Apple Magic Keyboards are at risk from security attacks – update now to protect your Mac or iPad

lose up of Touch ID element on new Apple Magic keyboard introduced in 2021 alongside new iMac.

(Image credit: Alena Veasey via Shutterstock)

Apple has released Magic Keyboard firmware update version 2.0.6, which contains a fix for a nasty Bluetooth-related security vulnerability. The firmware update is available across Magic Keyboard models for the Mac, including the standard Magic Keyboard, the Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad, Touch ID and Numeric Keypad and Touch ID combined. So far no security issue has been noted for iPad keyboards.

Normally, Magic Keyboard firmware updates are automatically installed when the keyboard is paired to an Apple device, whether the device is running macOS, iPadOS, iOS or tvOS. There’s no real way to manually apply the update, but you can check the firmware version your keyboard is currently on through the Bluetooth section of the System Settings app.

MacRumors points towards an Apple support document that highlights the urgency and importance of the new firmware update, stating that "An attacker with physical access to the accessory may be able to extract its Bluetooth pairing key and monitor Bluetooth traffic."

Better safe than sorry

It can be hard to believe someone with malicious intent would go to the extent of messing with your wireless keyboard just to get information out of you, but if Apple is putting out such an important firmware update it’s a risk you want to avoid.

The information a hacker could get from your keyboard could include sensitive information such as passwords and credit card details that you type in.

As we said above there's no way for you to manually update your devices firmware, but if you’d like to get on top of things and make sure your device is up to date, we suggest you connect the Magic Keyboard to your device of choice, make sure your device (MacBook, iMac etc) is up to date as well (and connected to the internet) and your Magic Keyboard should update itself.

TOPICS

Muskaan is TechRadar’s UK-based Computing writer. She has always been a passionate writer and has had her creative work published in several literary journals and magazines. Her debut into the writing world was a poem published in The Times of Zambia, on the subject of sunflowers and the insignificance of human existence in comparison. Growing up in Zambia, Muskaan was fascinated with technology, especially computers, and she's joined TechRadar to write about the latest GPUs, laptops and recently anything AI related. If you've got questions, moral concerns or just an interest in anything ChatGPT or general AI, you're in the right place. Muskaan also somehow managed to install a game on her work MacBook's Touch Bar, without the IT department finding out (yet).