Why?
Isn't that a little bit extreme? Just update it like a normal person. There is no reason to wipe the phone.
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Apple Planning System for Retail Stores to Update iPhone Software With No Need to Open Box
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Isn't that a little bit extreme? Just update it like a normal person. There is no reason to wipe the phone.
Did they not do this already? In my mind there was a faraday cage that pallets of iPhones were wheeled into and they'd get blasted with the new iOS
I'd imagine this would be like installing an iOS update that you downloaded to your Mac, the iPhone in the box won't be downloading it, I guess the proprietary pad will already have the update and it will only be a matter of wireless installation. It's nice that they are trying to do this, it will improve the user experience out of the box.
Sounds like Voodoo.
Then again, my wife and I still call Apple pay "Voodoo pay". We were at a store one day a few years ago and I used my watch with Apple Pay to settle the transaction and the clerk was like "what is that, Voodoo or something". So now we just call it Voodoo pay or when in the store we just say Voodoo.
Do they take Voodoo? Yeah, you can Voodoo.
Sometimes I don't know how I lived without it. And curse Wal Mart for still not taking it. Last Sunday at 9 PM I had to run to Wal Mart to get a cat poop scoop as my wife accidentally threw it away and I actually had to take my wallet in with me.
What a PITA.
Then again, my wife and I still call Apple pay "Voodoo pay". We were at a store one day a few years ago and I used my watch with Apple Pay to settle the transaction and the clerk was like "what is that, Voodoo or something". So now we just call it Voodoo pay or when in the store we just say Voodoo.
Do they take Voodoo? Yeah, you can Voodoo.
Sometimes I don't know how I lived without it. And curse Wal Mart for still not taking it. Last Sunday at 9 PM I had to run to Wal Mart to get a cat poop scoop as my wife accidentally threw it away and I actually had to take my wallet in with me.
What a PITA.
Sounds makes sense, but iOS (and macOS, watchOS... etc included too) have regorious machenisms built in to ensure that the update process cannot be manipulated by anyone or in any way, detailed in their Platform Security Guide. Among these machenisms is a process called "Personalized update" that ensures every update to be verified by the server before being installed; and even if something malicious is installed, they should never be able to make their way through Secure Boot. So... it should be safe, I guess
If they can do this, I can see the next step having it locked-down by default…
then upon purchase, Apple will unlock, verify or register and then update the OS… so if an inventory of unsold devices gets stolen it’s harder to sell.
then upon purchase, Apple will unlock, verify or register and then update the OS… so if an inventory of unsold devices gets stolen it’s harder to sell.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
It's not like this would be MANDATORY. Those in a hurry do their updating at home. It's not only ONE way. The "as is" approach is well established and works like people expect it to work. This option might be another option offered and those perhaps willing to buy, then go do other shopping and pick up in your hour delay will have an iPhone up to date and ready to use out of the box. Win for you (in a hurry) and them (not in such a hurry).
Furthermore, it wouldn't be a fresh download for every phone like we experience- the whole update would already be "on pad"... so the delay is only transferring it from pad "storage" into iPhone. Once it's in iPhone, the update could proceed off pad. So the delay is really how long would it take to move an update from pad into phone? Could the speed of a transaction offer enough time for that? Or maybe a little longer than that?
After it's in phone, the update can continue while owner is walking to their car, driving home, etc. Or if they open box right out of the store, they will see "update in progress" instead of having to find some wifi somewhere to download the update as the phone sets up.
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Well, I’m sure the stores have an ideas the inventory size they move each day/week/month; they can prep those ahead.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
I would guess in support of this option, they ship 'em with 50% or so of battery... and the process would check the battery to see if there is sufficient capacity to successfully update.
If a phone is in stock so long that they burn through 50% of battery and maybe even just 5 updates, Apple- the "king of supply chain"- are inventorying it wrong.
yeah...who else has this kind of technology to make system changes on my phone while it is powered off? What else can they do while my phone is off? Can someone collect all my data? Can they delete things or plant spyware?
This just opens the door to so many questions....
Wow. FINALLY. This will save each store about 100 payroll hours A MONTH at that setup table. Absolutely by far the most time consuming thing we did as Specialists was updating almost every new phone we sold. Annoying for the customers, too. It would add at least 30 mins to every transaction. (Ironically, keeping your old iPhone updated to the newest update almost guarantees that you'll have to update your new iPhone to match the iOS of your old iPhone.)
That's what Face ID and a good password is for. Fresh goods iPhones have no personal information on them, as they have never had an owner.
As for security concerns, it would be nice if Apple could assure us that once an iPhone has been activated, it will never be able to utilize that fresh goods software update system again. It does sound a bit "Genesis Device."
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I use to work at an ARS and if they are having to do this during their shift when the store is opened it’ll for sure be an absolute nightmare.
Guess it’s all gonna depend on how many pads they are gonna get, how quickly the phones can be updated and or if they do it during normal hours or have employees stay after hours to update the inventory.
but do they need to login as the user though? It sounds like they have some kind of admin access that bypasses the user since none was setup on a new iPhone. So that means they are using some kind of admin access that does not need the user account.
LOL. The new iPhone 16. Now delivered in a quantum superposition. Can't innovate, my a$$.
Not really. Sure they need to consider security to some extent but if this is limited to devices that are not yet setup and the devices are updating themselves (fetching the updates themselves) then it’s not as any risky as if someone was to manually take out the phone and update it. This could be a singular command with no parameters that just tells the phone to update. They can even build a special stripped down boot mode that strictly only allows updating.
The way it would become as risky as you say doesn’t have to do with this process but more about whether the update server can be trusted which would be an issue regardless of how the phone was updated.
This does not seem to add up, as 15 series were released on 22 September and iOS 17.0.2 came on 26 September? 🤷🏻♂️
Well, this is strange. I bought mine directly from the Apple Store (walked in) and it definitely was not resealed. I opened the box on the spot and set the iPhone up without an Apple ID first, just to check the hardware bits (the cameras, speakers, etc.). This is when I checked what iOS it was running and saw 17.0.2.
Or just save it for updates that materially impact the out-of-box experience, like 17.0.2.