Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vp of software program engineering, testified Wednesday at a trial in federal court docket in Oakland, California, that his expertise with imported malware on the macOS system reveals how safety can be eroded if the corporate allowed iPhone and iPad customers to put in software program from the net or different shops, because it does on the Mac.

“Right now we’ve got a degree of malware on the Mac that we don’t discover acceptable,” primarily as a result of the system permits customers to put in software program that isn’t vetted by Apple, Federighi stated. That makes it much less safe than iOS and iPadOS, the working programs that energy the iPhone and iPad, he stated.

Permitting apps from different shops or locations on the iPhone would create a “very, very unhealthy scenario for our prospects,” including “a huge decrease in their safety,” Federighi stated. He additionally stated iPhones and iPads have safety protections, together with the App Retailer assessment course of, to maintain the merchandise free from malware.

Later in his testimony, Federighi stated that regardless of its malware issues, the Mac is the most secure selection amongst private computer systems and is safer than these working Microsoft Corp.’s Home windows working system.

Federighi stated that the rival Android working system, which permits third-party shops, faces related safety challenges. “It’s effectively understood within the safety neighborhood that Android has a malware drawback.” Apple’s iOS, alternatively, has succeeded in blocking malware, he stated.

Responding to a hypothetical scenario wherein third-party app obtain shops can be allowed, Federighi stated that Apple’s “safety stack” is built end-to-end in a way that it would be challenging to let third parties in to manage user security and privacy. He would have “grave concerns” if Apple needed to hand off management over safety to 3rd events, he stated.

Earlier within the trial, Epic tried to make the purpose that if putting in software program from third-party shops on the Mac is condoned by Apple, it ought to be allowed on the iPhone and iPad as effectively. Epic’s lawyer tried to poke holes in Apple’s retort Wednesday, asking Federighi if Apple tells customers they need to purchase iPads as a substitute of Macs if they’re searching for safety.

Apple’s safety and privateness safeguards draw customers to iOS units, Federighi stated. “When customers purchase an Apple machine, they’re doing it as a result of they’ve chosen an intuitive, constant person expertise that’s protected, that they’ll belief.”

Federighi stated the entire Mac person base is lower than one-tenth of the scale of the iPhone and iPad inhabitants, which is estimated to be greater than a billion lively units.