Comment by Wowfunhappy
5 years ago
> This is no longer possible on any phone, tablet, or computer Apple sells
It is still possible on all of their computers, just not their phones or tablets. Intel Macs (which are still being sold in large numbers) can always be wiped and restored from USB without an internet connection, and Apple Silicon Macs can do it if you set the boot-loader to "Reduced Security" mode.
This is a false statement. Intel macs have the T2 boot security chip, which requires online activation to be able to access the internal disk after a full system wipe. The M1, even in reduced security mode, also requires online activation after a full system wipe. I've tested this this week; if you know of something I'm missing please tell me the exact steps to take to wipe and reinstall a T2/M1 mac offline, as I am confident now that it is not possible to do so.
I would love to be wrong about this.
This is the case even if you have a full offline boot/restore USB.
I have a post coming out today about just this, and how it renders all current macs unsuitable for long term offline/airgap applications.