Apple Magazine

NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN PRIVACY

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Over the past year or two, Apple has been clear on privacy: it thinks other tech giants like Google and Facebook aren’t doing enough to keep your data safe, and it wants to give you more control over your personal informatio­n.

From the new privacy features and ad tracker blockers with iOS 12 to a brand new Security Suite on its site to let consumers manage their data, Apple is, quite clearly, on the side of the consumer and is fighting against advertisin­g firms.

Those sentiments are reinforced with the new MacBook Air, which offers ‘never before seen on the Mac’ privacy features. The new T2 security chip, which is already packaged in the 2018 MacBook Pro, is Apple’s most advanced yet and includes a microphone disconnect feature that ensures the microphone is not recording when the device’s lid is closed. In a user manual on its website, Apple ads that the “disconnect is implemente­d in hardware alone, and prevents any software, even with root or kernel privileges in macOS, and even the software on the T2 chip, from engaging the microphone when the lid is closed,” and adds that the camera is not disabled as its field of view is obstructed when the lid is closed anyway. In a time where security has never been more important, the T2 will no doubt go down well with users, particular­ly those in sensitive jobs.

The T2 chip also allows for encrypted storage, a secure boot, and for the first time on the MacBook Air, Touch ID. Many criticized the new MacBook Pro, released in 2016, and its introducti­on of the Touch Bar, which was considered gimmicky and useless. The Air, on the other hand, brings the best feature of the Touch Bar (Touch ID, fingerprin­t unlocking and Apple Pay), without having to sacrifice function keys like the escape, volume, brightness, expose and playback keys.

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