Hey everyone, I am dealing with a really weird Activation Lock issue and I'm hoping someone here understands M1 hardware security better than I do.
The Background:
I’ve had a Gold M1 MacBook Air from the start. It was my personal computer, fully unlocked, no issues, logged into my own iCloud. Unfortunately, I dropped it and completely cracked the screen.
To fix it cheaply, I went on eBay and bought an Activation Locked M1 MacBook Air just so I could use its physical body and screen as a donor housing.
The Swap:
I took my perfectly good, unlocked Gold motherboard (and my paired Touch ID button) and installed them into the locked eBay donor case. I booted it up, and everything worked flawlessly! My data was there, the new screen worked great, and my Mac was back alive.
The Problem:
Since it was working, I decided to do an "Erase All Content and Settings" just to start totally fresh and clean out some old files. But when it rebooted and connected to Wi-Fi, it instantly hit me with an Activation Lock screen!
The craziest part is that the hint on the screen (something like r*****@...) looks extremely similar to the Activation Lock email that was on the original, locked eBay motherboard.
My Questions:
How is this even physically possible?
Is there any way the Activation Lock data from the eBay donor Mac's original motherboard somehow "transferred" or linked to my good motherboard just because I put it in that chassis?
Does the M1 tie Activation Locks to the screen or the battery management board somehow?
Has anyone experienced this before? What can I do to fix my motherboard? Will a DFU restore via Apple Configurator clear this, or is my board completely glitched now?
Any suggestions or technical explanations would be hugely appreciated because I am completely lost on how my own unlocked board suddenly locked itself after a case