691–700 of 990 posts
"might also interfere with the ambient light sensor and prevent features like automatic brightness" Oh, if I could only get automatic brightness to actually turn off!!!! I keep the sensor covered with electrical tape because that's the closest I've been able to get.
Does that preference not work for you?
My $5k MBP is rocking a 1 cent square cm of black electrical tape which isn't going anywhere. If it leaves adhesive residue, I'll wipe it off with alcohol and replace the tape. My camera is only for stupid zoom meetings, and if I ruin it I get to tell my colleagues my camera is broken. That's a feature, not a bug.
The light might not make a difference. Wasn't there an NSA tool leaked that would turn on the camera, grab a picture, and have it off again before it would be lit up? It would be technically possible.
Their laptop cameras haven't changed in like a decade. The only change was making it physically thinner to match thinner screens. The image quality actually got a little worse.
> The camera is engineered so that it can’t activate without the camera indicator light also turning on. This is how you can tell if your camera is on. Is this verifiably true? I trust Apple on security matters more than the average laptop maker, but the fact that so many of these indicator lights are software-controlled erodes my trust in basically all of them.
> All cameras after that one were different: The hardware team tied the LED to a hardware signal from the sensor: If the (I believe) vertical sync was active, the LED would light up. There is NO firmware control to disable/enable the LED. The actual firmware is indeed flashable, but the part is not a generic part and there are mechanisms in place to verify the image being flashed. […]
Looking at the comments here, I guess I'm the only one who finds sadness that Apple even has to publish this document. Some of those novelty and promotional camera covers are really quite thick. And it just seems like common sense to me that you wouldn't close a laptop with one of those things on. Just like I wouldn't close my laptop with a pen or a ham sandwich tucked into it. But I guess Apple has had enough compla…
This is the one that destroyed the screen on my 16" MBP. 0.023 inches thick. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C24NBGL/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_T...
> "Designed to protect your privacy, Mac notebooks have a camera indicator light to let you know when the camera is on. ... Published Date: July 02, 2020" Perhaps Apple missed these? 2013: iSeeYou: Disabling the MacBook Webcam Indicator LED https://jscholarship.library.jhu.edu/handle/1774.2/36569 2016: Your Mac’s Camera Can Be Hacked https://www.intego.com/mac-security-blog/your-macs-camera-ca... 2016: Former NSA emp…
>2013: iSeeYou: Disabling the MacBook Webcam Indicator LED https://jscholarship.library.jhu.edu/handle/1774.2/36569 ... applies only to older Mac notebooks from like 2008 period which are long since obsolete according to Apple's announced support policy. >2016: Your Mac’s Camera Can Be Hacked https://www.intego.com/mac-security-blog/your-macs-camera-ca... . ... refers specifically the exploit above. >2016: Former NSA…
Or Apple could just include a cover into the lid, like many other manufacturers already do. For example: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theverge.com/platform/amp/c...
I really don't get Apple's statement here.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The question is whether this is a firmware implementation that's just waiting for a 0-day or if the +V for the CMOS sensor is literally wired to the LED. If the latter I'd like to see a picture of it.
Hi! I was the security architect for this feature on recent Macs. The LED is wired to the camera PMIC and is powered by the voltage rail that powers the camera. The PMIC will always remain on if the system has power. Macs newer than 4 or so years also have a feature that forces the LED to stay lit for at least 3 seconds after it has been turned on to prevent the single-frame-grab attack.