Meltdown and Spectre bugs: Apple admits that ALL Mac devices are affected by security flaw

Vulnerable: Apple Mac devices are affected by the bug
Tony Avelar/EPA
Robin de Peyer5 January 2018

Apple has admitted that all its iPhone, Mac and iPad devices are affected by security flaws which leave them vulnerable to hackers.

Hundreds of millions of customers could be affected after it emerged that tech companies are working to fix two major bugs.

The Meltdown and Spectre bugs affect all microchips made by Intel and ARM, which supply almost the entire global computer market.

US tech giant Apple has now warned its customers only to download software from trusted sources.

The company said it has released "mitigations" in new iPhone and iPad operating system updates and the latest macOS updates 10.12.2 for MacBooks and iMacs.

In a blog post, Apple said it had released some updates to tackle potential problems, adding that there is no evidence the vulnerability has yet been exploited.

"All Mac systems and iOS devices are affected, but there are no known exploits impacting customers at this time," the company said.

"These issues apply to all modern processors and affect nearly all computing devices and operating systems."

The firm said the Apple Watch is not affected by Meltdown and it plans to release and update for its web browser, Safari, in the coming days to help defend against Spectre.

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The flaws were discovered by researchers at Google and academic institutions last year, although they were kept secret.

Google has said Android phones are protected if users have installed the latest updates, while Microsoft claimed it has already released fixes.

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