[dogecoinbase]

> after all, you can never protect against someone making an entirely new device that just happens to look like an iPhone.

The specific threat being protected against (leaving aside the increased safety of iPhone users by making the stolen parts market untenable) is your phone, that you recognize and use as your phone and which contains your confidential material and credentials, having internal components swapped out while unattended.

[oneplane]

It is indeed a protection against evil maid attacks as well as the industrialised version of shipment interception.

It's probably also some form of PR and brand protection, and part of platform security as a whole.

I doubt that any commercial company would find the side-effect of less end-user tampering a true downside; if the device says "I have been tampered with", that's a very clear signal that someone coming in for some warranty repair has some explaining to do.

[shagie]

I am reminded of Mr. Fart's Favorite Colors - https://medium.com/@blakeross/mr-fart-s-favorite-colors-3177... ( 2016 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11231631 67 comments)