SMS and iMessage

PL76368

Good day,
Been playing with GOS for several months and I want to pull the trigger on making the change, but I have a few questions. The first of those questions for this thread is about SMS and iMessage.
As a current iOS user, most of my contacts that are also iOS users. Which means when sending messages to each other we enjoy the benefits of iMessage encryption.
At basic level I understand that 1. SMS is not encrypted and 2. iMessage, while encrypted, still could be obtained especially if the other user is using iCloud.
That said, it appears that many US telecoms (at least the one I'm using) do not keep SMS messages long term. (T-Mobile claims not to store them at all). Obviously, if they receive a legal order they will start collecting those SMS.
Likewise, many people do not delete iMessages at all and are backing up to iCloud which also could be available via legal order.
I'm not looking to violate any laws. I am just deeply entrenched in the Apple ecosystem and I am trying to find a way to get comfortable with SMS (for those that I ultimately cannot get to join Signal). So I'm looking for advice and if anyone has any resources to read on the topic.
If I am understanding things correctly, at the end of the day you have potential exposure either way. You only control what you do - what you send via SMS or iMessage (and how you store them and interact with the cloud). In SMS, the telecom companies have access and ability to read, if choose or ordered to do so. In iMessage, Apple has the ability to decrypt and read (if on the cloud). Neither option actually offers secure communication unless both iOS users are not using iCloud and everything is on their device?
Apologize in advance for any confusion or typos. I'm rushing to post this while on lunch break.
Best,
PL

DeletedUser26

PL76368 In iMessage, you can either disable iCloud backup or enable Advanced Data Protection to have proper E2EE. Unfortunately by default the OS does backup a key for iMessage so all messaging participants need to enable this feature. But it’s there, whereas with SMS that’s not an option.

treenutz68

PL76368

I would argue that iMessage is better than SMS in practically every situation. Even if one or several participants involved in an iMessage conversation are using un-encrypted iCloud backup, it is still better than SMS as the messages are still all encrypted, but Apple does have the ability to decrypt. In SMS, the phone service providers of all participants AND anyone 'listening' in the middle have the decrypted messages sitting right in front of them, no need to even use a key to decrypt.

Not to mention all of the other advantages of iMessage not related to privacy, here are a few:

Cost: iMessage is free to use as it relies on internet connectivity, while SMS may incur charges depending on your mobile plan.
Group messaging: iMessage supports group conversations with up to 500 people, while SMS is typically limited to 10 recipients.
Read receipts: iMessage allows you to see when your messages have been read.
Multimedia support: iMessage supports high-quality images, videos, and documents, while SMS is limited to low-resolution images and short text messages.
Typing indicators: iMessage shows when the other person is typing.
Message status: iMessage displays whether your message was delivered or not.
Longer message length: iMessage allows for longer messages, while SMS has a character limit.
Rich formatting: iMessage supports bold, italic, and underline text formatting, while SMS is limited to plain text.
Message history syncing: iMessage keeps your message history synced across all your Apple devices, making it easier to access conversations on different devices.

I think I read someone else on this forum say that iMessage can open up some attack vectors for hackers, perhaps that is an avenue that was used by the wonderful folks over at Pegasus. So that may be a negative vs. SMS, opening up a larger attack surface because of all the features it introduces.