Apple Updates macOS and iOS To Address Spectre Vulnerability (engadget.com) 67
Days after Apple disclosed how it would be dealing with the Meltdown bug that affects modern computers, it's pushed out fixes for the Spectre exploit as well. From a report: iOS 11.2.2 includes "Security improvements to Safari and WebKit to mitigate the effects of Spectre," the company writes on its support page, while the macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 Supplemental Update does the same for your Mac laptop or desktop. Installing this update on your Mac will also update Safari to version 11.0.2.
Power consumption tips and tricks (Score:2, Informative)
You forgot to change the default settings for your apps. You can do the following:
1. For podcasts they default to checking and downloading every hour. Yes, every hour. Reset these to Every Day, or for weekly podcasts, Every Week. For podcasts that post during the day, consider Every 6 Hours. Each time it checks it will connect, search, and download.
2. Turn off apps you don't want running when you have Wireless or Cell service. A lot of times you only want one of these.
3. Turn off Sync for almost anything. T
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Valid points. But this patch was never about better battery performance, it was about the pre-arranged security holes that had become known outside of the mil int reservations and weaponized.
By that measure, the patch is a good solution. But Apple should address the issues you raise.
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Updated (after Firefox) (Score:1)
Decently quick update to Safari and the OS from Apple. However Firefox had already updated. Loving it more and more :)
Support older hardware / operating systems!! (Score:1)
Apple - the world's richest tech hardware company - has accumulated their mountain of cash in part by a pattern of (plausibly) unscrupulously pushing customers to upgrade hardware.
It's about time they acknowledged their role in this by actually supplying fixes for these vulnerabilities across the entire fleet and field of devices and operating systems. I want an update for iOS 3 and System 8.6!
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I'd like an update for Yosemite. However I'm very unlikely to get one.
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El Cap broke a lot of drivers including most verizon phones/mifi devices. Some apps like CS1 won't work, either.
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A joke, for sure, since System 9 and lower only had partial/half-assed memory protection (if you could call it that, and only for PowerPC code. 68k systems had none, IIRC).
However, it would be an interesting academic exercise to see whether PowerPC 603/604/750 have the same issues and to what extent.
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I'm not sure this is really a joke. I recently (less than a month ago) updated from 10.7 to 10.11 at work. Looks like I'm outtalucko unless someone wants to spend a fuckton of time to deal with the problems that come with Yet Another Mac OS version (we have a mix of 10.11 and 10.6 machines, the 10.6 ones being particularly hard to upgrade). Every single Mac OS X upgrade has broken something, somewhere. Sometimes it's a big deal, sometimes it's not, but I'm not feeling lucky. (Also, the general quality of th
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68K didn't use memory protection, PowerPC used only just enough to get it to work.
In theory I believe the later PowerPCs did do OOO execution with branch preduction, but the early ones did not. It was deemed not
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However, it would be an interesting academic exercise to see whether PowerPC 603/604/750 have the same issues and to what extent.
PPC is OoO, so it sure could. If I had to bet, though, I'd bet that IBM and Motorola together did it the correct way. Let's hope so, because Apple ain't updating 10.5 any more.
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So no fix for macOS 10.12? (Score:1)
I'm stuck since I am on VMWare Fusion 8.5 which doesn't support High Sierra. I'm not willing to roll the dice and upgrade if it could break my ability to get work done, and my company is tight on the budget.
Here's one for the fanbois: (Score:2)
Apple's Spectre patches won't be bricking any AMD computers [slashdot.org].
Only an update for High Sierra? (Score:2, Insightful)
Not seeing a macOS patch available for El Capitan or Sierra. (10.11, 10.12).
Why not move to High Sierra? (Score:2)
El Capitan, possibly we'll see a patch for that - may not be possible though as it might rely on other work done in 10.12.
However it does not matter if there's no patch for Sierra, as the system specs for Sierra are tree same as High Sierra. There you patch is to upgrade to High Sierra - if you think this issue is serious.
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I see what you are saying, but if you are using a VMWare version that old why not just move to VirtualBox? It's free and since it's under development all the time, may well exceed the abilities of your older VMWare at this point.
Oh really (Score:2)
There is not such phrase as "tree same".
Tell that to autocorrect.
Moron
No, I simply do not waste my time editing or proofreading anything when I know people of the lowest moral fiber - i.e. grammar nazis - will be critiquing.
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Because there's nothing on the latest versions of macOS and iOS worth updating for at least for me. So if I do install them I'll just have slower systems due to the extra bloat and apps from Apple that don't work as well.
I'm avoiding moving onto iTunes 12.7 because they took out the apps in an incredibly stupid move. I have iOS apps installed on my iPhone and iPad so I'll be downloading the app twice instead of once to my Mac and syncing it to my devices. So there's no way I'm going to High Sierra while iTu
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Because there's nothing on the latest versions of macOS and iOS worth updating for at least for me. So if I do install them I'll just have slower systems due to the extra bloat
High Sierra is great because it's one of the optimization releases, it's been faster on the hardware I've installed It on. I can understand not installing it right away, I waited for the .1 release myself. but at .2 it's defiantly stable and of course it patches this extremely publicized flaw.
I have iOS apps installed on my iPhone
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So the apps you get are smaller individually than if you downloaded them to iTunes first and transferred them to the device, and take up less space on the device.
But each device specific app that I download would not be smaller than half of the app I download in iTunes so I'm still pulling down more bytes. Plus I still have to actually go to both devices and do something to start the update process. Right now I just update the apps in iTunes and the next time I connect the device to charge it gets backed and any new apps, podcasts, and music gets put on it.
The system works very well for me and may not for others. But this is just a continuation from Apple of forcing
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Because old Macs can't run Sierras? Also, High Sierra is still buggy for being new.
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Dude, I'm stuck on Yosemite due to lack of El Cap drivers
32 bit iOS devices not supported (Score:1)
Cannot upgrade to iOS 11, but devices otherwise just fine. Is it really fine to leave those unpatched?
stop "helping" me and making things work (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Check your benchmarks. Many are actually seeing IMPROVED results after this update. Seriously.
Only for High Sierra? (Score:1)
Is there no fix for Sierra or earlier?
Or is this another eff U from Apple?
Better than Microsoft! (Score:4, Insightful)
See? Apple delivered the update without bricking* any AMD CPUs! That's how you do it!
*the term is used here very loosely.
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Given how generally impossible it is to run a Hackintosh with an AMD CPU, I imagine those folks will just issue more patches to their stack of stuff required to get OS X up and running on AMD. I really feel that AMD Hackintosh users are a trivial minority of Hackintosh users, who are in turn a trivial minority of OS X users, who are in turn a reasonable minority of desktop/server/lappie users.
Basically, they'll do what they have always done to get OS X to run on AMD: hack at it awhile and hopefully beat so
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If you set a root user/password that exploit doesn't work and never did. Any /.'er who failed that step should probably cancel their account here. Seriously.
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See? Apple delivered the update without bricking* any AMD CPUs! That's how you do it!
Have you tested it on any AMD CPUs?
does it mean (Score:2)
that installing this update will make my OS and any apps on it unable to exploit the Specter vulnerability? or just that safari and webkit is mitigated
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" Spectre is not that interesting and nowhere near as silly as Meltdown" currently... i agree. though if some one can exploit it further and weaponize/make it available the issues would be much more severe.
it seems that the scope is pretty minimal except we don't know the full story yet.
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looks like Apple, MS and others are saying it can be mitigated by patches. so the issue remains with Specter as far as i know.
build 11604.4.7.1.6 & 12604.4.7.1.6 (Score:1)
Installing this update on your Mac will also update Safari to version 11.0.2.
In case anyone is confused, Safari11.0.2 came out back in December.
What was released today are builds 11604.4.7.1.6 (El Capitan) and 12604.4.7.1.6 (Sierra) plus whatever comes with the High Sierra update.
About the security content of Safari 11.0.2 [apple.com]
So just because you are already at 11.0.2, that doesn't mean you are already up to date.
A foolish move (Score:2)
Is Apple saying That's okay, Intel, we got your back and let the giant go with a pat on the derriere?