Craig Federighi, Apple’s head of software engineering, said in court that Apple is not pleased with the amount of malware on its operating system macOS. While this may look like a suicidal revelation, it’s a cleverly plotted move to show how a closed ecosystem is better than an open one.

Apple says that users can install a third-party application from the internet, which could pose a potential threat. While an iPhone is considered to be far safer because apps can be installed only via the App Store, which acts as an added layer of protection.

“Today, we have a level of malware on the Mac that we don’t find acceptable, and that is much worse than iOS,” Federighi testified in the Epic Games vs. Apple trial. He also said that malware is regularly exploited on macOS.

While iOS and iPadOS aren’t spotless when it comes to malware, security is irrefutably less of an issue than macOS. Federighi said that there are 130 types of Mac malware that have affected at least 300,000 systems since last May.

Epic Games wants to launch its own app store for iOS, but Apple doesn’t permit third-party services. The gaming company argues that Apple wants everyone to forcefully use App Store and pay a commission for every sale. This revenue-sharing model is often called “Apple Tax” informally, and even Google levies it with the Play Store. But unlike Android, an iOS user doesn’t have the freedom to install any app independently.

The Cupertino-based giant wants to show that it takes privacy and cyber safety most seriously. If it opens up the iOS ecosystem, the threat via malware will automatically rise. Federighi also points out that iPhone devices are much more popular than Macs and therefore the company has a duty to protect users.

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