iMac Pro a fost lansat de catre compania Apple cu un nou chip T2 integrat, acesta fiind practic un co-procesor care controleaza unele dintre functiile calculatorului premium al celor de la Apple. Conform celor care au reusit sa analizeze acest chip T2, el controleaza o varietate de alte componente, de la difuzoare si pana la microfoanele interne, sau ventilatoarele iMac Pro.
“On most Macs, there are discrete controllers for audio, system management and disk drives. But the T2 handles all these taks. The T2 is responsible for controlling the iMac Pro’s stereo speakers, internal microphones, and dual cooling fans, all by itself.”
Noul chip T2 al iMac Pro nu se ocupa doar cu controlarea unora dintre componente, el fiind folosit si pentru securizarea procesului de pornire al calculatoarelor Apple, ceva ce pana acum nu a existat. In momentul in care iMac Pro porneste, chip-ul T2 verifica intregul proces de pornire pentru a vedea daca sistemul de operare a fost compromis, intrerupandu-l in aceasta situatie.
“When you start up the iMac Pro, the familiar Apple logo appears almost immediately. This is a sign that the T2 is taking control. For security reasons, the T2 is the iMac Pro hardware’s “root of trust,” and it validates the entire boot process when the power comes on. The T2 starts up, checks things out, loads its bootloader, verifies that it’s legitimate and cryptographically signed by Apple, and then moves on to the next part of the boot process.”
In cazul in care instalarea sistemului de operare a esuat pe iMac Pro, acest chip T2 va introduce automat Mac-ul in DFU Mode si va obliga utilizatorul sa reinstaleze intregul sistem de operare. Aceasta securitate avansata vine si cu o problema, deoarece scoaterea SSD-ului din iMac Pro face folosirea sa imposibila intr-un alt calculator, daca securitatea chip-ului T2 a fost activata in prealabil.
“As for the disk controller? There isn’t one—or more accurately, the disk controller is built into the T2 itself. This gives the T2 complete control over internal storage on the iMac Pro. This has some major benefits in terms of speed and security. Every bit of data stored on an iMac Pro’s SSD is encrypted on the fly by the T2, so that if a nefarious person tried to pull out the storage chips and read them later, they’d be out of luck.”
Noul chip T2 din iMac Pro este gandit pentru a oferi cel mai avansat sistem de securitate pentru calculatoare, dar daca utilizatorilor nu le plac problemele pe care le genereaza asta, el poate fi dezactivat. Desigur ca Apple nu recomanda asta, dar majoritatea celor care cumpara iMac Pro il vor folosi pentru a-si securiza in timp real datele din calculatoare in timpul folosirii.
