if I use Find My feature on an Apple M1/m2 MacBook air, it should be impossible to bypass and use by another user, is that correct? I'm trying to convince myself that it offers the same protection like an iPhone.

Also, son wants to take his M2 MacBook Air to school. I already made sure he is signed in into Find My and I can see it from my iPhone. Anything else you can recommend to prevent theft?

Thanks

gadje,

"if I use Find My feature on an Apple M1/m2 MacBook air, it should be impossible to bypass and use by another user, is that correct? I'm trying to convince myself that it offers the same protection like an iPhone. "

That is my understanding as well. I think it is the OS (or iOS) that determines this and not the device itself. I have the same options on my 2018 MBA running Monterey.

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Ed (modelamac)

Trying to figure out some people is like trying to smell the number 9.

Find My may prevent re-use and make the laptop less valuable, but it isn't going to prevent theft. The thief isn't going to bother to figure out if Find My is on before they steal it.

So, for actual theft prevention, you'd want some sort of of physical lock. Which, sadly, requires some sort of add-on hardware usually adhered to the case, but sometimes there are screw-on adapters. Since case thinness has left the old "Kensington" lock hole out in the cold.

Also, make sure your son doesn't have some stupidly simple user password (i.e. like their first name, which I know a lot of people use for their computer). It won't let them turn off Find My, but they'll be able to log into the user account which at least would let them show it as "working" and pawn it off to some unsuspecting buyer.

Two apropos articles from the mothership:

[support.apple.com]
[support.apple.com]

Quote
gadje
if I use Find My feature on an Apple M1/m2 MacBook air, it should be impossible to bypass and use by another user, is that correct? I'm trying to convince myself that it offers the same protection like an iPhone.

Not without FileVault active. With FileVault it works very much like an iPhone.

And if you turn on FileVault, please make sure that you have a reliable and ongoing backup in place.

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Apple's ability to lock a phone and now computer remotely makes them less attractive to professional thieves, since they are basically only useful as parts to a less than honest buyer/reseller.

Thief: Its a thousand dollar laptop! See it works!
Buyer: DO NOT OPEN THAT! it will report location! Get the hell out of here!
Thief: IT's worthless?
Buyer: Leave ti closed, I'll give you $20 for parts.


My SiL had her Pre-M1 laptop stolen. I showed her how to lock it with Find My and the cops went to its last location ping. And abandoned house in the hood. The house was empty. It never pinged again.

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San Antonio, TX (in the old city)


"All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke
“Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." - Eli Weisel

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." - Theodore Roosevelt (1918)

"I don’t want to see religious bigotry in any form. It would disturb me if there was a wedding between the religious fundamentalists and the political right. The hard right has no interest in religion except to manipulate it." - Billy Graham 1981

"Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise" - Barry Goldwater

I see now, Apple is making their laptops unrepairable so they aren't worth anything as parts and won't be stolen any more.

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In tha 360. MRF User Map

My M1 MBP has finally stopped telling me I've left it behind at home after telling it several times to, 'Trust This Location'.

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Grateful11

Backup to iCloud and insure it.

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cbelt3
Backup to iCloud and insure it.

iCloud sync isn't a backup.

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Tiangou... Ah, yes.. technically correct (the best kind of correct)
[support.apple.com]

I should have stated "Back up to a cloud service".
Most colleges nowadays are using one version of a cloud service or another so all work is in Google or Microsoft's cloud systems.

I gave each of my kids a portable hard drive with their Macbooks and had them time machine their laptops. Now I tell them to keep their files on a cloud drive.

At $20K a year, the data is valued far more than the laptop itself.