Among a series of upcoming accessibility tools unveiled Tuesday, Apple announced a new brain-computer interface (BCI) protocol in its Switch Control feature. The protocol enables iOS, iPadOS, and VisionOS devices to support the latest technology. Which allows users to control their digital equipment without physical movement.
New York-based Synchron is one of the first companies to use the new protocol. “This marks a major milestone in accessibility and neurotechnology. As users with Synchron’s BCI can control iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro directly with their minds, without needing physical movement or voice commands,” the company said.
He added that Synchron’s BCI system will seamlessly integrate with Apple’s built-in accessibility features like Switch Control. Offering users an intuitive way to use their devices and laying the foundation for a new generation of cognitive input technologies.
“This marks a turning point for human-device interaction,” said Tom Oxley, CEO and co-founder of Synchron. “BCI is more than an accessibility tool; it’s the next generation of interface layer.”
“Apple is advancing a new interface paradigm in which brain signals are formally recognised alongside touch, voice, and handwriting,” . He continued. “With BCI recognition as a built-in input for Apple devices, new possibilities are opening up for people with paralysis and other conditions.”
BCI Validation
Tatyana Alexandrova, CEO of Subsense, a Covina, California-based biotech company specialising in non-surgical, bidirectional brain-computer interfaces, said Apple’s announcement is a powerful signal that BCIs are evolving. “I see this as a huge opening from Apple — a one-two punch inviting clinically proven BCIs like Synchron’s Stentrode to integrate directly into the billion-device ecosystem,” she told TechNewsWorld.
“For patients, this means mind control for messaging without middleware,” she said. “For the BCI industry, this is public recognition that neural input is ready for immediate use, and yes, this is an exciting milestone for all of us developing the next generation of non-surgical systems. This shift takes BCIs from a nascent technology to more mainstream applications.” Alexandrova argued that BCI fits seamlessly into Apple’s overall accessibility strategy.
“Apple’s playbook is to solve an extreme edge case, polish the UX until it’s invisible, then let the rest of the world adopt it,” she explained. “VoiceOver paved the way for Siri. Switch Control turned into Face Gestures. BCI support is the natural next rung on that ladder. Accessibility isn’t a side quest for Apple — it’s the R and D lab that future-proofs their core UI.”
“Apple devices give users unlimited access to information,” he added, “but for people with disabilities caused by traumatic brain injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), full access may not be possible. BCI technology helps bridge this gap by allowing them to control and interact with their devices using only brain activity.”
Analysts See BCI as Long-Term Technology
Apple’s BCI rollout is significant, but its impact is still in the future, said Will Kerwin, a technology equity analyst at Morningstar Research Services in Chicago. “While this is a fascinating announcement, we believe this type of feature is far from fully commercialised and not relevant to Apple investors at this time,” he told TechNewsWorld.
Kerwin noted that Synchron’s Stentrode BCI sample size is currently just 10 people.
“In the long term, yes, this technology could have huge implications for human interaction with technology, and we see it as a complement to AI, where generative AI could help improve the interface and the ability for people to communicate through the implant,” he said. “But again, we see this as a very long-term process in the early stages.”
FDA approval for Synchron’s Stenrode technology is expected in the next few years, according to the Wall Street Journal. The procedure involves implanting an electrode array mounted on a stent into a blood vessel in the brain, eliminating the need for open brain surgery.
“Some companies in the BCI space focuses on cortical control of prosthetics. While others are focused on cognitive enhancement or memory restoration,” Synchron spokesperson Kimberly Ha told TechNewsWorld. “Our focus on scalability and safety sets us apart. We avoid open brain surgery by implanting through blood vessels, making our approach more viable for potentially broader medical use.”
Solving the BCI Scalability Problem
He acknowledged that there are significant challenges to the widespread adoption of BCIs. “Scalability is one of the biggest,” he said. “Historic
ally, many BCI systems have required open brain surgery, which creates significant risks and limits access to the technology,” he explained. “It just doesn’t scale for widespread clinical or consumer use.”
“Synchron takes a fundamentally different approach,” she continued. Our Stentrode device is implanted via the blood vessels, similar to a heart stent, avoiding opening the skull or directly penetrating brain tissue. This makes the procedure far less invasive, more accessible to patients, and better suited to real-world clinical deployment.
There are also challenges to developing the BCI apps themselves. “The biggest challenge in developing BCI applications is the trade-off between signal quality and accessibility,” Aleksandrova explained. “While a directly implanted BCI offers strong brain signals, surgery is risky. With non-invasive systems, the resolution is poor.”
Her company, Subsense, is trying to offer the best of both worlds through nanoparticles. Which can provide bidirectional communication by crossing the blood-brain barrier to interact with neurons and transmit signals.
Thought-Driven Interfaces for New Use Cases
Ha noted that in addition to medical applications. BCI can be use for hands-free device control across all digital platforms, neuroadaptive gaming, or immersive XR experiences.
“BCI opens doors to applications in mental wellness, communication tools, and cognitive enhancement,” Aleksandrova added.
“You’ll fire off texts, browse AR screens, or write code just by thinking,” she said. You’ll slip seamlessly into a drone or handle a surgical robot as though it were your hand and nudge your smart home with a silent impulse that dims the lights when focus peaks.
Entertainment will read your mind — adjusting the difficulty of a game or the plot of a movie based on your mood. While constantly running neural indicators will warn you of fatigue, a migraine, or anxiety hours before you realise it, and even surface names or ideas when your memory fails. He predicted. “Your unique brain fingerprint will replace passwords, and researchers are already looking for ways to preserve these patterns so our minds can survive in weakened bodies.”