A couple of years ago, Apple launched the MacBook series that disables the microphone of the device when the display lid is closed. The Cupertino tech giant did this to make sure that users are protected from malicious apps that collect user's data and eavesdropping. A new report claims that this feature is now on the recently launched 2020 iPad Pro series.
2020 iPad Pro Security Feature
The latest security feature of the 2020 iPad Pro series works in a very simple way. Users need to close the lid of their premium tablet, which must be MFI compliant. When this happens, the microphone of the iPad Pro is disconnected physically to prevent malicious code from running, granting that the tablet is compromised.
It is worth mentioning that this particular iPad Pro feature disconnects the microphone not on a software level but on the hardware level. The microphone will remain disconnected until the user opens the case of the iPad Pro once again. Based on Apple's Platform Security document, the Cupertino based tech giant put emphasis that the case must be MFI compliant for the feature to work.
Apple says, "iPad models beginning in 2020 also feature the hardware microphone disconnect. When an MFI compliant case (including those sold by Apple) is attached to the iPad and closed, the microphone is disconnected in hardware, preventing microphone audio data being made available to any software-even with root or kernel privileges in iPadOS or in case the firmware is compromised."
Other iPad Pro Security Features
Last month, the Cupertino tech juggernaut released the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models. The new lineup is equipped with Apple's A12Z Bionic chip. It also sports the usual 12 MP camera that comes with the new LiDAR Scanner for better augmented reality user experience.
Apart from the aggressive privacy feature that the iPad Pro borrowed from the MacBook, it also has several other interesting features. Among these include Data Vaults for user's enhanced personal information protection. The 2020 iPad Pro also received updates using Bootstrap Token, organization setup, command line tools, and user setup.
The 2020 iPad Pro users now have the Malware Protection Tool addition that adds an extra layer of protection against malware. Other security features include "Updates to Shared iPad overview, Sign in to Shared iPad, and Sign out of Shared iPad, New Apple security and privacy certifications overview topic, and Updates to Apple security and privacy certifications overview and Apple security assurance." It looks like Apple amped the security features of the 2020 iPad Pro series to entice users, especially the privacy-conscious ones.
