Apple's T2 chip makes third-party Mac repairs impossible

Teardowns of Apple hardware have repeatedly revealed just how difficult it is to repair. Apple doesn't want you to repair its devices, so why make it easy? But with the introduction of the T2 chip, Apple switched from deterring repairs to outright blocking them by anyone other than Apple authorized service providers.

The T2 chip is an 64-bit ARMv8 part that runs an operating system called BridgeOS. Apple first included the chip in the iMac Pro launched in Dec. 2017, where it serves a number of security purposes including protecting the boot process, securing encrypted keys, and handling system functionality such as access to the camera. The T2 has since been added to the MacBook Pro 2018, which launched in July. Read more...