mistakes in the future can cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars!
I would never consider a new MBP a waste of money! It makes me many thousands of times its cost.