iBridge

iBridge is a family of embedded processing devices for Intel-based Macs. There are two major variants:

• iBridge T1 - found in the following Macs:
  • MacBook Pro (13-inch, 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports, 2016)
  • MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016)
  • MacBook Pro (13-inch, 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports, 2017)
  • MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017)

• iBridge T2 - found in the following Macs:
  • iMac Pro (2017)
  • MacBook Pro (13-inch, 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports, 2018)
  • MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018)
  • Mac mini (2018)
  • MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2018)
  • MacBook Pro (13-inch, 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports, 2019)
  • MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2019)
  • MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2019)
  • Mac Pro (2019)
  • MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports, 2019)
  • MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019)
  • MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2020)
  • MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports, 2020)
  • MacBook Pro (13-inch, 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports, 2020)
  • iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020)

iBridge T2 devices run a heavily modified version of watchOS, titled bridgeOS, while T1 devices run embeddedOS, and they power various functions on Intel-based Macs:

• Touch Bar (MacBook Pro only)
• Touch ID (Mac laptops only)
• System Management Controller
• Microphone hardware disconnect (Mac laptops with T2 only)
• HEVC 8- and 10-bit encoding (T2 only)
• Image and audio signal processing (T2 only)
• Apple Secure Boot (T2 only)