Apple confirms Meltdown & Spectre flaws affect Macs and iOS devices

Apple has confirmed that all iPhones, iPads and Macs are vulnerable to the recently discovered Meltdown and Spectre bugs.

The flaws affect almost every modern computing device from all manufacturers using chip designs from Intel, AMD and ARM. Apple use Intel processors in its Mac computers and ARM chips in iPhones and iPads. Researchers have warned that these vulnerabilities could be exploited to allow hackers to steal data.

Apple has said in recent statement that “All Mac systems and iOS devices are affected, but there are no known exploits impacting customers at this time”

The company also stated that they have released “mitigations” in iOS 11.2, macOS 10.13.2, and tvOS 11.2 to help defend against Meltdown. In the coming days they plan to release further mitigations to help defend against Spectre, which could potentially affect Safari and other web browsers.

Apple customers have long believed that their products are more secure than their Windows or Android counterparts, so this recent development is likely to be a concern for many Apple users.

The company recommends “downloading software only from trusted sources” to avoid malicious apps that could take advantage of these vulnerabilities. We also advise users to update their devices to ensure the latest security fixes are applied.