by Jason Snell
Yes, Secure Erase on Mac is secure
There’s been a lot of buzz lately involving a bug in Photos that caused some deleted items to reappear in libraries, including some (apparent) misinformation that blew the entire story out of proportion. Is Apple’s “Secure Erase” feature truly insecure?
No, it’s not. Howard Oakley has the technical details about why:
As far as I can tell, claims made about securely erased devices recovering old images originate from a single post on Reddit, since deleted by the person who posted it. Although that brought a series of cogent responses pointing out how that isn’t possible, it was picked up and amplified elsewhere, under the title iOS 17.5 Bug May Also Resurface Deleted Photos on Wiped, Sold Devices, which is manifestly incorrect. Sadly, even those who should know better have piled in and reported that single, retracted claim as established fact.
Good information and a useful lesson about not believing everything you read on the Internet.