Apple Mail Privacy Protection (MPP)
01 Definition
Apple Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) meaning: An Apple feature that hides whether and when Apple Mail users open emails.
Apple Mail Privacy Protection, introduced by Apple in 2021, loads email tracking pixels automatically and through a proxy for Apple Mail users who enable it. This masks the recipient's true open time, whether they opened at all, and their IP address. As a result, open rates for those users are inflated and unreliable.
Also called
Why it matters
How Apple Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) fits the work
It broke open rate as a trustworthy metric for a large share of subscribers, pushing marketers to rely more on clicks and other engagement signals.
In context
After MPP rolled out, a brand saw its open rate jump while clicks stayed flat, a sign the extra opens were automated, not real.
Practical note
Because MPP registers opens the recipient never made, do not use open rate alone to judge engagement or trigger automations for Apple Mail contacts.