Is Memory Tagging Extension (MTE) and/or Memory Integrity Encforcement (MIE) one of the requisite features for GrapheneOS?
The recent moves from Google that look like Android will become more of a “closed garden”, and it might affect the furure of privacy ROMs.
I’m not sure if thats the same reason for this, but GrapheneOS have stated that they are working on a phone from another Android OEM. I have no idea if apple’s chips allow exclusively ios or linux-like os on the system, but how feasable is it that they might consider Apple (given if the inclusion of MIE & MTE makes iPhones more compatible with gOS) in the future?
Apple would never agree to it, and they have no reason to.
iOS is a stripped down version of macOS, which is certified UNIX, whatever that means. They also claim to safeguard your privacy, though I’m not sure they’ve ever proven it. Quite the opposite, I think they’ve unlocked iPhones, handed over iCloud data for law enforcement, while denying grieving families the same privilege.
I think the best outcome would be for some privacy fanatics with deep pockets to purchase a smaller OEM that already has manufacturing down. The problem they will run into is how to fund it and how to compete, not only with iPhone and the big Android OEMs, but with the smaller Android OEMs that have the same stated goals, to protect privacy. What that might look like is a phone with specs a couple years out that costs maybe a little less than the big names, with the speculation that if enough people buy it, they will support it, but if not enough people buy it… they won’t.