{"id":29652,"date":"2019-10-16T07:09:19","date_gmt":"2019-10-16T11:09:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/?p=29652"},"modified":"2019-10-14T22:09:11","modified_gmt":"2019-10-15T02:09:11","slug":"what-does-having-a-t2-chip-in-your-mac-mean-to-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/what-does-having-a-t2-chip-in-your-mac-mean-to-you\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does Having a T2 Chip in Your Mac Mean to You?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you own an iMac Pro, or a Mac mini, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro model introduced in 2018 or later, your Mac has one of Apple\u2019s T2 security chips inside. On the whole, having a T2 chip in your Mac is a good thing, thanks to significantly increased security and other benefits, but there are some ramifications that you may not realize.<\/p>\n<h3>What Is a T2 Chip?<\/h3>\n<p>Let\u2019s step back briefly. In late 2016, Apple introduced the T2\u2019s predecessor, the T1, in the first Touch Bar\u2013equipped MacBook Pros. The T1 offered three primary capabilities:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Management of the Touch Bar\u2019s Touch ID fingerprint sensor and storage of sensitive biometric information<\/li>\n<li>Integration of the System Management Controller, which is responsible for heat and power management, battery charging, and sleeping and waking the Mac<\/li>\n<li>Detection of non-Apple hardware<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The T2 builds on the T1\u2019s foundation, adding four more important capabilities:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Real-time encryption and decryption of data on built-in SSDs<\/li>\n<li>Support for invoking Siri with \u201cHey Siri\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Image enhancement for built-in FaceTime HD cameras<\/li>\n<li>Optional protection of the Mac\u2019s boot process to prevent it from starting up with an external drive<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All these functions become possible because the T1 and T2 are essentially separate computers inside your Mac, much like the A-series chips that power iOS devices. They have their own memory and storage, and run an operating system called bridgeOS that\u2019s based on watchOS.<\/p>\n<p>Some of these features enhance performance by offloading processing (like enhancing FaceTime HD and listening for Siri) to a separate chip. Others increase security by ensuring that they can\u2019t be compromised by an attack, even if macOS itself has been infiltrated.<\/p>\n<h3>How Does a T2 Chip Increase Your Security?<\/h3>\n<p>There are four basic ways that the T2 chip increases security, two of which apply only to the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models.<\/p>\n<h4>Secure Boot<\/h4>\n<p>The T2 chip ensures that all the components involved in the Mac\u2019s boot process, including things like firmware, the macOS kernel, and kernel extensions\u2014can be cryptographically verified by Apple as trusted. That prevents an attacker from somehow inserting malicious code at boot and taking over the Mac.<\/p>\n<p>There are two gotchas, however. First, Secure Boot trusts only code that\u2019s signed by Apple, with one exception: a specific bootloader signed by Microsoft to enable Windows 10 to work with Apple\u2019s Boot Camp technology for running Windows on a Mac. That means you can\u2019t boot from Linux in Boot Camp, for instance.<\/p>\n<p>Second, with Secure Boot in its default settings, you can\u2019t boot from an external drive at all. That\u2019s great for security but can make troubleshooting internal drive problems tricky. To control these settings, Macs with T2 chips have a Startup Security Utility available in macOS Recovery (boot while holding down Command-R). You can use it to allow booting from an external drive for troubleshooting reasons and to turn down security if you need to install an older version of macOS or install macOS without an Internet connection available.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Startup-Security-Utility-1024x897.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"617\" height=\"540\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 617px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 617\/540;\"><\/p>\n<h4>Encrypted Storage<\/h4>\n<p>Because the T2 contains both a crypto engine and the SSD controller, it enables on-the-fly encryption and decryption of all data stored on the internal SSD. It uses the same technology as FileVault and requires a password at startup. Macs with internal hard drives and external hard drives don\u2019t receive the T2\u2019s protection but can still be encrypted via FileVault.<\/p>\n<p>The big win from the T2 encrypting all stored data is that there\u2019s no way to decrypt the data without the password\u2014as long as your password can\u2019t be guessed, there\u2019s no reason to worry about your data if your MacBook Pro disappears. The potential downside here is that it\u2019s impossible to recover data from a damaged Mac without the password.<\/p>\n<p>The T2 chip also controls what happens with failed password attempts. Fourteen tries are allowed without delays, and then tries 15 through 30 are permitted with increasingly long delays (1 hour between tries for the last three). After that, more attempts are possible, but after 220 total attempts through various approaches, the T2 chip will refuse to process any requests to decrypt data, rendering it unrecoverable. In short, <b>back up your data!<\/b><\/p>\n<h4>Touch ID<\/h4>\n<p>The T2 chip manages the Touch Bar\u2019s Touch ID fingerprint sensor that lets you log in to your MacBook Air or MacBook Pro without entering your password. Even so, the password is required after turning the Mac on or restarting, and the Mac also requires the password if you haven\u2019t unlocked it in 48 hours, if you haven\u2019t provided the password in the last 156 hours <i>and<\/i> used your fingerprint over the previous 4 hours, or if the fingerprint read fails five times.<\/p>\n<h4>Mic Drop<\/h4>\n<p>This isn\u2019t exactly related to the T2 chip, but all T2-equipped MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models feature a hardware disconnect that disables the microphone whenever the lid is closed. That prevents any software from turning on the mic and eavesdropping on you. No disconnect is necessary for the FaceTime HD camera when the lid is closed because its field of view is completely obstructed in that position.<\/p>\n<p>So there you have it. The T2 chip significantly increases the security of your Mac, but it comes with tradeoffs that make it harder to boot from external drives or run other operating systems.<\/p>\n<p>(Featured image modified from an original by <a href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/users\/ahobbit-1546155\/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=1144249\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ahobbit<\/a> from <a href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=1144249\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pixabay<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you own an iMac Pro, or a Mac mini, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro model introduced in 2018 or later, your Mac has one of Apple\u2019s T2 security chips inside. On the whole, having a T2 chip in your Mac is a good thing, thanks to significantly increased security and other benefits, but there [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29722,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[66,39,71,5,124],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-blog","category-explainer","category-mac","category-security"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/bank-vault-T2-photo-1080x675.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6YLEm-7Ig","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28188,"url":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/back-up-before-upgrading-to-mojave-or-ios-12\/","url_meta":{"origin":29652,"position":0},"title":"Back Up Before Upgrading to Mojave or iOS 12!","author":"computeradv","date":"September 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Poll a room of Apple experts about the one topic they can\u2019t stop talking about and many will launch into frustrated rants about how too few people back up. Backups are always important, since you can never predict when your Mac or iPhone will be lost or stolen, melt in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Apple Pros&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Apple Pros","link":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/category\/apple-pros\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Time-Machine-prefs-1024x675.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Time-Machine-prefs-1024x675.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Time-Machine-prefs-1024x675.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Time-Machine-prefs-1024x675.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":31325,"url":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/apple-unveils-new-m1-powered-macbook-air-macbook-pro-and-mac-mini\/","url_meta":{"origin":29652,"position":1},"title":"Apple Unveils New M1-Powered MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini","author":"computeradv","date":"November 11, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Continuing its pandemic-driven approach of short, focused announcements, Apple once again took to the Internet to stream its \u201cOne More Thing\u201d event. On center stage, this time was the Mac, or specifically, three Macs, all of which replace the longstanding Intel chip with Apple\u2019s new M1 chip. What Is the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/apple-unveils-new-m1-powered-macbook-air-macbook-pro-and-mac-mini.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/apple-unveils-new-m1-powered-macbook-air-macbook-pro-and-mac-mini.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/apple-unveils-new-m1-powered-macbook-air-macbook-pro-and-mac-mini.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/apple-unveils-new-m1-powered-macbook-air-macbook-pro-and-mac-mini.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/apple-unveils-new-m1-powered-macbook-air-macbook-pro-and-mac-mini.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34587,"url":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/follow-these-steps-before-bringing-your-mac-in-for-repair\/","url_meta":{"origin":29652,"position":2},"title":"Follow These Steps before Bringing Your Mac in for Repair","author":"computeradv","date":"October 12, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"It has finally happened. Keys on your MacBook Pro aren\u2019t responding, there\u2019s a crack on the screen, or the battery no longer holds enough of a charge to make it useful. A repair is in your future, which entails bringing your Mac in for repair. Before bringing your Mac in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/follow-these-steps-before-bringing-your-mac-in-for-repair.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/follow-these-steps-before-bringing-your-mac-in-for-repair.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/follow-these-steps-before-bringing-your-mac-in-for-repair.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/follow-these-steps-before-bringing-your-mac-in-for-repair.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/follow-these-steps-before-bringing-your-mac-in-for-repair.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":30990,"url":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/apple-significantly-enhances-the-27-inch-imac\/","url_meta":{"origin":29652,"position":3},"title":"Apple Enhances the 27-inch iMac","author":"computeradv","date":"August 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Looking for a powerful desktop Mac? At long last, Apple has updated the 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display, outfitting it with 10th-generation Intel processors, increasing its RAM and storage capacities, and improving audio and video quality.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/apple-significantly-enhances-the-27-inch-imac.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/apple-significantly-enhances-the-27-inch-imac.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/apple-significantly-enhances-the-27-inch-imac.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/apple-significantly-enhances-the-27-inch-imac.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/apple-significantly-enhances-the-27-inch-imac.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":26013,"url":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/just-announced-new-macbook-pro-with-touch-bar\/","url_meta":{"origin":29652,"position":4},"title":"Just Announced: New MacBook Pro with Touch Bar","author":"computeradv","date":"October 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Apple just announced new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pros with an entirely new input device, the Touch Bar, that replaces the function keys above the keyboard and includes a Touch ID sensor. Check out our blog to learn what the Touch Bar can do for you, and what else is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"MacBook Pro with touchbar","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/MacBook-Pro-photo-1080x675.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/MacBook-Pro-photo-1080x675.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/MacBook-Pro-photo-1080x675.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/MacBook-Pro-photo-1080x675.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/MacBook-Pro-photo-1080x675.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":28280,"url":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/new-ipad-pro-mac-mini-and-macbook-air\/","url_meta":{"origin":29652,"position":5},"title":"New iPad Pro, Mac Mini, and MacBook Air","author":"computeradv","date":"October 30, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The highly anticipated Apple event came and went. We were impressed with the engineering and design prowess, especially with the iPad Pro Keyboard and Pencil. Here are some highlights: \u2699\ufe0f The MacBook Air now has a Retina display and smaller footprint \u2699\ufe0f The Mac Mini has lots of ports (4\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Apple Pencil&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Apple Pencil","link":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/category\/apple-pencil\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}