So I was thinking about buying a laptop. I’ve already chosen the model. It weighs about 3 kg, if not more. But it’s armored and durable. I hope it will last for about 8-9 years.
Just considering the AI bubble is going to burst, I was worried that there might be a shortage of parts for repairs, and the new devices, as I heard, will have some kind of improved wiretapping at the hardware level.
I’m just going to learn how to repair it, even though I’m a complete noob for now.
Any advice on what to do?
A fine start, but I think the plan could be made a bit more sustainable.
Make a threat model. Hardware that is impenetrable today might not be as secure five years later as new security vulnerabilities are found. Who or what do you want to defend against?
If you don’t use an OS that phones home, options without AI-enhanced wiretapping will still be around for years to come. There’s also several existing layers of hardware-related wiretapping to consider: the Intel ME, AMD PSP, BIOS, embedded controller firmware, SSD firmware, input peripherals, etc.
I’d be happy to be proven wrong, but what you have sounds like specialty hardware, for which parts will become increasingly rare and expensive over 8 to 9 years. Ironically, common business-class laptops could be more future-proof by this metric, unless perhaps you plan on using one out in the field or in a metal foundry.
Laptops are fundamentally like desktop computers, just in a portable form factor. Any security measure on a laptop can be more or less replicated on a desktop computer.
Quite a good and useful answer, thank you.
Yes, in the future there will be a serious problem with spare parts, so it really is worth choosing something for which I can at least find parts.
If anything, I’m just going to buy a laptop with a durable shell like this – dell Latitude 5430 Rugged.