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This story is from May 17, 2019

Apple partially fixes Intel chip flaw in Mac PCs and laptops, says full fix may slow down performance by up to 40%

Apple has rolled out a fix for Mac PCs, MacBooks and other Mac devices that are running Intel chips. The update is to fix the vulnerability found in the Intel processors.
Apple partially fixes Intel chip flaw in Mac PCs and laptops, says full fix may slow down performance by up to 40%
A couple of days ago researchers found out a new vulnerability in Intel processors. Called as ZombieLoad (technical name - Microarchitectural data sampling), the vulnerability dates back to Intel chips that were released in 2011. It could leak private data stored in the processor including your passwords, secret keys and even private messages.
Intel has released a patch for the affected processors.
The list includes Intel Xeon, Broadwell, Sandy Bridge, Skylake, Haswell, Kaby Lake, Coffee lake, Whiskey Lake, Cascade Lake, Intel Atom and Intel Knights range of processors.
However, tech giants who have devices running Intel processors, are also issuing patches for the vulnerability. Apple is one of them.
The iPhone maker has released a macOS update for each Mac and MacBook running on these processors. In an advisory, the company said that those Mac devices running macOS 10.14.5, have been patched. This is supposed to prevent hackers from attacking the PC via Safari browser and other apps.
The company also mentioned that although most devices won’t witness performance issues with it, some could face up to 40% slow-down if they go for the full set of mitigations. The process includes enabling of an additional CPU instruction and disabling of hyper-threading process technology. “Full mitigation requires using the Terminal app to enable an additional CPU instruction and disable hyper-threading processing technology. This capability is available for macOS Mojave, High Sierra, and Sierra in the latest security updates and may reduce performance by up to 40%,” stated Apple in the support page.

The company has also listed the unsupported Mac models. These will get security updates in macOS, Mojave, High Sierra and Sierra but won’t support the fixes and mitigations as there are no microcode updates from Intel.
-MacBook (13-inch, Late 2009)
-MacBook (13-inch, Mid 2010)
-MacBook Air (13-inch, Late 2010)
-MacBook Air (11-inch, Late 2010)
-MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2010)
-MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010)
-MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2010)
-iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2009)
-iMac (27-inch, Late 2009)
-iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2010)
-iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010)
-Mac mini (Mid 2010)
-Mac Pro (Late 2010
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