Apple Mail is the built-in email client on macOS and iOS, supporting IMAP, SMTP, and S/MIME. Mail Privacy Protection hides the user’s IP address and loads remote content via Apple proxy servers to block tracking pixels.
Official website support.apple.com/mail
Our take
Apple Mail earns its place here primarily through Mail Privacy Protection, which routes remote image loads through Apple’s servers so senders cannot confirm your IP or open time - a meaningful defence against email tracking that works with zero configuration. On macOS it also supports OpenPGP via the third-party GPG Suite add-on, and S/MIME is built in for corporate use. The honest catch is that the application is closed-source and tightly coupled to the Apple ecosystem: you cannot install it outside Apple hardware, there is no independent audit of how Mail Privacy Protection is implemented, and advanced privacy settings are shallow compared to dedicated open-source clients. A practical choice for Apple users who want sensible defaults without switching apps.
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Apple Mail alternatives
StartMail First choice for privacy email accounts. Users can choose between their web client or third party desktop clients like Thunderbird. Unlimited aliases with the StartMail and…
ProtonMail Free and paid plans include all security features, including end-to-end encryption, zero-access encryption, anti-phishing, anti-spam and 2FA. Own Android, iOS Apps and web…
Tuta Tuta: Free, Cross-Platform and Zero-Knowledge Calendar
SimpleLogin Emails are forwarded to your real email address. If you reply to a sender it will use your alias, too. It is designed to be user friendly and available on many platforms. Based…
addy.io addy.io is an open-source email aliasing service that lets you create unlimited aliases forwarding to your real inbox. Available on web, browser extensions for all major browsers, and Android/iOS apps. Self-hostable. Based in the United Kingdom.
mailbox.org Paid plans enable custom domains. Users can choose between their web client or third party desktop clients like Thunderbird. Based in Germany, founded in 2014.