Group members who have a mix of hardware and software skills and are the first Their hack was described as part of a technology group Called Lagrange Point, they say a few dozen people have contacted them asking for help with their AirPods. “We've gotten huge interest in India from people who have these AirPods or whose grandparents need them and aren't able to use them,” says Jaisimha. Others have documented the same issue social media post,
Researchers demonstrated that they could bypass Apple's geographic restrictions with a set of AirPods Pro 2 connected to a Wi-Fi-only 10th-generation iPad. He noted that the workaround would also be possible on an iPhone or iPad connected to a mobile carrier, but would be more involved.
To find a solution, researchers first looked at the different ways iOS establishes where a device is in the world. For Wi-Fi only devices, there are some checks. The server looks at which Apple Store region the device is connected to, as well as what time zone, language, and region the device is set to. Additionally, the operating system sends a simple web request to Apple Web Services which responds with the country code of the country where the device appears, based on the location associated with its IP address.
The researchers first tried manually changing the time zone and region settings for the iPad, but ultimately it was unclear whether this affected their ability to hide the iPad's true location. When hiding the iPad's IP address to make it appear as if it was connected in the United States didn't work, the researchers assessed other metrics the device could use to establish its geographic location. It turns out that iOS also checks the Wi-Fi “Service Set Identifier,” or SSID, which helps devices connect to the right Wi-Fi network when there are multiple network signals in the air — like in an apartment building. In or at the coffee shop. ,
The operating system also uses GPS triangulation and the device identifier “MAC address” of nearby devices, including routers, to establish the device's location. In other words, even if someone in Bangalore uses a proxy to show that their iPad has a US-based IP address, all routers and devices nearby are connected to an India-based IP address that reflects the real location. Let's remove.