Apple today announced the iPhone and iPad are the first, and currently only, consumer devices to be approved to handle the classified information of NATO countries. The approval allows iPhone and iPad devices to be used with classified information up to the NATO restricted level without requiring special software or settings.
“Apple designs security into all of its products from the start, ensuring the most sophisticated protections are built in across hardware, software, and Apple silicon. This unique approach allows Apple users to benefit from industry-leading security protections such as best-in-class encryption, biometric authentication with Face ID, and groundbreaking features like Memory Integrity Enforcement. These same protections are now recognized as meeting stringent government and international security requirements, even for restricted data.”
iPhone and iPad had previously received approval to handle classified German government data on devices using native iOS and iPadOS security measures, following an extensive evaluation by the Federal Office for Information Security (Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik, or BSI). Now, iPhone and iPad running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 are certified for such use in all NATO nations.
“Secure digital transformation is only successful if information security is considered from the beginning in the development of mobile products,” said Claudia Plattner, BSI’s president. “Expanding on BSI’s rigorous audit of iOS and iPadOS platform and device security for use in classified German information environments, we are pleased to confirm the compliance under NATO nations’ assurance requirements.”
iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 are now listed on the NATO Information Assurance Product Catalogue in recognition of their built-in security capabilities.
More details about Apple’s security protections are available in the Apple Platform Security guide.