On: iPhones 'disabled' if Apple detects third-party re...

[dawnerd]

Hell, they could, on boot, display a message with something like "This phone contains contains a non genuine apple part"

Then the question is, could the NSA/CIA/etc trick the phone into thinking the repair was valid?

[Sanddancer → dawnerd]

Almost certainly so. Decap the chip, pull the flash contents out to get the key, etc, flash a new backdoored chip, you're done. Hobbyists have been decapping chips and pulling flash for a while, so this is certainly not beyond the abilities of the NSA/CIA/etc. You wouldn't need the exact same make of chip, just one that presents itself as the same.

[natch → dawnerd]

On boot? Many naive users never boot their phones after the first time they open the box.

So then, what, if not on boot, show it all the time, with no option to suppress? If you offer a way to suppress it, that will be used by the bad guys.

[dawnerd → natch]

I say show a message whenever Touch ID is activated. Then again that would be really freakin' annoying. Still better than bricking the phone.