Apple's iPhones and iPads are the first consumer devices certified for NATO classified data without any modifications.

Remember the hubbub a couple of years ago about the Five Eyes warning Western nations not to allow Huawei-made 5G cellular infrastructure in their countries? Huawei's ownership is nebulous at best, but it's widely accepted in the signals intelligence community that China has backdoors into the company's cellular infrastructure, smartphone handsets, tablets, and computers, allowing eavesdropping on individuals and data theft. Given China's track record for industrial espionage and human rights abuses, that's a problem — especially for the individuals, organizations, and industries that keep Western nations like the United States safe.

Even without owning the tech that makes our modern communications platforms purr, threat actors still do a damn fine job of cracking network security and bugging the bejesus out of handsets when they're motivated. One way government IT security addresses this is by modifying the software, firmware, and sometimes even the hardware of popular consumer smartphones before allowing them for agency use. Another is ordering expensive hardware with hardened security features or restricting phones in areas where sensitive or classified information is handled. After all, loose lips sink ships. Occasionally, however, a company plops out a product that spooks and diplomats can use with nary a change.

That's what Apple announced this week for its iPhone and iPad hardware:

Today, Apple announced iPhone and iPad are the first and only consumer devices in compliance with the information assurance requirements of NATO nations. This enables iPhone and iPad to be used with classified information up to the NATO restricted level without requiring special software or settings — a level of government certification no other consumer mobile device has met.

Apple designs security into all of its products from the start, ensuring the most sophisticated protections are built in across hardware, software, and Apple silicon. This unique approach allows Apple users to benefit from industry-leading security protections such as best-in-class encryption, biometric authentication with Face ID, and groundbreaking features like Memory Integrity Enforcement. These same protections are now recognized as meeting stringent government and international security requirements, even for restricted data.


iPhone and iPad previously received approval to handle classified German government data on devices using native iOS and iPadOS security measures, following an extensive evaluation by the Federal Office for Information Security (Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik, or BSI). Now, iPhone and iPad running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 are certified for such use in all NATO nations.

It's a feather in Apple's cap, especially given all the ethically uncomfortable ass-kissing the company's executives have done to ensure their products can continue to be sold in places like China and, more recently, the United States. That said, Apple is only the first to receive NATO's Top Secret stamp of approval for consumer-grade hardware — it won't be the last. You can be certain Google's not far behind. They've been in the business of selling phones to governments for some time. For example, in October 2025, the United States Department of Defense Information Network (DoDIN) added the Pixel Phone to its Approved Products List (APL). Selling to big government is big business.

Previously:

• UK government forces Apple to strip encryption from UK users
• Pentagon employees ignore security protocols to download all kinds of dodgy apps on their government-issued phones