Apple Adds New Privacy Features To IPad Pro M4

Apple added the latest security features to the iPad Pro M4 (photo: dock. Apple)

JAKARTA iPad Pro 2024 is Apple's first device to use an M4 processor. This device gets a lot of improvements, both from its system, its features, as well as from its security side. When launching the iPad Pro M4 on May 7, Apple focused on showing off its device's design and performance. The company did not reveal that it had added a new security feature that was better than the previous generation. Found for the first time by Guilherme Islam in Mastodon, citing from 9to5google, the iPad Pro M4 was the first device to use the latest Safe Indicator Light (SIL). This new mechanism has been added to the microphone and camera. With the SIL mechanism, iPad Pro M4 users could know if their microphone and camera were being hacked. The reason is, the iPad will show a colored indicator point indicating that the two features are being used. The improvement found in the SIL mechanism is a Secure Exclave feature. Reportedly, there are many functions of this one feature, but it is not yet clear what its function is. The only function that has been revealed is the prevention of indicator light errors.

This new feature makes SIL control bound to hardware components so the interference will be minimal compared to SIL controls on other devices. This indicator light will ensure that the lights they show are correct. Apparently, Apple deliberately did not introduce this new feature when launching the iPad Pro M4. The reason is, this new feature indirectly shows that the microphone and camera security indicators on other devices are not that good and secure.