Bootcamp and Magic devices

[aguila]

Hello, first time poster here.

I’m not a coder nor an expert, but I’m eager to learn.

This is not something that went wrong, rather I want to know why it went right.

I installed bootcamp a few months ago, and recently began using a Bluetooth magic keyboard and trackpad on MacOS.

But when I switched to windows, both devices were working perfectly on windows, it was my understanding that they needed to be paired and connected, but they just worked as soon as I logged in.

This leads me to the question,
Does Mac OS connect Bluetooth devices to a level “higher” than OS? Is this specific to magic devices?

It is worth noting that the Magic keyboard works even on the boot menu (before choosing what OS to boot), so there’s definitely some sort of communication beyond OS level.

Finally, if all this is correct, shouldn’t it be a security concern? If devices are being communicated accross or above OS without user intervention, seems like a potential exploit to gain access to someone’s OS

 

[Taz Mangus]

Apple provides device drivers for the Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad in Boot Camp. That is why those work in MacOS and Windows.

 

[robbieduncan]

I believe that the pairing is stored in the Bluetooth controller hardware/pram. On boot the UEFI subsystem has bluetooth drivers and your paired devices will work at the boot screen

 

[Brian33]

Nice to hear a question about something that went right!

Finally, if all this is correct, shouldn’t it be a security concern? If devices are being communicated accross or above OS without user intervention, seems like a potential exploit to gain access to someone’s OS

I'm not a security expert at all, but I think the usual assumption is that if someone has physical access to your hardware, they would be able to gain access to the OS. (With the possible exception of a T2-equipped Mac that has a firmware password set???)

In any case, welcome to MacRumors!

 

[robbieduncan]

Nice to hear a question about something that went right!



I'm not a security expert at all, but I think the usual assumption is that if someone has physical access to your hardware, they would be able to gain access to the OS. (With the possible exception of a T2-equipped Mac that has a firmware password set???)

In any case, welcome to MacRumors!

I'm not sure how it works: do you need to pair the devices before they are available in EFI? So you'd have to be able to log in to do that (or boot from an external device but then all bets are off)