A hardware button that presumably uses software to toggle the mic versus literally unplugging a cable to the mic.
I know that during the design of the original Pixel laptop, things like physically powering down and disabling the camera, rather than doing it in firmware was important to the team at Google. I wonder if they have maintained that vigilance.
I would rather have a button to remove it. but you can't have everything.
If the microphone isn’t removable, you’re just using the wrong tools.