[adav]

Isn’t it odd that Apple are not yet selling their own security keys?

[varenc]

As others have said, Apple devices can now br passkeys, which is just a new term for WebAuthn + FIDO support. The linked article is about logging into your Apple ID, so you of course want another key for logging into that. But for other sites that support FIDO2+WebAuthn, I believe an Apple device can already function as a security key.

Further reading:

- Apple's passkey security doc: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213305

- I liked this overview of Passkeys vs Yubikeys, but of course it's a bit biased: https://www.yubico.com/blog/a-yubico-faq-about-passkeys/

[kube-system]

They’re just integrated into the device. That’s what the Secure Enclave is. https://support.apple.com/guide/security/secure-enclave-sec5...

[Adraghast]

My assumption has been that they want your iPhone itself to be your key.

[threeseed]

For 99% of the population the existing approach i.e. verifying on another Apple device is sufficient.

[jeffbee]

Or would be, if Apple devices did not routinely prompt you for your password. I find this incredibly annoying since my Apple ID uses one of those long, irregular passwords automatically generated by password managers and in the context where Apple wants your password there's no way to cut and paste it. I can use my phone with touch ID to authorize a $20k purchase but if I want to install a free app from the App Store I need my stupid password. I wonder why they do this.

[bonestamp2]

At this time, the market is too small, and Apple can't possibly make their desired margins on them and compete with the others on the market. It's just not worth it.

[alwillis]

> At this time, the market is too small, and Apple can't possibly make their desired margins on them and compete with the others on the market.

Disagree.

There are over 2 billion Apple devices deployed and tens of millions more get sold quarter, so market size isn't an issue.

There's no reason to believe Apple wouldn't be able to get their average margin of around 35% on a security device if they wanted to.

And what competition? The Apple branded security key would be the only one available via the online store that can be bundled with any Mac, iPad or iPhone purchase. And certainly the only one designed specifically for the Apple ecosystem.

It's just a matter of whether or not Apple can add features above and beyond what's typically available.

An easy one would be Find My integration like the AirPods Pro 2 case or the AirTag. Using Find My, the owner could periodically check (or Apple could automate it) that security key is where it's supposed to be, like a relative's house or bank deposit box.

Adding a U1 chip would allow the security key to be found if it were misplaced in a user's home… or in the event of a natural disaster like an earthquake.

And of course they could add TouchID to it, acting as a second factor so only the intended user could use it.

I'm sure I'm just scratching the surface of all the features Apple is uniquely positioned to add to a security key.

[fomine3]

So it's weird that Google sell their own Titan security key, though their bar is lower than Apple

[madeofpalk]

Not really. Doesn't seem like much for Apple to add on top.

I wouldn't be surprised if Apple starts selling the keys through it's own retail channels.

[brookst]

Will be interesting to see. I’m not sure they want to encourage people not already familiar with Yubikeys to use them. Impulse “hey this is cool” purchases might be a huge PITA.

[Krisjohn]

They're going with Passkeys.

[spike021]

Wouldn't be surprised if they do at some point.

[CaliforniaKarl]

It doesn't seem odd to me.