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0 pointsblondin4y ago0 comments

i doubt it.

i recently walked a friend through setting up a their MacBook Air M1. and, like you said, i told them to skip setting an Apple ID. that it was not necessary.

but the first setup doesn't allow you to skip. or didn't make it obvious how to do so. (dark pattern?)

i suppose one could use keyboard shortcuts, or install in safe mode, etc... but for the regular users won't be able to skip that step.

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8 comments · 5 top-level

sneak4y ago· 3 in thread

It does allow you to skip, but you're right that it's a dark pattern. Apple really wants you to be on board with their network services, because Apple 3.0 wants recurring services revenue like a crackhead wants crack.

chipotle_coyote4y ago

> Apple 3.0 wants recurring services revenue like a crackhead wants crack

While this is true (to my increasing chagrin), having an Apple ID in and of itself doesn't cost you anything. It does create an account that you can then tie charges to.

I don't, however, recall this quite rising to the level of what I'd call a "dark pattern"; IIRC when I set up my M1 MacBook Air not that long ago, the "Enter your Apple ID" had a "Skip this step" link that was pretty easy to find.

Terretta4y ago

On Macbook the "Set Up Later" is lower left of the dialog box, so it does require swiveling your eyeballs in their sockets until your attention lands 2 inches from center. Kind of an off-white pattern, maybe?

2 more replies

sneak4y ago

> While this is true (to my increasing chagrin), having an Apple ID in and of itself doesn't cost you anything.

Privacy.

You can't get an Apple ID without an email and a phone number.

When you enter it during the machine setup, it ties that identity to that hardware serial, which maintains a persistent TLS hardware-serial-linked connection to Apple at all times, letting them know in what cities and at what times that phone number's owner is using their computer.

JimDabell4y ago

> but the first setup doesn't allow you to skip. or didn't make it obvious how to do so. (dark pattern?)

It does allow you to skip, and it is obvious.

There’s a screen asking you to log in to your Apple ID. There’s a button that says “Set up later”. When you click it, it asks you if you are sure. You confirm. That’s all.

Here are the screenshots:

https://i.imgur.com/2s3sA2L.png

https://i.imgur.com/wU0GU5l.png

lathiat4y ago

You can definitely still do it but like windows now the button is like off to the bottom left somewhere and hard to find.

grishka4y ago

I did set up my M1 Max without an apple id. I logged into the app store later, but I didn't log into the system itself and double checked that all cloud services were disabled.

reaperducer4y ago

I've set up two new M1 machines in my household in the last two months without Apple ID. Everything is fine. No dark patterns. No unskippable prompts.

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