Special tools are allowed only for darn good reasons. Profiting by selling expensive special tools is wrong and not making special tools available is even worse. Torx is OK; tamperproof is rarely OK.

http://makezine.com/04/ownyourown/

Apple isn’t going to put a big, ugly sticker on their products, so they use non-standard screws.

This isn’t true anti-tamper. Anti-tamper would be some mechanism by which removing the cover disables the device until an authorized service center resets it. Come to think of it, that would be remarkably easy to do on any product with an internal battery… there’s no way to de-energize the tamper circuit without triggering it.

This technique is commonly used to protect “secure” hardware and even some consumer goods (many televisions have a photocell somewhere on the HDMI board. If the set is powered up with the photocell exposed to light,the HDMI ports are disabled. Sometimes even the HDCP keys are wiped!)

I preferred the case for the iPod Mini, which you remove with a hair dryer and a thin screwdriver or plastic wedge.

But it’s just, well, mean. If I want to take something apart, I shouldn’t be stopped or hassled. I take apart a lot of things out of curiosity, even if I’m just going to put it back together.

Nintendo has been using their ridiculous “triwing” for so many years you can buy the drivers almost anywhere, so it’s definitely not just Apple.

They keep protecting themselves against an amorphous ‘middle’ group that once they disassembled a unit, would probably be unable to reassemble it properly, leading to an additional sale.

Instead, you have two groups: the majority who were never consider such a thing for many reasons, and a dedicated group of tinkerers who will build their own driver on a CAM if necessary. These people cannot be stopped, and will drill out rivets if necessary.

So use rivets and be done with it. It’s a lot cheaper.

NVM, I just figured it out. It’s not to prevent tampering, it’s to indulge some engineer’s theory.

Oh and btw, as technology to secure something advances, so too the technology to break that security…or something along those lines. Can’t remember the actual quote.

In fact not only do they take their own phones back, they’ll take any mobile phone.

Computer-wise (at least here in AU) they’ll do it only if you’ve bought a computer from them recently, but then computers are a lot bigger.

It’s patronizing, arrogant, and it’s what makes Apple a complete shitbag of a company.

I know you want your products to look pretty, and some times that means they are tough to get into, and I’ve accepted that explanation and let a lot of your shenanigans go but this . . .

What, don’t you think your products are strong enough to stand on their own? 99% of people are already replacing their iPhones and iPods in two years just because the new stuff you came out with is so awesome. Let this one go. Let the 1% of geeks who want to fiddle with their phones do it with ease. The prols are going to keep upgrading to new products regardless.

A better idea: Do a product search for “Torx Tamper Resistant” or “Torx 5 point”. You can easily find a full set of drivers of all sizes for less than iFixit’s 2 screwdriver kit.

What do I need the screws for if I have the screwdriver?

Now I can hardly focus enough to be mad at Apple.

http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/8899/ipood.jpg