Apple Details How Reference Image Proves a Photo is Real
Apple has detailed how its Reference Image feature works, a way to verify that a photo was taken with an iPhone and hasn't been edited. The feature is available on iPhone 18 Pro models and uses a specialized reference mode to create a secure digital negative.
The reference mode instructs the camera sensor to cryptographically sign pixel data immediately after capture, and the sensor firmware is prevented from modifying the data. This creates a 'secure digital negative' that can be sent to Private Cloud Compute for verification.
The feature is opt-in and limited to the Main camera sensor. Apple says it resists data injection attacks, compromised operating systems, hardware attacks, and cryptographic attacks, and can revoke individual photos or an entire sensor if fraud is detected.
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