With a new iCloud Keychain “passkey” feature that was previewed at WWDC 2021, Apple is working toward a future without passwords.
In a WWDC developer session called “Move beyond passwords,” Apple teased a new feature called “passkeys in iCloud keychain.” The feature is available for testing in iOS 15 and macOS Monterey, but isn’t yet ready for a full release.
Essentially, passkeys are pairs of private and public keys based on the WebAuthn standard. They work basically like a hardware security key, but are stored securely in iCloud Keychain.
This means users won’t need to carry hardware keys with them — their iPhone, iPad, or Mac will contain the passkeys. More than that, passkeys will be synced across various devices, meaning they’re recoverable even if a user loses all of their devices.
MacDailyNews Take: As those who provide tech support to parents and in-laws, anything secure and private that kills passwords is A-OK with us!