Nechilciuc

Q: If I remove the hard drive from my Mac book will find my Mac still work

ME and one of my mates are arguing cause im trying to say that if you remove the hard drive from a Macbook, find my Mac doesn't work anymore even if you get a new hard drive and connect it to the Internet. He says it only stops working if it's not connected to the internet, and I know this is true but I want to know if my theory is correct,

Posted on Jul 21, 2016 8:45 AM

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Q: If I remove the hard drive from my Mac book will find my Mac still work

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  • by lllaass,Helpful

    lllaass lllaass Jul 21, 2016 6:02 PM in response to Nechilciuc
    Level 10 (187,759 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 21, 2016 6:02 PM in response to Nechilciuc

    If you remove the HD there is nothing to identify the Mac as yours so FindMyMac.

    To use FindMyMac the Mac has to be connected to the internet and FindMyMac has to be turned on in System Preferences>iCloud. That requires the Mac be signed into iCloud.

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Jul 21, 2016 9:28 AM in response to Nechilciuc
    Level 9 (60,677 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 21, 2016 9:28 AM in response to Nechilciuc

    This is a theoretical exercise in splitting hairs, so lets have at it:

     

    I expect Apple is using the unique Hardware Address (M.A.C. address manufactured into every Internet-capable computer) rather than iCloud Account data. So just removing iCloud account data and the Apple-ID of the owners MacOS software is unlikely to cancel the alarm.

     

    Find My Mac service is run by Apple. Anything that allows Apple, Inc to see that MacBook’s M.A.C. [Hardware] address has the potential to set off the alarm on that MacBook. iCloud contact to ANY account (not necessarily user-initiated) and Mac App Store contact are the most likely to set off the alarm. But Apple does not have access to every transaction to every other site that occurs on the Internet, only the ones directed at Apple Inc or at iCloud or Mac App Store/Software Update or similar services.

     

     

    Suppose you immediately installed a different, already initialized Hard drive, with Windows installed on it. Suppose you never surfed over to Apple, Inc web site and never ran any iCloud services or anything iCloud and never ran a Mac Software Update. Apple would have no way of seeing your MacBook’s M.A.C. address, and no way of sounding the alarm on your Mac.

     

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    The above is not a very likely thing to happen. Most thieves of an Apple device will eventually want to run it as an Apple device, and will connect to software update, iCloud, or other Apple sites without deliberately obscuring the manufactured-in M.A.C. [Hardware] address. I expect that is all it will take to will set off the alarm.

  • by Nechilciuc ,

    Nechilciuc Nechilciuc Jul 21, 2016 6:04 PM in response to lllaass
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 21, 2016 6:04 PM in response to lllaass

    Thanks for that and I'm just wondering if I put a new hard drive in amd connect it to the Internet will my finf my Mac work or will it make me sign into iCloud again and turn it on

  • by lllaass,Helpful

    lllaass lllaass Jul 22, 2016 9:56 AM in response to Nechilciuc
    Level 10 (187,759 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 22, 2016 9:56 AM in response to Nechilciuc

    Try it and find out. Easy to do