Can iPhone be airgapped

[Karl_3000]

I thought of this because of what ZachXBT said: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5588610.msg66947232#msg66947232

I am talking about removing the bluetooth, wifi components from the phone and also removing the component that make it connect online and the phone will still be working.

Another thing is if all these can be disabled with password in a way they have to be enabled with password.

I am not using iPhone and I can not use it but I just want to know about it. Some people can become relevant and be misleading people.

[NotATether]

Instead of attempting to disassemble your iPhone to desolder Bluetooth / WiFi and disking damage, why don't you just wrap the phone in aluminium foil?

Aluminium foil blocks all of the signals from going from and being received by phones. Maybe you can design some sort of case with a cover for the phone.

[Mia Chloe]

~sni

The whole process is possible but not very practical. First off iPhones are relatively expensive compared to other brands plus the problem with airgapping on mobile phones are mostly two. First is the components are very small and most times they handle more than one function unlike old PCs I can easily unplug the network chip.

Second it device activation. Most of these devices can be unusable until you connect to the internet and activate them.

~snip

A foil might be possible but what happens if the case isn't on the device? Also don't forget there's a level of thickness too based on how strong the signal it generates Is. 

[stompix]

Instead of attempting to disassemble your iPhone to desolder Bluetooth / WiFi and disking damage, why don't you just wrap the phone in aluminium foil?
Aluminium foil blocks all of the signals from going from and being received by phones. Maybe you can design some sort of case with a cover for the phone.

So, once you wrap it in aluminium foil tightly as a fresh sandwich...how do you use it?  

I am talking about removing the bluetooth, wifi components from the phone and also removing the component that make it connect online and the phone will still be working.

Pain in the ass, in older modesl since you're not goin to use a new one for it at least the wifi antena is on the other side of the board, so you have like 100 scews to remove and take it out completely, the cell antenna is easier to get but if I remember correctly you have to pull out least 3 more connectors to get to all of them, no way somebody who is not into phone repairs can pull it out without screwing(!) something up.

[BitMaxz]

Instead of attempting to disassemble your iPhone to desolder Bluetooth / WiFi and disking damage, why don't you just wrap the phone in aluminium foil?

Aluminium foil blocks all of the signals from going from and being received by phones. Maybe you can design some sort of case with a cover for the phone.

I think he doesn't need to disassemble the unit just to destroy the Bluetooth and WiFi. There's alternative for this without touching any hardware components.
If he knows how to jailbreak(with checkra1) the unit and is able to switch it to diag mode or purple screen, he can replace the MAC address of both Bluetooth and WiFi by editing the Syscfg, where you can find both Wmac and Bmac, to destroy it or make it unable to use; just replace the MAC with zeros and save.

I am doing this on an old iPhone and iPad; I'm not sure about the latest Apple models. It's way safer than desoldering the WiFi and Bluetooth; it can cause some other component issue if you don't have soldering skills.

[Cookdata]

Ever since Zach made that post, I noticed unstoppable wallet has been bull posting their wallet features and shaming some hardware wallet especially ledger for their failure over the years.

I came across this wallet by Cake wallet, Cupcakewallet is designed as hardware wallet to work on smart phones as offline wallet, the concept is to turn your old phone to a hardware wallet.

You need two phones, an old phone to act as the hardware wallet and other phone to create PSBT. To use the hardware wallet, you need internet to download the software wallet(the firmware in this case) from App store and Google store and then disable the internet and then create a seed phrase, the extended public key will be displayed as QR code for you, which you can scan using your other phone, you can use cake wallet or any other wallet that supports QR code, this is where you create transactions and use the other phone to sign the PSBT.

This cannot replace hardware wallets!

[Mia Chloe]

If he knows how to jailbreak(with checkra1) the unit and is able to switch it to diag mode or purple screen, he can replace the MAC address of both Bluetooth and WiFi by editing the Syscfg, where you can find both Wmac and Bmac, to destroy it or make it unable to use; just replace the MAC with zeros and save.

Yeah this might work but I don't really advise anyone to bet on a software mod. There's actually no 199% guarantee that those addresses will not reset at some point in the future. Mobile devices easily automatically run troubleshoots and it can happen very randomly and it's possible it can undo your mods.

A very old iPhone. Might work most of the internals there were pluggable clips only issue like I said earlier is some network components may be tied to other very important functions too.

[NeuroticFish]

Long ago I had issues with my iPad: it had moments you could not use it for anything until you managed to make it go back online and entered your password.
I don't know if Apple still has such issues - I no longer use iPhone/iPad - but I think that there are alternatives that would be cheap and more reliable.
I see that old PC was already mentioned. A Raspberry Pi (zero?) could also be an option.

[Cricktor]

Why does OP (or other of Zack's mindless sheep) believe some of the nonsense that this Zack dude poops out on (a)social media?

Following the link and reading Zack's quoted nonsense, I'll have to question some people's mental sanity.

A mobile device like an iPhone as hardware wallet... that's insane and hardly qualifies to be called a hardware wallet!

I only agree with that Ledger is garbage and should be avoided.

[philipma1957]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/146725792101?

bento box  works for in the house


https://www.ebay.com/itm/257566937594?

faraday bag for the road.


do the bag in the box for super security

[Stalker22]

Instead of attempting to disassemble your iPhone to desolder Bluetooth / WiFi and disking damage, why don't you just wrap the phone in aluminium foil?

Aluminium foil blocks all of the signals from going from and being received by phones. Maybe you can design some sort of case with a cover for the phone.

Its not like I would encourage using a device like this (whose main function is to communicate with the outside world) to be "air gapped", there are much easier, smarter alternatives out there like hardware wallets, but hey that is an interesting idea so I did a little look around online, and you might be surprised to learn that there are actually bags that completely block all signals.  Faraday Defense make ones, for example.  These have up to three layers of RF shielding fabric and work via the "Faraday cage principle".  Apparently, they are handy if you dont want your phone to be tracked.  So, if anyone is worried about that for example, this apparently does the job.

[PrivacyG]

You are not likely going to be able to destroy or unplug all the pieces of hardware you need and still have a functioning iPhone.  It will likely simply not work.  Not to mention some of the components are likely embedded in other components.  I think I remember some phone models had Wi-Fi and or Bluetooth integrated in the processor chip.

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I think he doesn't need to disassemble the unit just to destroy the Bluetooth and WiFi. There's alternative for this without touching any hardware components.
If he knows how to jailbreak(with checkra1) the unit and is able to switch it to diag mode or purple screen, he can replace the MAC address of both Bluetooth and WiFi by editing the Syscfg, where you can find both Wmac and Bmac, to destroy it or make it unable to use; just replace the MAC with zeros and save.

If you jailbreak your iPhone, root your Android or use a Linux terminal with out knowing what you are doing then you are better off not complicating things at all and using a default Operating System instead with no tricks at all.  Security wise, I am pretty sure this actually LOWERS your phone security than improving it in any way!  And considering OP is looking to turn it in to a Hardware Wallet, I would definitely not suggest doing this.

Does OP really need a portable device that small?  There are older laptops they can buy and take all the wireless chips out of manually with out having to struggle at all.  Modern portable devices, even laptops, are a PAIN in the back to modify now!

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Its not like I would encourage using a device like this (whose main function is to communicate with the outside world) to be "air gapped", there are much easier, smarter alternatives out there like hardware wallets, but hey that is an interesting idea so I did a little look around online, and you might be surprised to learn that there are actually bags that completely block all signals.  Faraday Defense make ones, for example.  These have up to three layers of RF shielding fabric and work via the "Faraday cage principle".  Apparently, they are handy if you dont want your phone to be tracked.  So, if anyone is worried about that for example, this apparently does the job.

A Faraday cage is as useful as the other suggestion about aluminium in this situation.  In fact.  Considering most people do not have the budget to pay for a high quality Faraday bag, I would rather recommend using aluminium foil instead because cheap Faraday bags will most likely NOT isolate the phone.

[FinneysTrueVision]

I don’t know how feasible it would be because Apple makes it very difficult to sideload apps, so you would not be able to update your wallet application if it became necessary. ZachXBT’s point might be more about how it is really difficult for somebody to steal the private keys to your wallet on an iPhone. People usually lose funds in other ways, like revealing their seed phrase or not revoking smart contract approvals.

A wallet app on an iPhone, using the secure enclave for key management, could give you comparable security to a decent hardware wallet with the right settings. ZachXBT’s advice might not be the best for ordinary users. Mobile apps aren’t designed to be used as cold wallets. Many of them back up your seed to iCloud and they can have vulnerabilities like Tangem, that was able to log user seeds in plaintext. There are also a lot of fake apps on the App Store. If you install the wrong one they can steal your funds by generating a predetermined seed or by asking you to import the backup phrase to a wallet you were already using.