[HN Gopher] iPhone 11 Emulated on QEMU
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iPhone 11 Emulated on QEMU
Author : homarp
Score : 103 points
Date : 2022-03-03 19:18 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (github.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
| homarp wrote:
| from
| https://mobile.twitter.com/ntrung03/status/14992749382173818...
| iOS QEMU fork is just published. Some notable features: - iOS
| Restore - S8000 SecureROM emulation (always FORCE_DFU) - USB -
| SPRR/GXF emulation
|
| Tutorial/status can be found in the wiki section, e.g.
| https://github.com/TrungNguyen1909/qemu-t8030/wiki/Bringing-...
|
| It is still very far from a usable device:
| https://github.com/TrungNguyen1909/qemu-t8030/wiki/Project-s...
| lucb1e wrote:
| With this, would it finally be possible to test iOS apps without
| having to first buy into the Apple ecosystem? Seems super helpful
| for developers, security testing, etc.
| ge96 wrote:
| Is it "buy into" if you use stuff like Browserstack?
|
| I use their live devices (camera/audio feed specifically)
| although not sure how far you can go eg. app-level install.
| Looks like you can and use stuff like Appium.
| amelius wrote:
| Wouldn't you need an Apple ID at some point?
|
| And doesn't it phone home and report you?
| lucb1e wrote:
| Good questions. I guess for eventual publishing, the app
| repository fees need to be paid indeed. That only applies to
| development and not security testing though.
| bri3d wrote:
| You can also buy into Corellium for this - I suppose the same
| idea but a closed "cloud" virtualization provider.
| lucb1e wrote:
| That sounded amazing until I clicked to the pricing and then
| to the FAQ about this "cores" concept
|
| > newer devices, such as the iPhone 8 and iPhone X, require
| six cores
|
| I'm not keeping up to date with apple phone numbers, but
| since OP speaks of 11 I take it that 8 must be at least a few
| years old. So "newer devices" here just means "any reasonable
| device".
|
| 6 cores is $295 a month on the cheapest plan. If you need it
| more than once every few years, it's cheaper to get a real
| phone used.
|
| Thanks for the tip nevertheless! Can be useful in a pinch for
| sure :)
| smackeyacky wrote:
| You can semi not buy into the apple ecosystem at the moment.
| Purchase a 2nd hand iphone and then run this Docker based OSX
| system:
|
| https://github.com/sickcodes/Docker-OSX
|
| It's fine for personal projects using something like usbfluxd
| to talk to your iphone from the docker container. I wouldn't
| rely on it to do commercial work.
| cyberpunk wrote:
| I'm really not trying to be rude, but if you're a serious
| developer, 'security person' or otherwise, the cost of entry
| for apple is not a problem.
|
| I know I'll get abused probably for saying it, but I mean come
| on. An apple device is what, one days worth of consultancy
| time? For a security researcher maybe an hour? It's the cost of
| business.
|
| If you're priced out of getting into that particular game (I
| was too, once) then do something adjacent and switch once
| you're earning 10k a year and can afford an apple device, if
| you really want to work on apple devices..
| danuker wrote:
| Thank you Apple fanboy!
|
| Arguments? Come on, who needs arguments!? Just because you
| can afford a device, you need to buy it.
| lxe wrote:
| I'm happy I have enough HN karma to just downvote this, as it
| doesn't really warrant a reply.
| sneak wrote:
| Is there documentation to hand on how to actually run iOS on this
| fork?
|
| The readme of the repo is still just the normal qemu repo readme.
| cyberbanjo wrote:
| https://github.com/TrungNguyen1909/qemu-t8030/wiki/Bringing-...
| wanderer_ wrote:
| Yeah, OP should probably have provided cyberbanjo's link, I was
| confused too.
| makach wrote:
| Ooohhh! This will be interesting from a reverse engineering
| perspective. Also, does that mean I can get iMessage on PC?
| 0x0 wrote:
| I think you need a valid iPhone serial number to activate
| iMessage?
| lostgame wrote:
| Curious, would this not apply to Macs and iPads as well?
|
| Can you access iMessage just through the Messages app on Mac?
| vulcan01 wrote:
| Yes, you can, but only if you are signed into your Apple ID
| and connected to Wi-Fi. I believe Macs and non-cellular
| iPads send messages over Wi-Fi to the iMessage servers.
| smithza wrote:
| Apple likes to validate hardware through serial numbers or
| other identifiers before connecting to apple services. I
| suspect this will be near impossible.
| Nextgrid wrote:
| This is currently possible with Hackintoshes, but only
| because Apple tolerates plausible-but-fake serial numbers
| that follow their usual format. They can trivially restrict
| this if they want to.
| arilotter wrote:
| Couldn't I go to the Apple store & copy down a real serial
| number?
| Nextgrid wrote:
| Yes you can, however there's a good chance it may also
| carry over the iCloud Activation Lock status and refuse
| to work for that reason (all Apple Store machines are
| Activation Locked to deter theft & assist with recovery).
|
| This might get you in trouble though, less about the
| theoretical element of fraud and more that they'll
| legitimately believe the device has been stolen.
| otterley wrote:
| Let's not endorse committing fraud here. (Also, such
| activity could harm innocent purchasers of devices with
| stolen serial numbers.)
| samtheprogram wrote:
| Exactly; the Hackintosh community explicitly provides
| instructions on how to ensure the serial number you
| generate is not another real Mac's serial number, but is
| "valid" for the model you need to emulate for your
| hardware.
|
| Otherwise this could cause issues with a real owner or
| the Hackintosh community, and is just acting in bad
| faith.
| eggsome wrote:
| It's an interesting thought experiment though.
|
| Who is harming the purchasers? Apple, or the hacker
| copying down a publicly available piece of information?
| Nextgrid wrote:
| It's technically already possible by installing/virtualizing
| macOS and giving the SMC emulator a plausible serial number -
| it's tolerated by Apple for now, however they can trivially
| block this (both for Hackintosh as well as this iOS emulator)
| by requiring a _real_ serial number.
| Quikinterp wrote:
| I have an old iPhone, could I use a serial number from that
| potentially?
| Gigachad wrote:
| >by requiring a real serial number
|
| I assume you could just buy some $10 iphone 3gs to grab a
| number from.
| trollied wrote:
| They have started to introduce random serials to some product
| lines: https://www.macrumors.com/2021/05/05/purple-
| iphone-12-random...
|
| I imagine this will be extended in the future so that they
| can begin to clamp down.
| muttled wrote:
| If you know a valid serial number (say from a
| decommissioned Mac) do you know if you're able to just use
| that or is there some sort of validation of the device to
| the serial number?
| Ardon wrote:
| There's no validation right now, but they could do that
| if they wanted to.
| encryptluks2 wrote:
| All the wasted efforts of people to do something that Apple
| should be doing already. Some people think Steve Jobs is an icon,
| but I hope someday we can remember him for the greedy capitalist
| pig he was.
| _jal wrote:
| Personally, I blame Charlie Babbage for voice mail spam.
| tenebrisalietum wrote:
| Personally, I blame Joseph Marie Jacquard for enabling the
| automation of anything bad.
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(page generated 2022-03-03 23:00 UTC)