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Does High Sierra update the microcode of the CPU? For Sierra, a patch is likely coming; there is "Security Update Developer Beta 2018-001" which you can get us

Does High Sierra update the microcode of the CPU? For Sierra, a patch is likely coming; there is "Security Update Developer Beta 2018-001" which you can get using their beta program.

mschuster91 9y ago
What about those of us still on 10.11? That one is horrible already but the horror stories I see on a daily base from colleagues with 10.12/10.13, thanks but no thanks... I'm not a free QA engineer for Apple.
- username223 9y ago
  You (and colleagues) must have a strange workload. Despite my misgivings about an in-place file system change, the switch to 10.13 was pretty much painless. I use software from the latest Apple stuff, to aging programs from Adobe and other third parties, to GNU Emacs, to scripts written decades ago, so it doesn't seem like general breakage.
  - mschuster91 9y ago
    > You (and colleagues) must have a strange workload. Sometimes it's something as easy as installing the printer driver for a C1028i printer. On 10.13, it's stuck on "Configuring printer" forever. The printer driver is the currentmost available from the vendor, and the OS fully patched. Or something as grave as the famous empty password root backdoor. This alone is sufficient for me to not upgrade as long as possible - when something like this manages it into production, what else got missed?
    - threeseed 9y ago
      > Or something as grave as the famous empty password root backdoor. You mean the issue that was fixed quite a while ago now ? I really don't understand the logic behind your position. OSX really is as buggy as it's always been. At least it's buggy with the latest security fixes applied.
      - paulie_a 9y ago
        While alot has happened recently, I wouldn't consider 4-5 weeks a "while ago". It was an egregiously stupid bug that should have never happened.
- wadkar 9y ago
  I was under the impression that the recent security update for El Capitan 10.11.6 contains required fixes. I am doing a clean install and upgrading all the way and check the PoC for any red flags. I will update here my findings. +1 for not upgrading to High/Sierra. Update: According to https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208331 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208331 the Security Update 2017-005 contains fixes for Meltdown. Update 2: According to https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208403 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208403 the Safari Update 11.0.2 contains fixes for Spectre. So folks on 10.11.6 El Capitan should be good.
  - kenrose 9y ago
    From the first link, the Meltdown fix is only for High Sierra: Available for: macOS High Sierra 10.13.1 Impact: An application may be able to read kernel memory (Meltdown)

Does High Sierra update the microcode of the CPU? For Sierra, a patch is likely coming; there is "Security Update Developer Beta 2018-001" which you can get using their beta program.

mschuster91 9y ago

What about those of us still on 10.11? That one is horrible already but the horror stories I see on a daily base from colleagues with 10.12/10.13, thanks but no thanks... I'm not a free QA engineer for Apple.

username223 9y ago
You (and colleagues) must have a strange workload. Despite my misgivings about an in-place file system change, the switch to 10.13 was pretty much painless. I use software from the latest Apple stuff, to aging programs from Adobe and other third parties, to GNU Emacs, to scripts written decades ago, so it doesn't seem like general breakage.
- mschuster91 9y ago
  > You (and colleagues) must have a strange workload. Sometimes it's something as easy as installing the printer driver for a C1028i printer. On 10.13, it's stuck on "Configuring printer" forever. The printer driver is the currentmost available from the vendor, and the OS fully patched. Or something as grave as the famous empty password root backdoor. This alone is sufficient for me to not upgrade as long as possible - when something like this manages it into production, what else got missed?
  - threeseed 9y ago
    > Or something as grave as the famous empty password root backdoor. You mean the issue that was fixed quite a while ago now ? I really don't understand the logic behind your position. OSX really is as buggy as it's always been. At least it's buggy with the latest security fixes applied.
    - paulie_a 9y ago
      While alot has happened recently, I wouldn't consider 4-5 weeks a "while ago". It was an egregiously stupid bug that should have never happened.
wadkar 9y ago
I was under the impression that the recent security update for El Capitan 10.11.6 contains required fixes. I am doing a clean install and upgrading all the way and check the PoC for any red flags. I will update here my findings. +1 for not upgrading to High/Sierra. Update: According to https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208331 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208331 the Security Update 2017-005 contains fixes for Meltdown. Update 2: According to https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208403 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208403 the Safari Update 11.0.2 contains fixes for Spectre. So folks on 10.11.6 El Capitan should be good.
- kenrose 9y ago
  From the first link, the Meltdown fix is only for High Sierra: Available for: macOS High Sierra 10.13.1 Impact: An application may be able to read kernel memory (Meltdown)