Comment Why? (Score 1) 97
My brain said NFC and wireless the second it was mentioned.
Sure, if you use the right software you can keep the power usage to a minimum in the box so heat isn't an issue, but we can already wirelessly charge devices, instruct them to wake from sleep, and send data to them. It's not even unusual on modern phones to have all those features.
The bigger question is whether its actually worth the effort. Next month there'll be another update anyway. If you updated in the background just while the user goes through the first-time-setup, you could do exactly the same without requiring infrastructure to every store at all. And without potential security problems of being able to power, wake up, and communicate with a device that's "turned off" or has never once been turned on.
The only real use of this might actually be far more simple. Have all phones in the shop deactivated, and only when they go through the genuine purchasing process do they get remotely activated by the shop's system. Basically eliminates theft without requiring having to trace literally every device produced and its current status. Just ship them to stores in a deactivated state where they won't work, and they only "turn on" once they've been through an Apple store till.
But it seems to me that the costs purely for "updates" are totally not worth it. Just have the device check for updates in the first-time setup and refuse to offer services like Bluetooth, etc. until it's done that (so there's no window of vulnerability in the meantime).