3 ms·
No, the Mac cam light is software activated.
by jacobush 7y ago
No, the Mac cam light is software activated.
- gok 7y agoTrue, although that software now runs on an specialized secure coprocessor
- saagarjha 7y agoIt’s been hardwired for quite some time. There is still firmware on the sensor controller but it’s signed and verified now so you can’t just flash whatever you want to it.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- btown 7y agoJust read that there have been updates since this time: https://daringfireball.net/2019/02/on_covering_webcams https://daringfireball.net/2019/02/on_covering_webcams > Here’s an answer I received from a former engineer at Apple who was intimately familiar with the software drivers for Mac webcams: "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. […]"
- saagarjha 7y ago(“That one” being the MacBook comprised in the “iSeeYou” paper.)