Macbook Air Purchase: Worth it for security reasons?

Questions
1

Good morning,

I’m getting extremely worried about the direction Microsoft is headed with Windows…

Instead of constantly trying to alter my Windows 11 PC to make it better for user privacy I thought it might be worth moving everything over and using a MacBook as my laptop device.

I thought by buying a new MacBook I’d be starting from the ground up with a laptop that has both the hardware and software secure for user privacy.

Is it worth spending the extra money?

Thank you for reading my question.

2

Yes especially since the new MacBooks have MTE support now, that’s a huge security upgrade.

3

I appreciate your reply!

I was thinking of buying the M4 CPU as it’s a bit cheaper compared to the M5. It’s a good $200-$300 less for the same specifications.

Do you really think it’s worth buying the M5 over the M4?

4

But does macOS support it?

5

What do you mean? The hardware and software are all made by Apple so it should by default right?

6

Yes, of course Apple Silicon and macOS support this.
For MIE with EMTE you need the latest M5 though, as per the document posted by @fria earlier in this thread: Operating system integrity – Apple Support (UK)

7

I think yes if your goal is security over everything.

8

It depends on your threat model.

9

No, security is meaningless without user control.

10

User control has been surrendered long ago, at this point it is about the theatre of claiming vendor security is serving the user.

11

I appreciate your reply!

Yes I see that MIE is only supported on the M5 CPU. I don’t need so much performance so the M4 CPU would be more than enough for me performance so I was hoping on saving some money and buying a Macbook Air M4.

Is it really worth it to get the M5 just for MIE support??

12

I appreciate your replies!

What do you mean by “threat model”? How much of a user privacy boost would I see by spending the extra money for an M5?

I’m just curious because the only reason I’d be buying the M5 upgrade would be for this MIE support as the M4 CPU is moreeee than enough performance for me.

EDIT:

What about the Macbook Neo???

I’m reading this thread now:

13

Look like the Neo uses the A18 Pro chip so it wouldn’t have MIE since that was added in the A19 chips.

Apple’s desktop and mobile chips are basically the same security-wise just the desktop ones are more powerful, it’s the desktop operating system of macOS that’s less secure than iOS.

14

I appreciate your reply!

So do you really think it’s worth it to buy the M5 MacBook Air? If I bought the MacBook Air M4 I could buy the MacBook Air with a 15 inch screen for the same price as the M5…

15

Do you think it is likely you will be specifically target by a state-level adversary?

If yes, the M5 is worth the money.

If no, then it is probably not worth the money.

16

Your assets, your adversaries, their capabiities, and your tools.

17

FYI, M5 (obviously) has vulnerabilities.

18

Keep in mind that Siri-AI angle. It’s coming update is projected to widen the attack surface for all compatible products in ecosystem (AI agent exploits etc.).

MIE, EMTE it’s all good stuff but it only adds to securing the vendor’s data interest and not that much to overall user’s privacy.

If you can wait, maybe you should go for the next iteration of Neo with A19 to save some money on M5 devices and to get some reasonable device security if that is your main priority.

Personally I would start looking into Linux and so-called enterprise certified hardware over anything that Apple currently offers. It’s pricey too but IMO a bit more fair all in all.