Intel recently boasted that 90% of chips affected by the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities have patches, but of course Intel doesn’t actually issue these fixes directly to end-users which means that users have to wait for their OEMs to release the update. The good news is that for Mac users, Apple has issued a fix for the Meltdown vulnerability.
If you’re wondering why this sounds familiar, it is because earlier this month Apple had actually released the Meltdown patch for macOS High Sierra earlier this month, but for users who are running Apple’s older macOS platforms, the patch is now live for you guys as well. The latest patch will cover older macOS versions, such as macOS Sierra and El Capitan.
For those who are hearing about this for the first time, Spectre and Meltdown are vulnerabilities that have been discovered that affects the majority of modern-day processors, ranging from desktops, to laptops, to our mobile devices. Intel has also recently confirmed that some of their newer chips have been affected as well.
With this latest patch, it joins some of the other patches that Apple has released to date, such as iOS 11.2.2 which will patch the Spectre vulnerability on iOS devices. For those who curious as to what exactly the patches will do to their operating system, you can head on over to Apple’s website for the more technical details.