Apple T2 Chip Question

[AnonymousMacPC]

What loads the T2 chip in a real Macbook Pro, IMac Pro, ect.

Is there a kernel extention that does this or is it embedded within the kernel?

Also would it be possible to emulate?

 

[InconspicuousDuck]

I have the same question. Getting "Hey Siri" functionality on hackintosh would be great.

 

[trs96]

What loads the T2 chip in a real Macbook Pro, IMac Pro

The T2 runs on it's own operating system. Apple calls it BridgeOS which is a modified version of WatchOS. There is not much info on it right now. There are a few very technical papers that go into this but they are a difficult read. As a quick summary "The T2 coprocessor communicates with macOS using Apple’s XPC interprocess communication mechanism."

XPC is an interprocess communication mechanism designed by Apple which utilizes serialized property lists for messages. Apple has extended this mechanism to support a new range of functionality. Built on top of Network.framework, the RemoteXPC facility allows for XPC message passing between networked endpoints. The T2 coprocessor utilizes RemoteXPC to communicate to the host macOS installation. Currently, T2 services utilize this facility to pass messages back and forth as well as perform more complicated actions such as file transfers between the two domains, but we may very well see RemoteXPC used more broadly for cross-product communication in the future as the foundation is there.

Deciphering the Messages of Apple’s T2 Coprocessor

Duo Labs explores the communication channel between macOS and the new T2 secure boot chip. We illuminate the XPC messaging protocol and provide tools to explore it for yourself.

duo.com

Creating XPC Services

Explains how to write background processes that perform work on behalf of applications or serve content over the network.

developer.apple.com

 

[pastrychef]

Also would it be possible to emulate?

Since T2 does hardware encoding/decoding for videos, I don't think it can be properly emulated.

Apple's T2 chip makes a giant difference in video encoding for most users | AppleInsider

Apple's T2 chip in the Mac mini, MacBook Pro, and iMac Pro can greatly speed video encoding, but by how much? Now that Apple has two machines with the same CPU, one with the T2, and one without, there's a good way to tell.

appleinsider.com

 

[AnonymousMacPC]

I have the same question. Getting "Hey Siri" functionality on hackintosh would be great.

Not really for that, this is a precaution just incase Apple makes it mandatory to have a T2 chip in the far future

 

[AnonymousMacPC]

The T2 runs on it's own operating system. Apple calls it BridgeOS which is a modified version of WatchOS. There is not much info on it right now. There are a few very technical papers that go into this but they are a difficult read. As a quick summary "The T2 coprocessor communicates with macOS using Apple’s XPC interprocess communication mechanism."

Deciphering the Messages of Apple’s T2 Coprocessor

Duo Labs explores the communication channel between macOS and the new T2 secure boot chip. We illuminate the XPC messaging protocol and provide tools to explore it for yourself.

duo.com

Creating XPC Services

Explains how to write background processes that perform work on behalf of applications or serve content over the network.

developer.apple.com

More of a way to spoof it, does the T2 Chip show up in a PCI connection, USB, or much more different?

I know it is a co-processor, but what makes the link between BridgeOS and macOS, the communication.

 

[trs96]

what makes the link between BridgeOS and macOS, the communication

It's all in the "Deciphering the Messages" article I linked. If you're not a developer and don't understand the terms used it won't help you much.

 

[AnonymousMacPC]

It's all in the "Deciphering the Messages" article I linked. If you're not a developer and don't understand the terms used it won't help you much.

Alright my bad, didnt look at it yet.