Hardware

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Delve into the physical components of Apple devices, including processors, memory, storage, and their interaction with the software.

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Using CBPeripheralManager while using AccessorySetupKit framework
I am working on an app that requires the usage of CoreBluetooth – using both its CBPeripheralManager and CBCentralManager classes. Our app works with other phones and hardware peripherals to exchange data – so we wanted to explore adding AccessorySetupKit to streamline the hardware connection process. AccessorySetupKit has been integrated (while CBPeripheralManager is turned off) and works great, but even with ASK added to our app's plist file and not in use, CBPeripheralManager fails with error: Cannot create a CBPeripheralManager while using AccessorySetupKit framework. Is there any workaround or suggested path forward here? We'd still really like to use ASK while keeping our existing functionality, but are not seeing a clear way to do so.
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210
Aug ’25
Question about SpeechTranscriber availability on specific iPad models
Hello, I am a developer planning to build an application using Apple's new SpeechTranscriber technology. I am facing an issue where SpeechTranscriber is not available on my iPad Pro (11-inch, 2nd generation, model number: MXDC2J/A), even though I have updated it to iPadOS 26. I was under the impression that SpeechTranscriber would be available on any device running iPadOS 26. Could you please clarify if this is incorrect? Furthermore, I am planning to purchase a new iPad with an A16 chip for the development and deployment of this application. Can you confirm if SpeechTranscriber will be fully functional on an iPad equipped with the A16 chip? Thank you for your assistance.
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212
Nov ’25
IOS 26.1 isSourceTypeAvailable: UIImagePickerControlSourceTypeCamera method keeps returning true when the camera is unavailable
Prerequisite: After the MDM APP issues the command, the camera on the phone is no longer visible (unusable). After upgrading to iOS 26.1, the isSourceTypeAvailable: UIImagePickerControlSourceTypeCamera method keeps returning true when the camera is unavailable. The isSourceTypeAvailable: UIImagePickerControlSourceTypeCamera method on iOS 26.0.1 is normal, returning false when the camera is unavailable and true when it is available.
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645
Nov ’25
iPhone/iPad DFU and Apple deviceinterfaced process
Problem Description: Since Our USB hubs are capable of sending Vendor Defined Messages (VDMs) over a USB Type-C cable connection, they can programmatically place iOS, iPadOS, and macOS devices into DFU mode—without requiring any physical button interaction. Recently, we identified an issue when invoking DFU mode on an iPhone 15 using this method. Upon entering DFU mode, the device enumerates with USB Product ID 0x1881 (“Debug USB” – KIS interface). At that point, the deviceinterfaced daemon (launched by launchd) immediately detects the device and claims exclusive access to the USB interface. As a result, when our API Service attempts to communicate with the device through standard IOKit methods, it fails with the following error: 0xe00002c5 ((iokit/common) exclusive access and device already open) This prevents our libraries from reading the iBoot string (USB serial number string) that Apple devices normally expose in standard or recovery modes—information that includes ECID, CPID, CPRV, CPFM, BDID, and SCEP. This creates a significant barrier, as our API service becomes unable to perform subsequent device restoration operations as we missed the critical information. Request for Guidance: I’ve included the following context for your analysis and review. Using the launchctl unload command can temporarily stop it; however, I’d like to know if there’s an API-level mechanism to programmatically prevent deviceinterfaced from claiming access from within our API Service. Could you please advise on the following points? 1.  Managing deviceinterfaced Access • What is the proper way to stop or prevent deviceinterfaced from claiming exclusive access in this case, so that the API Service can read device information and starts restoring the device from that point? • Is there a recommended method or entitlement that allows third-party services to communicate with Apple devices while they are in Debug USB (KIS) mode? 2.  Guidelines and API Access • Are there any Apple-supported APIs or developer guidelines that would permit controlled access to the iBoot interface without conflicting with deviceinterfaced?
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133
Oct ’25
BLE Peripherals streaming speeds are significantly slowed with new hardware (iPhone 17, iPad A16)
Hi, we have developed an application that streams data from two BLE peripherals at a rate of 14.5kbps per peripheral. Until now, our devices streamed in near real time with no lag on all Apple devices with Bluetooth 5.0 or greater. Since the release of the iPhone 17 series and the iPad A16, we have reports from users of the data being streamed at significantly lower rates than expected. Any help here would be greatly appreciated as our customers are being affected by this change.
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147
Nov ’25
iOS App detecting external USB mass storage connection without user interaction
Title iOS App detecting external USB mass storage connection without user interaction Background We are developing an iOS application that connects to an action camera device via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for control and data transfer. In addition to wireless connectivity, our product requirements include supporting USB Mass Storage mode, where the camera (or a generic USB flash drive) is connected to an iPhone using a Lightning / USB-C adapter and appears in the Files app as an external drive. Requirement Our app needs to detect when an external USB mass storage device is connected or disconnected, with the following constraints: The app is already running in the foreground No user interaction is performed (no button tap, no document picker, no import UI) The USB device can be: A generic USB flash drive An empty USB drive (no photos or videos) The app only needs to know: Whether an external USB storage device has been connected or removed No need to access device identity, vendor info, or low-level USB details The expected behavior is simply to update the app’s internal state or UI when a USB storage device becomes available. Investigation Performed We have already investigated and tested the following public and documented approaches, all of which did not provide a reliable or any notification for USB mass storage insertion: ExternalAccessory / MFi Not applicable for generic USB storage devices Darwin notifications / CoreFoundation Using notify_register_dispatch and CFNotificationCenterGetDarwinNotifyCenter System USB / storage related notifications do not fire for third-party apps File system APIs NSFileManager mountedVolumeURLsIncludingResourceValuesForKeys On iPhone, external USB drives visible in the Files app are not exposed as mounted volumes to third-party apps FileProvider / DocumentPicker Only provides access after explicit user interaction No background or passive notification of availability ImageCaptureCore Limited to PTP camera devices Does not apply to generic USB mass storage Based on our testing, none of the public APIs provide a way to detect USB mass storage insertion automatically without user interaction. Question to Apple We would like to confirm the official platform behavior and capability boundary: Is there any public, documented, App Store–approved API on iOS that allows a third-party app to be notified when a generic USB mass storage device is connected or disconnected, without user interaction? If not: Is this limitation intentional by platform design? Is the recommended approach to rely exclusively on user-initiated document access flows (e.g. document picker, import UI)? Are there any recommended best practices for apps that need to update their UI or internal state based on the availability of external USB storage devices? Our goal is to ensure that our implementation fully complies with iOS platform guidelines and App Store Review requirements. Environment iOS versions tested: iOS 18 (latest public release) Devices: iPhone models with Lightning / USB-C USB devices: generic USB flash drives (including empty drives) Closing We appreciate clarification on whether this capability is intentionally restricted on iOS and how Apple recommends designing user experience around external USB storage access. Thank you for your guidance.
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Singular Sound MIDI Maestro App BLE Communications Issue
When trying to use the MIDI Maestro app by Singular Sound, BLE peripherals experience unwanted connection-parameter renegotiation and disconnections on iOS 26, beta iOS 26.2 does not fix this issue. iOS 26 BLE communications are being sent too fast to be read correctly by the hardware device, and iOS 26.2 refuses communication altogether.
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Custom ethernet device does not reconnect on M4 iPad Pro
We are experiencing problems with the USB port on iPad Pro 11 inch (M4) model number MVW13NF/A. Our custom peripheral device (based on Raspberry Pi Pico + tinyUSB stack, is configured as a network adapter class and has communication with our App over UDP protocol. Our device also acts as a DHCP server, providing the IP address for iPad. The problem can be described as a “bus stall” or "bus hold" after sleep mode. To reproduce it we just send the iPad into sleep mode using a power button, the USB bus on M4 goes to the suspended state and won’t resume anymore when we wake the iPad up. The problem has occurred since the upgrade to iOS 18.2.1 and has not been observed before on the previously installed iOS 17 on the same iPad Pro M4. Also, the problem does not happen on the iPad Pro 11 inch (3rd gen with M1) model number MHW73FD/A, with the same iOS 18.2.1 installed. The problem also does not arise, if we connect our device via USB hub to the same iPad Pro M4. We have tested different versions of tinyUSB stack (either included in RPi Pico SDK or native unpatched). The problem is independent of the library version. It occurs always if our device is connected directly to the USB port of iPad Pro (M4) with iOS 18. It also stays after upgrading to the latest iOS 18.3 (beta) In the attached logs is (reduced for clarity) debug output from tinyUSB library about events on the USB bus. These logs were captured via RTT debugging output, using Segger J-Link debugger, so logging process does not affect the timings on the USB bus. There are three logs attached, for cases 1: "iPad Pro M4 + iOS18" (i.e. problematic case), 2: "iPad Pro M1 + iOS18", and 3: "iPad Pro M4 + iOS18 + external USB hub" (they are non-problematic cases). case1_usbd_log.txt case2_usbd_log.txt case3_usbd_log.txt This was already posted as feedback with id FB16366509
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471
Feb ’25
NFCTagReaderSession - Missing required entitlement
Hi there, I am using Core NFC and I established the connection with the card, but after sending the command 'tag.sendCommand()' I receive this message: -[NFCTagReaderSession _connectTag:error:]:748 Error Domain=NFCError Code=2 "Missing required entitlement" UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=Missing required entitlement}. The version of XCode I am using is 16.3, and the iPhone version is iOS 18.4 Here is my entitlements file: com.apple.developer.nfc.readersession.formats NDEF TAG And my info.plist: NFCReaderUsageDescription NFC com.apple.developer.nfc.readersession.iso7816.select-identifiers A000112233445566 Signing & Capabilities‌ has added Near Field Communication Tag Reading‌.
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317
Apr ’25
Wallet no longer appear near iBeacon
Hello, We are testing Wallet passes with iBeacons in iOS 26 Beta. In earlier iOS releases, when a device was in proximity to a registered beacon, the corresponding pass would surface automatically. In iOS 26 Beta, this behavior no longer occurs, even if the pass is already present in Wallet. I have not found documentation of this change in the iOS 26 release notes. Could you please confirm whether this is expected in iOS 26, or if it may be a Beta-specific issue? Any pointers to updated documentation would be appreciated. Thank you.
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174
Oct ’25
'NDEF is disallowed' Xcode 16.2
Invalid entitlement for core nfc framework. The sdk version '18.2' and min OS version '14.0' are not compatible for the entitlement 'com.apple.developer.nfc.readersession.formats' because 'NDEF is disallowed'. Anyone knows what is the correct configuration SDK version and minimum iOS deployment target for NFC that has NDEF format?
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1.1k
Jan ’25
QuickLook Crash at iOS 18.x
Hello! In our App we found out the сrash at QuickLook after users updated their iPhones up to iOS 18. Crash report: SIGABRT 0x0000000000000000 Crashed: Thread 0 libsystem_kernel.dylib __abort_with_payload + 8 1 libsystem_kernel.dylib abort_with_payload_wrapper_internal + 104 2 libsystem_kernel.dylib abort_with_payload_wrapper_internal + 0 3 libobjc.A.dylib _objc_fatalv(unsigned long long, unsigned long long, char const*, char*) + 116 4 libobjc.A.dylib _objc_fatalv(unsigned long long, unsigned long long, char const*, char*) + 0 5 libobjc.A.dylib weak_register_no_lock + 396 6 libobjc.A.dylib objc_initWeak + 440 7 UIKitCore -[UIViewController viewDidMoveToWindow:shouldAppearOrDisappear:] + 1412 8 UIKitCore -[_UIRemoteViewController viewDidMoveToWindow:shouldAppearOrDisappear:] + 396 9 UIKitCore -[UIView(Internal) _didMoveFromWindow:toWindow:] + 1180 10 UIKitCore -[_UISizeTrackingView _didMoveFromWindow:toWindow:] + 112 11 UIKitCore -[UIView(Internal) _didMoveFromWindow:toWindow:] + 712 12 UIKitCore __45-[UIView(Hierarchy) _postMovedFromSuperview:]_block_invoke + 128 13 CoreAutoLayout -[NSISEngine withBehaviors:performModifications:] + 84 14 UIKitCore -[UIView _postMovedFromSuperview:] + 512 15 UIKitCore __UIViewWasRemovedFromSuperview + 136 16 UIKitCore -[UIView(Hierarchy) removeFromSuperview] + 248 17 QuickLook -[QLToolbarController setAccessoryView:animated:] + 576 18 QuickLook __55-[QLPreviewController _presentLoadedPreviewCollection:]_block_invoke + 120 19 QuickLookUICore QLRunInMainThread + 60 20 QuickLook -[QLPreviewController _presentLoadedPreviewCollection:] + 116 21 QuickLook __48-[QLPreviewController _presentPreviewCollection]_block_invoke_2 + 68 22 QuickLook (Missing) 23 libswift_Concurrency.dylib swift::runJobInEstablishedExecutorContext(swift::Job*) + 252 After research, we found out that a crash occurs in QuickLook when a user tries to open a file with unknown mimeType - application/octet-stream. QuickLook convert that files to known type (for an example - application/pdf), but crashes for the first opening the file. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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1.3k
Jan ’25
Torch Strobe not working in light (ambient light) environments on iOS 18.1
As of iOS 18.1 being released we are having issues with our users experiencing issues with our app that relies on strobing the device torch. We have narrowed this down to being caused on devices with adaptive true-tone flash and have submitted a radar: FB15787160. The issue seems to be caused by ambient light levels. If run in a dark room, the torch strobes exactly as effectively as in previous iOS versions, if run in a light room, or outdoors, or near a window, the strobe will run for ~1s and then the torch will get stuck on for half a second or so (less frequently it gets stuck off) and then it will strobe again for ~1s and this behaviour repeats indefinitely. If we go to a darker environment, and background and then foreground the app (this is required) the issue is resolved, until moving to an area with higher ambient light levels again. We have done a lot of debugging, and also discovered that turning off "Auto-Brightness" from Settings -> Accessibility -> Display & Text Size resolves the issue. We have also viewed logs from Console.app at the time of the issue occurring and it seems to be that there are quite sporadic ambient light level readings at the time at which the issue occurs. The light readings transition from ~100 Lux to ~8000 Lux at the point that the issue starts occurring (seemingly caused by the rear sensor being affected by the torch). With "Auto-Brightness" turned off, it seems these readings stay at lower levels. This is rendering the primary use case of our app essentially useless, would be great to get to the bottom of it! We can't even really detect it in-app as I believe using SensorKit is restricted to research applications and requires a review process with Apple before accessing? Edit: It's worth noting this is also affecting other apps with strobe functionality in the exact same way
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965
Mar ’25
EASession return nil on iOS18
On iOS 18.x when try to create EASession we get nil, but on iOS 17.x everything works. We have app which use USB cable for connecting external accessories. Scenario is when we have fresh instal, connecting with accessory work fine, EASession is created, streams are opened. When we unplug USB, we close streams, remove any reference to session and accessory, remove accessory delegate. When plug it again, creating EASession is returning nil. Only after restarting iPhone, we can create new EASession with appropriate protocol and accessory. Every next attempt without reseting iPhone is failing. Logs from accessory is following: 00:05:51.811000 : onUSBDeviceFound(pDevice=0xffc818)) iPhone USB device already in the device list w/id=1 -> update status now[21;1H 00:05:51.830000 : setConnectionStatus(status=connected) [devId=1] state updated -> forward[21;1H Capabilities indicate HostMode possibility => role switch is triggered 00:05:52.848000 : updateDIPODeviceConnections() iPhoneUSB w/caps=5 (=CarPlay or HostMode), deviceTag=2 in Device mode -> request role switch[21;1H Role switch seems to be successful 00:05:54.914000 : setSwitching('stable') changed[21;1H 00:05:54.915000 : updateDIPODeviceConnections() iPhoneUSB w/caps=2, id=1, deviceTag=2 and native transport -> request app launch and call connectUSB[21;1H 00:05:54.967000 : ConnectiAP2(05ac:12a8, s/n='00008101000160921E90801E', writeFD='/dev/ffs/ep3', readFD='/dev/ffs/ep4', hostMode){3}[21;1H Native transport should become available but does not (the following line is not present for failed case. Taken from successful case) 00:05:24.983000 : OnDBusPropChanged_NativeTransport(): deviceId=2, started=1, iAP2iOSAppIdentifier=1, sinkEndpoint=3, sourceEndpoint=4, TransactionID=1 EAP Start event not received (trace line from success try) 00:05:25.057000 : EAPSessionStart(ctx=0x74e0b800){2} called[21;1H Is there any braking change on iOS 18 considering EASession? Also what is strange is that it works on fresh instal/restart iPhone, but not working on second attempt?
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1.2k
May ’25
L2TP VPN broken on MacOS 13/Ventura
Dove in and upgraded two Macs today to beta 1. Unfortunately, it appears L2TP VPN is broken or something changed in the way it works. I can longer get a connection to any VPN concentrator I used previously. I tested with Cisco Anyconnect SSL VPN client and can connect to the same concentrators (as they're configured to accept L2TP or SSL clients). I also tested from my phone running iOS 16 beta and it still works for the L2TP connections. The Mac not working with L2TP VPN ppp.log shows this Fri Jun 10 19:18:52 2022 : L2TP connecting to server 'IP removed' (IP removed)... Fri Jun 10 19:18:52 2022 : IPSec connection started Fri Jun 10 19:18:52 2022 : IPSec phase 1 client started Fri Jun 10 19:19:02 2022 : IPSec connection failed Connecting a Mac successfully on 12.4 the log shows Fri Jun 10 19:12:33 2022 : L2TP connecting to server 'IP removed' (IP removed)... Fri Jun 10 19:12:33 2022 : IPSec connection started Fri Jun 10 19:12:33 2022 : IPSec phase 1 client started Fri Jun 10 19:12:33 2022 : IPSec phase 1 server replied Fri Jun 10 19:12:34 2022 : IPSec phase 2 started Fri Jun 10 19:12:34 2022 : IPSec phase 2 established Fri Jun 10 19:12:34 2022 : IPSec connection established (and then a ton more lines of the entire process ending with client getting an IP that I won't bother posting) VPN wasn't high on my list of apps I was concerned about breaking with the beta. But, now that it is broke and I need it for work I'm kinda screwed myself. Anyway, if anyone knows a way to fix this please let me know.
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37k
Oct ’25