Jan 22, 2018 Hopefully, patches for Sierra and El Capitan will be pushed asap. January 4, 2018: Apple and Intel update on Meltdown and Spectre Apple has posted a knowledge base article detailing both the updates the company has already pushed out to address Meltdown on macOS, iOS, and tvOS (watchOS is not affected), and its plans to push further updates to. Jan 23, 2018 As outlined in Apple's security support document, Security Update 2018-001 available for macOS Sierra 10.12.6 and OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 offers several mitigations for both Meltdown and Spectre. Question: Q: El Capitan and the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities IS MACOS El Capitan (10.11.6) susceptible to the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities? A patch has been released for High Sierra (10.13.2) and for Safari, but I see no patch for El Capitan.
You can upgrade to OS X El Capitan from OS X Snow Leopard or later on any of the following Mac models. Your Mac also needs at least 2GB of memory and 8.8GB of available storage space.
MacBook introduced in 2009 or later, plus MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008) MacBook Air introduced in late 2008 or later MacBook Pro introduced in mid 2007 or later Mac mini introduced in early 2009 or later iMac introduced in mid 2007 or later Mac Pro introduced in early 2008 or later Xserve models introduced in early 2009
To find your Mac model, memory, storage space, and macOS version, choose About This Mac from the Apple menu . If your Mac isn't compatible with OS X El Capitan, the installer will let you know.
Make a backup
Before installing any upgrade, it’s a good idea to back up your Mac. Time Machine makes it simple, and other backup methods are also available. Learn how to back up your Mac.
Get connected
It takes time to download and install OS X, so make sure that you have a reliable Internet connection. If you're using a Mac notebook computer, plug it into AC power.
Download OS X El Capitan
For the strongest security and latest features, find out whether you can upgrade to macOS Catalina, the latest version of macOS.
If you still need OS X El Capitan, use this link: Download OS X El Capitan. A file named InstallMacOSX.dmg will download to your Mac.
Install the macOS installer
Double-click the downloaded file to open a window showing its contents. Then double-click the file within, named InstallMacOSX.pkg.
Follow the onscreen instructions, which will guide you through the steps necessary to install. Outlook 2011 for mac mojave.
Begin installation
After installation of the installer is complete, open the Applications folder on your Mac, then double-click the file named Install OS X El Capitan.
Click Continue and follow the onscreen instructions. You might find it easiest to begin installation in the evening so that it can complete overnight, if needed.
Allow installation to complete
Please allow installation to complete without putting your Mac to sleep or closing its lid. Your Mac might restart, show a progress bar, or show a blank screen several times as it installs both OS X and related updates to your Mac firmware.
Learn more
OS X El Capitan won't install on top of a later version of macOS, but you can erase your disk first or install on another disk.
You can use macOS Recovery to reinstall macOS.
MacBook Running OS X El Capitan
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Apple took additional steps this week to protect Mac users from Meltdown and Spectre, two recently disclosed and serious security vulnerabilities.
On Tuesday, alongside the rollout of macOS High Sierra 10.13.3, Apple released two new security updates for older versions of the Mac operating system. Gmail clients for macos and ios. Gnucash for mac yosemite 2017.
Security Update 2018-001, as the patch is called, mitigates the dangers of Meltdown and Spectre. It also introduces fixes for several other security issues, according to Apple’s support document.
Security Update 2018-001 is available for macOS Sierra 10.12.6 and even OS X El Capitan 10.11.6.
If you’re running one of these older Mac operating systems, it’s recommended that you update as soon as you can.
Since the existence of the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities became known to the public, Apple has been working to mitigate the flaws on its end. It introduced a patch for both flaws in macOS High Sierra 10.13.2, but Mac computers running older versions of Apple’s operating systems were left unprotected — until now, at least.
It’s worth noting that, while some support document text implied that macOS Sierra and OS X El Capitan had already been patched, Apple later retracted those statements. It seems that the security update released today is actually the first mitigation patch for either of those older operating systems.
To download and install the security update, open the App Store app on your Mac, click on Updates in the toolbar, and click the Update button next to the appropriate software update. Alternatively, you can click the Update All button.
Spectre & Meltdown
Spectre and Meltdown are both hardware-side vulnerabilities that affect basically all computers with modern processors. Apple later disclosed that the exploits did impact Mac computers and iOS devices, but noted that iOS and maCOS had been patched by the time news of the vulnerabilities reach the public.
For Spectre, which is an exploit that can be deployed through JavaScript in a web browser, Apple also introduced a fix for Safari in iOS 11.2.2 and macOS 10.13.2 Supplemental Update.
Both vulnerabilities take advantage of the so-called “speculative execution mechanism” in processors. Since the flaw is hardware-based, OS and component makers must implement software fixes.
Performance Issues
Because the exploits take advantage of design decisions meant to make CPUs faster, it’s worth noting that introducing fixes for Meltdown and could slow down a computer.
What Is Spectre And Meltdown
On the other hand, Apple has insisted that its Meltdown fix has no measurable performance impact, according to its own benchmark testing. So, thankfully, while Windows PC computers with Intel processors have been negatively affected by the Meltdown patch, Apple’s machines seem to be in the clear.
iOS device owners, on the other hand, may not be so lucky. Since the release of iOS 11.2.2, benchmark testing seems to indicate that some iPhones may take as much as a 40 percent hit to their performance due to the security patch.
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