During the last WWDC21, Apple introduced a lot of new features for iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey, many of which focused on privacy. One of them, Private Relay, is to doubt the developers who test the first beta operating systems on your devices.
Private Relay: confidentiality without compromising on speed
Private Relay is a new system that Apple implemented in Safari on iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey. This is a double data encryption mechanism that prevents anyone, not even Apple, from being able to know who we are (our IP) and the URL we want to visit. This milestone is achieved by passing our traffic through a first server (Relay) which in turn transmits it to a second server of a trusted Apple partner.
This double passage through the servers means that the travel of our data increases, which raises doubts about how fast we will ultimately get when we access the Internet. Several Twitter users have commented on this, saying that the use of Private Relay has slowed their connection.
ICloud Private Relay On or Off ☹️ pic.twitter.com/cPJIQE08AY
– Guilherme Rambo (@_inside) June 22, 2021
macOS 12. Private Relay On vs Private Relay Off😐 pic.twitter.com/rcGcCVGA6V
– NSBeep (); (@Krivoblotsky) June 16, 2021
At Applesfera, we did our own testing, from different devices and locations, and the results, however, are not entirely conclusive. The following screenshot shows the test carried out with Private Relay enabled and disabled on an iPhone 12 connected via Wi-Fi near Madrid.
Relais Privé with approximate location, without Relais Privé and with wide location.
The test is then repeated, this time using the mobile device data. The results are, as we can see, very similar.
Relais Privé with approximate location, without Relais Privé and with wide location.
To get a more concrete image, we did the same test on an iPad running iPadOS 15. Connected via Wi-Fi near Barcelona, these are the results we got.
Private relay on the left and on the right.
A beta, a version in development and testing
It is clear that the importance and significance of Private Relay has caught the attention of many developers who are already beta testing new operating systems. It is natural to want to test the system and, however, it should be borne in mind that this is a first beta. Nail first beta which also depends on third-party services to function, the conclusions will therefore have to wait for the final launch in the fall.
Private Relay is designed so that the server we connect to is really close to us, unless we decide to change this behavior in Settings. With this, Apple achieves the maximum possible connection speed. As Apple prepares the operating system and its partners infrastructure to support traffic, speed should improve for those who see it low today.
For now, with our goals set on the second developer beta, next month’s public beta, and the various iterations iOS and iPadOS 15 will have ahead of their launch this fall, we can only hope. An expectation that will give us more details on a system that guarantees our privacy far beyond the usual.
