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Starting with iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura, Apple Mail supports displaying a company’s official logo to indicate that the email is legitimately from that verified company.
When iOS 16 entered its second developer beta, an unannounced feature was discovered. It supports an email standard called Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI).
†[This] is an emerging email specification that enables the use of branded logos within support email clients,” the AuthIndicators Working Group says on its BIMI website.
“To display the brand’s logo,” it continues, “the email must pass DMARC authentication checks so that the organization’s domain is not impersonated.”
Google has introduced the same BIMI feature for Gmail starting in 2020. This means that when a user sees a company’s logo in a specific place in an email, he or she can know that the message is genuine.
Any spam company can copy a logo, but it won’t be displayed until the email passes a series of authentication tests called DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance).”
As noted by Twitter user Charlie Fish, the iOS 16 beta shows the logo in the same place a regular user’s photo or initials appear.
BIMI needs support from email client makers like Apple with its Mail app. However, it also depends on whether the company sending the emails has also gone through authentication processes.
However, the presence of BIMI support in Apple Mail is likely to encourage more companies to participate.