[Phlarp]

Worse actually, there is no physical indicator LED on the latest (M1) laptops, it's an indicator icon in the menu bar.

In the "better" category, Apple claims webcam access is controlled by the secure enclave processor, which is more than most manufacturers do.

[gardaani]

There is a physical indicator LED for the camera. The LED indicator can't be seen if the camera isn't in use. Try launching Photo Booth and you'll see the LED indicator.

But, the latest Macs don't have a LED for the mic, which is a disappointment. Good old MacBooks had a LED indicator for the mic.

EDIT: sorry, my memory failed me. The old MacBooks didn't have a LED for the mic. On white plastic MacBooks (2006), there's two black dots around the camera. The dot on the right side is a LED for the camera. The dot on the left side is the mic, not the LED indicator for it. Thanks for correcting me!

[duskwuff]

> Good old MacBooks had a LED indicator for the mic.

No, this is not true. Apple never included a physical indicator for microphone use on any computer.

[Cockbrand]

> Good old MacBooks had a LED indicator for the mic

Are you sure about that? I've had the plastic MacBook and a few MacBook Pros, and none of them had a hardware visual indicator for the mic.

[threeseed]

Would add that the microphone is hardware disconnected when lid is closed:

https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/security/secbbd20b00b/...

So you should have some guarantee that no one is spying when laptop is sleeping at least.

[fsflover]

This is not actually "hardware disconnected", more like "firmware disconnected". Consider Purism Librem 14 if you actually want a hardware kill switch.

[duskwuff]

> Worse actually, there is no physical indicator LED on the latest (M1) laptops, it's an indicator icon in the menu bar.

This isn't true. I just tested it. There is definitely a physical LED next to the camera, within the "notch" area of the display.

[mbalyuzi]

Same with the M2 Air. Physical indicator in the notch.