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Dulcimer

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 20, 2012
999
1,553
Do you think the rumoured Fingerprint Scanner in the upcoming iPhone 5S will be a novel and practical innovation, or will it just be a useless gimmick? Would you use it?
 
I dont think its coming in the 5S.

Its going to be cool for like 2 weeks then meh.

I rather see a larger screen option or better iOS 7 features.
 
I'm sure I would use it if it fell back to the passcode if it didn't work. But I wouldn't upgrade my phone for it.
 
I'm not really sure what use a fingerprint scanner is other than passwords. Can anyone mentioned another reason?

I think this is a weak rumor.
 
Do you think the rumoured Fingerprint Scanner in the upcoming iPhone 5S will be a novel and practical innovation, or will it just be a useless gimmick? Would you use it?

To me it will wholely depends how is implemented. Notice the scanners on laptops of few years past is no longer seen.

Do a electromagnetic sensor because every body puts out a unique signature so no matter how one holds the phone, it will know who u are would be something more impressive.
 
I would rather see improved security features in iOS. What do I mean by this? Allow the owner to lock the phone permanently remotely. If the person who has the phone doesn't have the pin he/she is sol. Even restoring the phone brings the pin back up.

The kicker is... Apple already does this with osx! You have to being the Mac in to apple if its remotely locked and you don't have the pin and you have to have proof of ownership.

Yes, this would increase apple store traffic. But I think it would also increase demand for their devices. Being able to render them permanent paperweights (until they make it back to their original owner) when lost would do wonders to thwarting thieves.
 
I have had finger print scanners on my last few laptops, not only did I not use it ever. I even uninstalled the software since it ran on start up. I really don't see a daily use for it.
 
I would rather see improved security features in iOS. What do I mean by this? Allow the owner to lock the phone permanently remotely. If the person who has the phone doesn't have the pin he/she is sol. Even restoring the phone brings the pin back up.

The kicker is... Apple already does this with osx! You have to being the Mac in to apple if its remotely locked and you don't have the pin and you have to have proof of ownership.

Yes, this would increase apple store traffic. But I think it would also increase demand for their devices. Being able to render them permanent paperweights (until they make it back to their original owner) when lost would do wonders to thwarting thieves.

A DFU restore would prevent that from ever working.
 
Do you think the rumoured Fingerprint Scanner in the upcoming iPhone 5S will be a novel and practical innovation, or will it just be a useless gimmick? Would you use it?

practical innovation?

I'm pretty sure the Atrix had a fingerprint scanner first. I actually had an Atrix and thought the fingerprint reader was pretty useful for unlocking the phone.
 
I'd love it. It's ultimately more secure than any kind of passcode.

In addition I'd like to see other security features, number one being that you cannot turn off the phone while its locked. If someone steals your phone, they can just turn it off and suddenly find my iPhone is useless.
 
I find this troubling in many ways. I question the wisdom behind this feature and can only see bad things coming from it.
 
A DFU restore would prevent that from ever working.

So don't allow DFU restores? It's a simple fix really. Apple has already limited their OS "in the name of security". I fail to see why this wouldn't be a practical step in the same direction. I would be willing to bet that the average user doesn't even know what a DFU restore is. And Apple is all about "the average user", or so they seem to claim.

JMO :)
 
So don't allow DFU restores? It's a simple fix really. Apple has already limited their OS "in the name of security". I fail to see why this wouldn't be a practical step in the same direction. I would be willing to bet that the average user doesn't even know what a DFU restore is. And Apple is all about "the average user", or so they seem to claim.

JMO :)

So what happens when a user forgets their password and there's no way of getting into the device?
 
So what happens when a user forgets their password and there's no way of getting into the device?

Apple is able to reset these passwords. That is what I was saying in my first post. They just need proof that you are the rightful owner of the device. Again, this is how they treat Macs. Short of replacing the hard drive yourself, you can't just completely restore a stolen device IF the original user locks it remotely.

But also, you, the owner, are locking this device remotely. If you are unable to remember a four digit pin that you had to enter at the time of locking the thing, well, you get the point.

EDIT: I didn't clarify. I am suggesting DFU is disabled remotely when a person locks the phone remotely, not necessarily disabling DFU entirely.

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they could EASILY implement a feature like that into a phone. But then they wouldn't sell 1 more iphone when somebody loses it...

To be fair, it's less about selling another phone, I would think, and more about the logistical nightmare of people coming in daily with locked iPhones and trying to actually verify they are the owner.
 
Apple is able to reset these passwords. That is what I was saying in my first post. They just need proof that you are the rightful owner of the device. Again, this is how they treat Macs. Short of replacing the hard drive yourself, you can't just completely restore a stolen device IF the original user locks it remotely.

But also, you, the owner, are locking this device remotely. If you are unable to remember a four digit pin that you had to enter at the time of locking the thing, well, you get the point.

EDIT: I didn't clarify. I am suggesting DFU is disabled remotely when a person locks the phone remotely, not necessarily disabling DFU entirely.

I don't like the idea of having to take the phone in (no Apple Store anywhere near me). If they could reset it remotely, it would be great.
 
So... don't remotely lock your phone and forget the password. That's pretty simple, no?

Yeah, it sounds simple, but people forget passwords all the time. It wouldn't be reasonable to expect someone to drive two hours to an Apple Store because they forgot their password. Imagine if every company did this. Forgot your Gmail password? Drive to Google! Forgot your Skype password? Drive to Microsoft!

:p
 
Yeah, it sounds simple, but people forget passwords all the time. It wouldn't be reasonable to expect someone to drive two hours to an Apple Store because they forgot their password. Imagine if every company did this. Forgot your Gmail password? Drive to Google! Forgot your Skype password? Drive to Microsoft!

:p

I honestly don't see your issue with this. You realize your phone is stolen. You set a password lock on it. The person who stole it now can do NOTHING with it.

Think of it this way. Your option is to drive in and get the thing restored, or the guy just sells your phone successfully because he easily restored the thing. Which is better? I'd pick the former, but to each his own.

Neither skype nor gmail are tangible goods that we pay for. But if you think that's a good example...

It's obviously a viable option for Macs, as I have mentioned multiple times.
 
I honestly don't see your issue with this. You realize your phone is stolen. You set a password lock on it. The person who stole it now can do NOTHING with it.

Think of it this way. Your option is to drive in and get the thing restored, or the guy just sells your phone successfully because he easily restored the thing. Which is better? I'd pick the former, but to each his own.

It's obviously a viable option for Macs, as I have mentioned multiple times.

I love the idea, it's great. My only criticism is that you should be able to get Apple to reactivate it over the phone, not just by going in.

If someone thinks their phone is stolen and gone for good they might not bother to write the password down!

My phone falls out of my pocket in the car a lot, imagine if I remote locked it, reported it stolen, didn't bother writing down the password, then go out to the car and find it. Now I've got to go two hours to the Apple Store to unlock it? It would make more sense to be able to unlock by calling them and answering a handful of security questions.
 
I love the idea, it's great. My only criticism is that you should be able to get Apple to reactivate it over the phone, not just by going in.

If someone thinks their phone is stolen and gone for good they might not bother to write the password down!

I don't disagree with this at all. Apple's reasoning, however, is how does one prove they are the owner of the device by simply making a phone call? They don't have a whole lot of information on you, the ower, other than maybe your name and email. They have you show them your ID, and perhaps answer a few questions about the hardware in question.
 
I don't disagree with this at all. Apple's reasoning, however, is how does one prove they are the owner of the device by simply making a phone call? They don't have a whole lot of information on you, the ower, other than maybe your name and email. They have you show them your ID, and perhaps answer a few questions about the hardware in question.

I don't know what kind of data Apple has about the device itself, but if they have information such as when it was activated, if it's logged in to any iCloud accounts, etc., it shouldn't be too hard to ask the right questions.

Or perhaps the user could just unlock it themselves from the iCloud control panel? That's another option. :)
 
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