Apple’s T2 security processor offers a real measure of data protection, even as it requires changes in how Apple hardware is imaged, updated or copied. But on balance, the T2 presages good things from the company.
There’s been a lot of discussion about Apple’s T2 security chip, particularly the restrictions it places on repairs not sanctioned by Apple. The controversy centers on an Apple utility needed to make changes like swapping out the built-in SSD drives. The overall argument ties into the right-to-repair fight, allowing hardware owners to make changes to their own devices.
It’s an issue that also affects enterprises, since it’s no longer a quick fix to change the drive in a company Mac or pull the drive from a dead Mac to retrieve its contents.
It also affects system imaging. That’s the process businesses and schools have long used to configure, deploy and refresh systems by copying a disk image that overwrites what’s on a Mac with a new configuration; the goal is to ensure all Macs have a consistent configuration from the macOS version to apps, network settings and other configuration states. The process can also be used to resolve stubborn computer issues by blasting a known, good deployment image onto a Mac rather than resorting to extensive troubleshooting. As various attendees at JAMF’s user conference last month put it: imaging is dead (though in fairness, Apple has been nudging organizations to other deployment mechanisms for years).
Read more at ComputerWorld.com