The 2020 iPad Pro might be worth upgrading to for this new security feature
- apr
- 03
What you need to know
- The 2020 iPad Pro isn't a huge upgrade.
- But it does have a cool new security feature.
- It will disable its microphone when a case is closed.
The iPad Pro will turn its microphone off automatically.
It's fair to say that the 2020 iPad Pro isn't a huge upgrade for those who already have the 2018 model. But there's one feature that might make it worth picking up – it will automatically disable its microphone to avoid eavesdropping.
This is a feature that first debuted on the 2018 MacBook models that included the T2 security chip, but this is the first time that it's come to the iPad lineup. And it's a biggie that was spotted by 9to5Mac. You can get the full details in Apple's Platform Security documentation.
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.
If you never needed a reason to pick up an MFi case rather than the cheapest one you can find on Amazon, this is probably it.