Secure Exclave makes its way to the iPhone 16

We’ve heard about the new features on the iPhone 16, such as Camera Control and its support for upcoming Apple Intelligence capabilities, but there’s one upgrade Apple hasn’t mentioned at all. Its chip has a new security feature, according to a report by 9to5Mac.

The A18 series chips used in the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro have a Secure Exclave, which is different from the Secure Enclave that Apple has been using since the iPhone 5s. Apple hasn’t mentioned the Secure Exclave in its product announcements, but developer Gui Rambo posted about it during the launch of the M4 iPad Pro, where it made its debut.

Among the tasks the Secure Exclave seems to handle is the Secure Indicator Light, which was introduced in the M4 iPad Pro. When using its camera and microphone, the Secure Indicator Light turns on; Rambo posted that this makes it “a lot less likely that any malware or user space app would be able to access those sensors without the user’s knowledge.” While Apple has used light indicators in the past, they were controlled by software, making them somewhat vulnerable to hackers. Apple implemented the light indicators so that users would know when the camera and microphones were active, in case the device was hacked and malware was running those components without the user activating them.

The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro are now available to preorder. Shipments start on September 20. Learn more about the iPhone 16.