Apple sends special iPhones to security experts to help detect iOS bugs. Now some details have been revealed about the rare devices that only a few people know about.

Apple announced its cybersecurity program based on special iPhone models in 2019, and in 2020 these devices have already begun to be delivered to those affected – but you rarely see them.

But what is the topic? Apple devices are known to be locked, with many restrictions, mostly for security reasons. Of course, this is useful in many ways, but it does not make the job of security researchers any easier – in order to effectively investigate devices for bugs, for example, it was usually necessary to jailbreak a mobile phone system.

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This removed most of the restrictions and was used by users in the past to make the system more open. However, Apple fought this with fire and steel, calling it “unauthorized modification.”

But now – so TechCrunch I noticed – the company actually mentioned this term as its own in a description of the special device sent to cybersecurity researchers. Hungarian specialist Gergely Kalman published an article about such an iPhone on X.

According to the photo he posted, Apple sent him an iPhone 14 Pro, accompanied by the description and some relevant stickers. Specialist A To TechCrunch The device itself is essentially identical to a commercially available model, he said in a statement. The difference is that at the bottom of the lock screen there is an inscription “Security Search Device” and an Apple phone number – this should definitely be notified in case the device is lost and someone finds it.

In addition, there is a sticker on the box that cannot be removed, and there is even an inscription on the side of the device – this also indicates that the iPhone is owned by Apple and is secret. The sign also asks anyone who finds the device to call the phone number located there.

The device is very rare, and you don't see it very often – its purpose is to disable some security functions to make it easier to notice bugs in iOS and then report them to Apple. They can then patch them so that users are protected with a future software update.

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