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Comment by dom96 | Hacker News Reader

There are people out there that hook up their laptop to an external display and then use it with the lid closed. Wouldn't be surprised if some of them want to use the mic with that configuration as well.

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Then they are out of luck with this new T4 security chip cutoff, Apple says that it cuts off the mic when the laptop is closed, and there's no way even the kernel can override it:

“This disconnect is implemented in hardware alone, and therefore prevents any software, even with root or kernel privileges in macOS, and even the software on the T2 chip, from engaging the microphone when the lid is closed,” said the support guide.

So in this respect, there's no difference between the T2 chip cutoff and a physical switch... except that there could still be a backdoor in the T2 chip cutoff that Apple hasn't admitted to.

In my experience, it doesn't work very well with the lid-closed... therefore I (like many of my colleagues) tend to use external mics, too.

It's a shame. It's a damn fine third or fourth screen (I'm writing this on it).

I dock because I only like one screen. My workflow is already optimized for my laptop screen (I'm on it 60% of the time). So my ideal setup is one massive screen when I have the choice.

I could credentialize in multimonitor usage (I have before), but now I'm getting used to something that's incompatible with portability.

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