In the same manner, as we saw for the system in the previous section, security for Apple devices is built into the hardware as well. In this section, we will examine the tools and features macOS provides for increasing hardware security. By the end of this section, you will be able to configure and take advantage of these key features. The three main important tools we will explore in this section are the following:
- Firmware password
- T2 Security Chip (Intel-based Macs)
- Macs with the Apple M1 silicon chip
Both these tools are managed through the Startup Security Utility, which can be accessed through the Recovery system as we will see later in this section. Let's learn more about these features.
Firmware password
The firmware password is used to prevent your Mac from starting up from any disk other than the one configured as the startup disk. Its primary purpose is to prevent unauthorized users from using startup shortcuts (such as the Option key...
