Galaxy Z Fold 3: An unlocked bootloader disables all cameras on Samsung's latest foldable smartphone
It may be possible to unlock many Samsung smartphones, but the South Korean company is not a fan of people tinkering with their devices. For example, rooting a recent Samsung smartphone will trip Knox, breaking functionality like Samsung Pay. Rooting switches the e-fuse irreparably from 0x0 to 0x1, which must discourage most people from unlocking their device.
Now, Samsung has taken another step with the Galaxy Z Fold 3. According to XDA Senior Members 白い熊 and ianmacd, Samsung disables all the device's cameras if you unlock its bootloader. Apparently, an unlocked bootloader disables the cameras in all instances, including facial recognition. An unlocked bootloader does not break Knox, for reference.
Consequently, re-locking the bootloader re-enables the cameras, so Samsung has not tied the disablement to Knox. Oddly, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 does not appear to have the same restriction, for one reason or another. Unsurprisingly, Samsung has not commented on the matter. Thankfully, Google, OnePlus and Xiaomi, among others, have not followed suit.
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