Apple says the iPhone 17 and iPhone Air have Memory Integrity Enforcement, “industry-first, always-on memory safety protection”, like Microsoft and Google offer

Memory Integrity Enforcement is always-on safety protection designed to make life harder for spyware developers.

The Verge 2025-09-10 Richard Lawler

Discussion

@ryanaraine Ryan Naraine on x
Shoutout to Apple for shipping the most important things! https://security.apple.com/...
@nicbarkeragain Nic Barker on x
The underlying idea here (ARM MTE) is actually quite interesting. What they're describing is essentially ASAN at runtime, but implemented in a way that has apparently very low CPU overhead [image]
@_samfreedman Sam Freedman on x
Memory safety++. Many engineers have contributed to the deep- and wide-reaching implementation of this! Software flaws will continue to exist but exploiting them grows harder and less economical. Read the blog, and take advantage in your own applications via Enhanced Security.
@dinodaizovi Dino A. Dai Zovi on x
There have been various debates about how to improve memory safety with some advocating for rewriting all critical software in newer programming languages. I believed that would take too long and updating CPUs, lang runtimes, and compilers ships faster:👇 https://security.apple.co…
@tqbf Thomas H. Ptacek on x
Congrats to everyone at SEAR for this; this is a crazy announcement. https://security.apple.com/...
@little_34306 Huy Nguyen on x
RIP Jailbreak era Beside that, Apple chaims they have a better branch prediction, hope they don't do anything too hype that easy to crash their “pipeline” See new stuff in iPhone 17 (MIE thing after SPTM) https://security.apple.com/...
@sumohax0r Marty Sullens on x
Apple: We reworked the way our hardware memory works with software to prevent attacks. Android: We preload your phone with malware from the factory, or side-load your own, intentionally or not. https://security.apple.com/...
@mysk_co @mysk_co on x
“MIE is built right into Apple hardware and software in all models of iPhone 17 and iPhone Air and offers unparalleled, always-on memory safety protection for our key attack surfaces including the kernel”
@rajxnull Rajvardhan Agarwal on x
so excited to finally share something I've been working on alongside many brilliant colleagues. MTE will truly raise the bar for memory safety. https://security.apple.com/... [image]
@shawnbass Shawn Bass on x
While people debate whether or not the new iPhone features are an important enough reason to upgrade their device, Memory Integrity Enforcement is a good enough reason for me. Fantastic read 👇
@halvarflake Halvar Flake on x
I have often stated that well-implemented memory tagging will be a game changer for memory corruptions. And it seems that with the next iPhone it's finally here: https://security.apple.com/...
@nedwilliamson @nedwilliamson on x
Amazing work! I'm surprised to see Apple managed to get synchronous tag checking in production. I wouldn't have bet on that given the performance constraints. Getting the sign off to get so much security-specific silicon is also a huge accomplishment.
@kayseesee Kostya Serebryany on x
Congratulations to the Apple team! I'm proud to have contributed to the inception of MTE in 2017. Hopefully, other vendors will catch up.
@ordinaryinds Jack Fields on x
Apple announced Memory Integrity Enforcement, a unique mechanism for safer memory protection on all phones announced today. Absolutely fantastic engineering here. https://security.apple.com/...
@filippo.abyssdomain.expert Filippo Valsorda on bluesky
Well I'll be damned. I might have to switch phones after all even if all the new ones are oversized. — Unfortunate this looks opt-in for third-party apps. I wonder how much adoption there will be. Hopefully WhatsApp and Signal will adopt it right away?
@tomwarren.co.uk Tom Warren on bluesky
Apple is giving its new iPhone 17 devices a big security upgrade. It's adding Memory Integrity Enforcement, a feature that's similar to what Microsoft added to Windows 11 and what Google uses in Android. It should help protect against more forms of spyware www.theverge.com/news…
@migueldeicaza Miguel de Icaza on bluesky
The real awe is that Apple didn't talk about it at their launch event: — security.apple.com/blog/memory- ...
@crawshaw.io David Crawshaw on bluesky
I am curious to see what memory bugs remain practical on iOS with MIE and typed allocators. The fact that memory tags are enforced even in kernel access to userspace memory is going to make use-after-free and buffer overflows extremely hard. security.apple.com/blog/memory- ...
@markmx @markmx on bluesky
This is more exciting than anything announced at WWDC — security.apple.com/blog/memory- ...
@durumcrustulum.com @durumcrustulum.com on bluesky
Extremely cool memory security stuff in the guts of iPhone 17, a major effort and novel improvement by Apple: — security.apple.com/blog/memory- ...
@darthbluesky @darthbluesky on bluesky
tim apple what if i just want to forget [embedded post]
r/jailbreak r on reddit
Apple is implementing more memory protections in iPhone 17, claimed to be “the most significant upgrade to memory safety in the history of consumer operating systems.”
r/hardware r on reddit
Apple Security Research: “Memory Integrity Enforcement: A complete vision for memory safety in Apple devices”
@sdw Sebastiaan de With on x
No other company has mastered camera transitions that are this smooth. Super impressive considering it is switching between 3 cameras.
@markgurman Mark Gurman on x
I'm very much into the new iPhone 17 Pro Max, but it's worth noting that a flagship feature is a reversal of the — in hindsight — unwise move to titanium with the iPhone 15 Pro and fixing the overheating issues of the past two models.
@mkbhd Marques Brownlee on x
No black pro phone is killing me 🫠
@intogalaxyy @intogalaxyy on x
It's so funny how Apple themselves don't use their Camera Control in the promo materials 😭💔 [image]
@javi @javi on x
Apple leveraged everything they learned about vaporware with Apple Intelligence to design the vapor chamber cooling on the iPhone 17 Pro.
@durreadan01 Adan on x
My quick thoughts on the iPhone 17 lineup: iPhone 17 — Gamechanger. The perfect phone for 95% of people. iPhone 17 Air — Stunning. Beautiful AF. But I don't think it's that practical. The lack of stereo speakers is a big meh. iPhone 17 Pro — Powerhouse. It will easily destro…
@maxwinebach Max Weinbach on x
I feel like eSIM models of the iPhone 17 Pro will be the go-to. They used the space for a larger battery, and the eSIM only versions have an extra 2 hours of video playback compared to the versions with a physical SIM
@joannastern Joanna Stern on x
Orange you glad there's a new iPhone 17 Pro? Sorry, had to. [video]
@caro_milanesi Carolina Milanesi on x
iPhone Pro is now truly for creators first whether they are photographers or cinematographers. And of course plenty of aspiring ones will look at this model [image]
@pitdesi Sheel Mohnot on x
There is now a $2000 iPhone [image]
@sdw Sebastiaan de With on x
iPhone 17 Pro is going to be a camera beast. ProRes RAW, 48MP cameras all around, overhauled processing pipeline for digital zoom, vapor chamber cooling for extended shooting. Can't wait to try this thing out. [image]
@chadmoran Chad Moran on x
Wow no black for the iPhone 17 Pro Max this year. Probably to help with heat. [image]
@munster_gene Gene Munster on x
It's all about the camera. The Pro model's camera set is a beast. For example it has an 8x telephoto lens with 40x digital zoom, a step up from the iPhone 16 Pro's 5x telephoto and 25x digital zoom. $AAPL
@niccruzpatane Nic Cruz Patane on x
The new iPhone 17 Pro camera system is a beast. I thought I wanted the Air, till I saw these specs. [image]
@parkerortolani Parker Ortolani on x
there's no black Pro iPhone for the first time, that's WILD
@bzamayo Benjamin Mayo on x
vapour chamber ... every rumour comes true eventually
@bzamayo Benjamin Mayo on x
you're not gonna offer a neutral black Pro colour? c'mon
@samsheffer Sam Sheffer on x
“we're filming this event on iPhone 17 Pro — how cool is that?” honestly, very [image]
@sdw Sebastiaan de With on x
That is an uh, radical typographic choice [image]
@stevemoser Steve Moser on x
Glad to see Apple use the eSIM space savings on more battery life. Remember when the iPhone 14 came with a plastic filler for eSIM models? Bummer to see the price bump but not suprising. [image]
@sdw Sebastiaan de With on x
why does the iPhone 17 Pro have a hole in its head [image]
@sdw Sebastiaan de With on x
No black color for the iPhone 17 Pro. Black phone people in shambles [image]
@tomwarren Tom Warren on x
that orange iPhone 17 Pro 🥰😍 [image]
@rjonesy Ryan Jones on x
No black Pro!
@altryne Alex Volkov on x
iPhone 17 Pro - we're back to chamfered edges ugh A19 Pro (like on iPhone Air) but with a bigger battery, and finally not so hot to hold lol As always “best cameras we've ever made” [image]
@munster_gene Gene Munster on x
It's all about the camera. The Pro model's camera set is a beast. My favorite feature is the 8x telephoto lens with 40x digital zoom, a big step up from the iPhone 16 Pro's 5x telephoto and 25x digital zoom. $AAPL
@maxwinebach Max Weinbach on x
The iPhone 17 Pro telephoto is 56% larger but also 4x with a sensor crop, 48MP sensor, to 8x. Best combo! I'm really excited for this one [image]
@benbajarin Ben Bajarin on x
Key funciton of the vapor chamber for iPhone Pro is for more peak sustained performance, essentially run the SoC longer at higher frequencies for worklaods that demand it. Will be very curious what this does in benchmarks. May see a distinct performance difference in A19 Pro in…
@maxwinebach Max Weinbach on x
iPhone 17 Pro! Back to aluminum, but this thing looks sick [image]
@panzer @panzer on x
New meta is iPhone Pro for desk, iPhone Air for pocket. [image]
@film_girl Christina Warren on x
lol at Apple pretending anyone needs better gaming performance on iPhone. Guys, mobile game are still a cash cow but we can stop pretending any games people actually play are optimized for better mobile perf
@erinbiba Erin Biba on bluesky
I am VERY BORED with iteration. — Like at the very least give us a folding phone? Something? A new thing we haven't seen before? — And we're so trapped in the Apple ecosystem with all our different devices that don't work outside their walled garden uuugggghhhh
r/technology r on reddit
Apple unveils iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max: cosmic orange color, unibody design, biggest battery, 8x zoom
@film_girl Christina Warren on x
I don't know who an iPhone Air is for. The rich/price indiscriminate people will want the better camera and battery from a Pro/Pro Max. Regular people want a regular phone or Plus. So who is this for? The super rich who need a secondary phone for some reason? Makes no sense.
@sama Sam Altman on x
@Yuchenj_UW that tbh sounds like a great idea, i am supportive
@basicappleguy Basic Apple Guy on x
The iPhone Air is all battery. The entire brains of the phone is essentially smushed into the camera plateau! 🤯 [image]
@garrytan Garry Tan on x
I don't understand who asked for a thinner iPhone
@yuchenj_uw Yuchen Jin on x
@sama tell them to replace siri with chatgpt voice
@caro_milanesi Carolina Milanesi on x
iPhone Air with battery pack [image]
@sama Sam Altman on x
first new iphone upgrade i have really wanted in awhile! looks very cool.
@benbajarin Ben Bajarin on x
Apple has much smarter battery management in iOS26, plus like 90% of this phone is battery, so optomistic but this is the biggest question. If it delivers on battery, this phone will sell more than most expect. [image]
@joannastern Joanna Stern on x
I did some math. Really this is a decision about design vs. pro features. Not pricing. [video]
@levie Aaron Levie on x
Did not think phones would get much lighter and thinner. Yet here we are. iPhone Air is pretty insane. [image]
@jessicalessin Jessica Lessin on x
In 2005(!) then RIM-co-CEO Jim Balsillie told me “thin was not a comparative advantage” in response to the launch of the Motorola Razr. we shall see. we shall see.
@markgurman Mark Gurman on x
Now it's an iPhone 17 Pro in terms of price and battery life.
@peduarte Pedro Duarte on x
my heart wants the air but my brain wants the pro
@rsg Bobby Goodlatte on x
The screen better be as shatter-resistant as they say, because you know I'll be trying to do this trick 😂 [image]
@benbajarin Ben Bajarin on x
Jaw dropingly thin. Really incredible hand feel. Can't say I have had held a phone that felt like this. [image]
@munster_gene Gene Munster on x
The key takeaway from $AAPL today: this was the most aggressive change to iPhone form factors since the iPhone 6 in 2014. The Pro models gained a new industrial design (sneaky good), and Apple introduced the new Air. Together, that means roughly 70% of iPhones sold will feature…
@maxwinebach Max Weinbach on x
The air feels so good to hold. Unlike any other ultra thin phone
@aaronp613 Aaron on x
The new MagSafe Battery is ONLY compatible with the iPhone Air [image]
@gartenberg Michael Gartenberg on x
If you're thin phone needs a battery pack you might have already lost the game.
@gartenberg Michael Gartenberg on x
Four year old watching iPhone Air launch and asks, “Why would anyone want that?” Boy has a career in marketing ahead of him
@richardlai Richard Lai on x
I like this line. [image]
@samifathi_ Sami Fathi on x
Apple opting not to call it the iPhone 17 Air leads me to believe the iPhone Air won't be on an annual upgrade cycle like the rest of the lineup. #AppleEvent [image]
@parkerortolani Parker Ortolani on x
it's beautiful and I'm so glad it has no number attached
@sdw Sebastiaan de With on x
I did not expect the iPhone Air to be so shiny. Looks gorgeous. Having the ‘nicest iPhone’ not necessarily be the ‘Pro’ lets Apple make the Pro more focused on big cameras, battery life, etc. — a great choice. Gonna be hard to pick one over the other. [image]
@ijustine @ijustine on x
New iPhone 17 Air is soooo thin, wow. Feels like the first MacBook Air announcement.. #AppleEvent ...
@maxwinebach Max Weinbach on x
The iPhone setup feels way better now iPhone 17 for most people iPhone Air for pro-sumer iPhone 17 Pro for actual professionals
@turnernovak Turner Novak on x
locking in for three hours to watch Apple launch the same phone for the sixth time
@mgsiegler M.G. Siegler on x
So, if I saw that right, iPhone 17 Pro = 39 hours. iPhone Air + MagSafe = 40 hours. Interesting. #AppleEvent
@maxwinebach Max Weinbach on x
iPhone Air now has 2 new pieces of Apple Silicon N1 wireless chip for WiFi/Bluetooth and C1x C1x is faster and more efficient than the modem in iPhone 16 Pro
@film_girl Christina Warren on x
I just can't understand the iPhone Air. If it was smaller physically, fine. But it's a really thin phone that is still too big for most of my pockets, just thin and with a battery that will absolutely not last all day for power users. So like, why does this exist?!
@zsk Zoe Kleinman on x
iPhone 17 Air is a clever move by Apple. Your phone, but skinnier. Design is everything!
@zephyr_z9 @zephyr_z9 on x
This will sell a lot [image]
@snazzylabs Quinn Nelson on x
“All day battery life” on the iPhone Air is gonna suck because “all day battery life” means nothing. They've been saying that since the iPhone 4 lol
@stevemoser Steve Moser on x
iPhone Air weirdly get 2 bento slides. Also I wonder how long it will be until the C-series modem chips and N-series connectivity chips will be embedded in the A-series chips and stopped being called out by Apple. Apple only mentioned 4 generations of the M-series chips before [i…
@mgsiegler M.G. Siegler on x
Did I miss it, I think they're going with: • iPhone 17 • iPhone Air • iPhone 17 Pro i.e. no ‘17’ in Air model? Maybe just for nice clean marketing for the first iteration? #AppleEvent
@altryne Alex Volkov on x
iPhone AIR: “Thinnest iPhone Ever” with the power of Pro 💨 A19 Pro, 5.6mm, 6.5" 3K nits for brightness, Fusion Camera, Ceramic Shield 2, with most of the components in the “Plateau” and All Day 🔋 yet most people will hide it in a case which will cancel out the thinness 😅 [image]
@benbajarin Ben Bajarin on x
Apple's position for iPhone Air - designed for people who want pro performance in an incredibly thin design. Makes sense for the person who wnats premium design/performance but doesn't necessarily need the camera of the Pro.
@joannastern Joanna Stern on x
iPhone Air bumper. Bumpers are back, baby. [image]
@joshuatopolsky Joshua Topolsky on x
what I'm hearing is I do not need 3 lenses
@tom_krikorian Tom Krikorian on x
If Apple can make an iPhone Air, they can make a Vision Air 👀
@nirave @nirave on x
Can't wait to test the battery life! #AppleEvent #iPhoneAir #iPhone17Air [image]
@benbajarin Ben Bajarin on x
Also, as I pointed out before, iPhone Air is the future half of an iPhone foldable. The durabitly story becomes even more critical in this context.
@munster_gene Gene Munster on x
Like it or not, the iPhone Air front and rear camera that record at the same time will quickly become be a TikTok standard.
@edludlow Ed Ludlow on x
iPhone Air includes a new 18-megapixel front-facing Center Stage camera.
@mgsiegler M.G. Siegler on x
iPhone Air clearly better angled as more ‘Pro’ than ‘Plus’, which is a mild surprise, but makes sense for trying to sell this thing. #AppleEvent
@saradietschy @saradietschy on x
My fave promo vid so far iPhone Air #AppleEvent [image]
@mgsiegler M.G. Siegler on x
“The new plateau” — John Ternus gives an official name to the iPhone Air back bump? #AppleEvent
@om @om on x
@WHOOP 7/ 7/ Damn the engineering required to fit all that silicon into that tiny space. Okay, at least Apple is doing that part of the business better than ever. iPhone 17 Air has some mad engineering for sure, if not all the stuff I want. #AppleEvent
@benbajarin Ben Bajarin on x
iPhone Air looks amazing, and amazingly, it looks like the entire camera system, PCB, is all in the camera casing on the back! [image]
@jiteshubrani Jitesh Ubrani on x
Pixel 9 looked like an iPhone and now iPhone Air looks like a Pixel 9 with the camera bar #AppleEvent @madebygoogle
@rrhoover Ryan Hoover on x
Time to finally upgrade [image]
@ketanjoshi.co Ketan Joshi on bluesky
Not once in my entire life have I ever heard someone express their desire for a phone to be thinner — www.apple.com/newsroom/202...
@lessin @lessin on x
I sorta low key love apple just releasing a super slim phone and ignoring the entire AI thing. Like, i want to hate apple per usual... but good vibe.
@radian Ivan Krstić on x
🔺iPhone models announced today include Memory Integrity Enforcement, the culmination of an unprecedented design and engineering effort that we believe represents the most significant upgrade to memory safety in the history of consumer operating systems. https://security.apple.com…
@munster_gene Gene Munster on x
iPhone sales will follow the form factor, and we got more good news than expected on that front. $AAPL [video]
@dsccross Ross Young on x
Amazing that we called all iPhone 17s going LTPO with 120Hz nearly 2.5 years ago. Too bad the under panel Face ID roadmap got delayed.... [image]
@vadimyuryev Vadim Yuryev on x
The sensor itself is 24MP like the leaks claimed. However, it's a square sensor that cannot be used to take square aspect ratio selfies. You can only take cropped in 18MP Photos in either vertical or horizontal orientation. So yes, the photo itself is 18MP vs 12MP photos. [image]
@joannastern Joanna Stern on x
iPhone 17 starts at 256GB. Could be biggest news of the day. [image]
@anshelsag Anshel Sag on x
Love that the #iPhone17 starts at 256GB #AppleEvent [image]
@sdw Sebastiaan de With on x
iPhone 17s get a square, doubled-size front-facing camera sensor. Makes a ton of sense, and will get a ton of use. [image]
@brandonbutch Brandon Butch on x
The iPhone 17 looks insane for a base model! #AppleEvent [image]
@mkbhd Marques Brownlee on x
Next up: “An all new iPhone lineup unlike anything we've ever created” They cannot resist hyping everything to the max
@patrickmoorhead Patrick Moorhead on x
Phone 17:-essentially, premium features trickled down 6.3-inch display with thinner borders. ProMotion display: adaptive refresh rate up to 120Hz; always-on display down to 1Hz. 3000 nit peak outdoor brightness. Ceramic Shield 2 with new coating; three times better scratch resi…
@bengeskin Ben Geskin on x
Anti reflective display in iPhone 17! Yay! 🙌 #AppleEvent
@maxwinebach Max Weinbach on x
The 18MP selfie camera in the iPhone 17 is huge It's a square sensor, so you get horizontal and vertical photos and videos while holding it normally, so you don't need to rotate it. It also uses AI to automatically switch between views depending on who's in the frame. [video]
@sondesix Alvin on x
Okay, this new front camera on the iPhone 17 is seriously impressive. The sensor is squared, so you can rotate to any mode (landscape or portrait) without switching the orientation. [image]
@saradietschy @saradietschy on x
LOVE landscape selfies #AppleEvent Made possible with the new square sensor #iPhone17 [image]
@durvidimel David ImeI on x
Base iPhone 17 finally gets 120Hz
@joannastern Joanna Stern on x
iPhone 17 CenterStage front camera (AKA selfie camera) seems really smart. Wide angle lense that can adapt the width of shots so you don't have to flip phone horizontal. [image]
@om @om on x
@WHOOP 6/ 500 Billion Selfies. Man, finally Apple realizing that front facing camera is the real camera. Hey I like this square lens/camera concept. Batter capacity on iPhone 17 is pretty nice. #AppleEvent
@mkbhd Marques Brownlee on x
The loudest cheer for the new iPhone 17 so far has been for the use of a square sensor so you don't have to rotate your iPhone to take a landscape selfie anymore
@altryne Alex Volkov on x
Having switched to the Pro line of iPhones, watching the iPhone announcements feels like “oh they finally got the same features we already had for a year” ProMotion? Had it Always On? Had it Apple Intelligence? 😅 barely... but had it
@nirave @nirave on x
These colors are gorgeous! #iPhone17 #AppleEvent [image]
@gregotto Greg Otto on bluesky
This is a big deal — Apple has unveiled a comprehensive security system called Memory Integrity Enforcement in an effort to combat memory corruption vulnerabilities, a huge part what makes spyware successful — security.apple.com/blog/memory- ...
r/apple r on reddit
Apple is extending free access to satellite features for an additional year for existing iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 users

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Apple says the iPhone 17 and iPhone Air have Memory Integrity Enforcement, “industry-first, always-on memory safety protection”, like Microsoft and Google offer

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