Apple announces major new password standard expansion with Google, Microsoft

What you need to know

• Apple is committing to a major new password standard expansion.
• It is joining Google and Microsoft in supporting more capabilities for FIDO.
• It will allow users to access secure and easy passwordless sign-ins across devices and platforms.

Apple has today announced it is joining Google and Microsoft in committing to support for expanded capabilities within FIDO, a new standard of authentication that will allow users easy and secure passwordless sign-ins across devices and platforms.

The company stated:

To help reduce takeovers, data breaches, and identity theft, the new standard "will give websites and apps the ability to offer an end-to-end passwordless option," with users signing in to services through services like Face ID and Touch ID on Apple's best iPhones, such as the iPhone SE and iPhone 13.

The new capabilities announced today will let users automatically access their FIDO credentials on many devices, including new ones, without having to reenroll every account they access through the service. The second will let users use FIDO to sign in to an app or website "on nearly every device, regardless of the OS platform or browser they are running."

Apple's Senior Director of Platform Product Marketing Kurt Knight said "Just as we design our products to be intuitive and capable, we also design them to be private and secure... Working with the industry to establish new, more secure sign-in methods that offer better protection and eliminate the vulnerabilities of passwords is central to our commitment to building products that offer maximum security and a transparent user experience — all with the goal of keeping users' personal information safe."