Apple Releases macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 Supplemental Update With Spectre Fix

[Skeptical.me]

d

Download Onyx and run the full maintenance options: https://www.titanium-software.fr/en/onyx.html

Check everything here under the Maintenance tab:

After it runs its course, restart the computer and see how it is.

You may need to add the app to your accessibility options in the Security settings for it to run the full options:

Thanks mate, Im aware of OnyX, just haven't used it in a few years. I'll try this and see how it goes. Thanks for taking the time to advise me.

 

[UL2RA]

Benchmarking the differences between macOS 10.13.2 (17C88) and (17C205) with Geekbench v4.20 made Supplemental's performance look just fine (less than 1% computing performance difference).

Unfortunately, according to Blackmagic's Disk Speed test, my MacPro-2013's PCI-based SSD device has lost more that half of it's write performance under Supplemental (17C205). This is truly unfortunate, as this poor little cylinder was bought to quickly plow thru data. It no longer can write fast enough to keep up with it's workload output.
View attachment 745963
Hopefully Apple will identify/incorporate some of the more recent KAISER type isolation approaches for Meltdown that might help moderate this unacceptable impact to IO performance.

Alternatively, perhaps the implementation of the software mitigations could be migrated to a configurable boot/run/install option, allowing the user to choose performance over security. Currently, these machines are gonna be kept on 17C88 and moved to an isolated network with no internet support.

If performance cannot be recovered for these MacPro Intel chips under macOS, this workflow will likely need to be migrated to any HW/SW platform that can improve the IO throughput.

That's odd. The read/write performance of the PCI-E drive in my 2014 Mac is literally untouched after the patch.
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Thanks mate, Im aware of OnyX, just haven't used it in a few years. I'll try this and see how it goes. Thanks for taking the time to advise me.

No problem. Feel free to PM me if you need any help.

 

[faded_glory]

FWIW

2011 27" iMac - slow install. No noticeable change to performance afterwards.

2015 12" Macbook - fast install. No noticeable change to performance.

 

[nick42983]

I've been unable to install 10.13.2 for some weeks now. It downloads and goes through the black installation screen with progress bar, but when my computer reboots and returns to the home screen, I see the message "some updates failed to install". Any advice?

 

[Neepman]

Not to get off point here but I think its time we (and I mean the world) finally gets tough on hackers. If the west doesn't have the stomach for summary executions just hire Chechen mercenaries to do the job.

 

[UL2RA]

I've been unable to install 10.13.2 for some weeks now. It downloads and goes through the black installation screen with progress bar, but when my computer reboots and returns to the home screen, I see the message "some updates failed to install". Any advice?

Are you installing it as an app on the computer or from an external USB drive?

 

[Morod]

Thanks for the fix, Apple. No problems installing here on a 21.5" 4K iMac, 500 GB SSD.

 

[Skeptical.me]

That's odd. The read/write performance of the PCI-E drive in my 2014 Mac is literally untouched after the patch.
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No problem. Feel free to PM me if you need any help.

After doing exactly as you instructed I'm still experiencing a very slow mac and app s are freezing. Its strange as others don't appear to be encountering this issue. It was running perfectly we'll before applying the update. It was runnuing smooth, no lag, no freezing, no issues whatsoever.

Edit: Found this issue, iStat Menu was indicating 100% of my 32GB of RAM was being used. So I checked Activity monitor and the problem is with an application called Qsync, which syncs file with my QNAP NAS. I quit the process and everything is working fine.

 

[recoil80]

So only use Safari? It's a javascript fix.

I don't know if it affects webviews, so third party browsers.
I use webviews a lot in my apps, but I never open untrusted links so as far as the trusted sites that I use don't link to a malicious one I should be safe (users can't type external addresses or open them from an email etc.). And maybe the iOS update already addresses the issue, that's what I'd guess although I don't have any information about that.

 

[zlinuk]

My 13” Touchbar MBP is running the install for almost 2 hours. Black screen with spinning circle in the middle, spinning very slowly but not frozen. Keyboard and touchbar are lit. I’ll just patiently wait in hopes it’s not hosed.

Mine is the same, left it overnight and it's the same this morning.

Not good.

 

[CaTOAGU]

Well part of the reason mine took so long to complete, is because it spent 15 minutes doing a dry run APFS conversation of the 3TB fusion drive in my iMac. It hasn't actually upgraded the File System, just reported the results of the attempt. This seems similar to what they did prior to upgrading iOS devices to APFS.

 

[zebi]

I’m noticing UI lag when invoking Expose and moving the cursor (Expose seems jerky definately not a smooth as before). Scrolling in Safari also not a smooth as before.

I have a mid 2017 4.2 GHz iMac and was on the lastest High Sierra build before updating.

Anyone else noticing this?

*** update *** I emptied Safari cache using the Developer menu and it has sorted out the scrolling issue.

 

[G4DPII]

That's such stupid thinking. Are 7+ year old PCs running Windows performing far better?

Any machine, from any manufacturer, is going to be well overdue for replacement after 7+ years.

You haven't a clue. W10 runs faster and smoother on an 8 year old Mac than any Apple OS ever has. SL was fast as hell, W10 puts that in the shade.

 

[rotlex]

Installed on a 2017 iMac 27" i7.

So far so good. 10 minute install, no performance changes at this point. Primary use is Lightroom, Photoshop and media server for my ATV. All functioning the same. No slow downs etc.

 

[F1Turbo]

Mine is the same, left it overnight and it's the same this morning.

Not good.

Same here, 3 year old iMac 5k. Just starting "Installing Software Update"

 

[qawes]

You haven't a clue. W10 runs faster and smoother on an 8 year old Mac than any Apple OS ever has. SL was fast as hell, W10 puts that in the shade.

Exactly.

If I desire to install Win10, 8 or even 7 on my old MacBook, I'll be having up-do-date browsers on a machine perfectly capable of streaming 1080p video content. But Apple prefers to update their OS every year, bringing more bugs that features.

I have an odd idea, seeing how the "Pro" term is thrown more and more often these days and people accusing us of having the nerve to expect older machines to be supported: let Apple introduce "macOS Pro", an operating system tailored just for the people who don't expect the latest emojis and rather have security updates with various features introduced from the standard macOS versions that have proved themselves over time to be reliable. Crazy, right? I would rather pay for an OS like this as opposed to having these yearly beta releases passed down as "stable" versions.

Furthermore, Apple's pretty cryptic information about the Meltdown patch on earlier versions of it's own OS is actually insulting.

I have said it again and will say it once more: a Mac computer is not an iPhone. It's something that people use everyday to make a living and the fact that Microsoft provides explicit security patches for older hardware puts Apple in an embarrassing situation, to say the least.

 

[Sital]

I don't know if it affects webviews, so third party browsers.
I use webviews a lot in my apps, but I never open untrusted links so as far as the trusted sites that I use don't link to a malicious one I should be safe (users can't type external addresses or open them from an email etc.). And maybe the iOS update already addresses the issue, that's what I'd guess although I don't have any information about that.

Firefox already released an update for this last week.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

After last macOS update (10.13.2; build 17C2205), VMware Fusion running Windows 10 x64 (4 Core, 4GB RAM) on iMac Pro 10 core; 128GB, 4TB, Radeon Pro Vega 64.

Geekbench.

Right before update
Single-core: 4915
Multi-core: 15284

Directly after update
Single-core: 5143
Multi-core: 15642

So I would not worry too much
Seems to me that even with the patch; it is actually faster. Reflects previous geekbench results directly on macOS as well (not only when running through VMware).

Do you have benchmarks from before the previous 10.12.1 release which patched Meltdown? That one would have been the update which would likely have caused the biggest performance impact when running VMs.

We may still see additional patching from Intel. Time will tell.

 

[L Caputo]

There is a reason why the iMac Pro gets a different build number 17C2205 instead of 17C205 which most other macs get.

There are actually 2 different versions of the supplemental update. 1 for most macs except the iMac Pro, and another specifically for the iMac Pro.

Strangely there is no firmware update except for the iMac Pro. Not since 10.10.1 has there been a macos update without an associated firmware update (including other supplementals, security updates and all betas).

There is also no embedded os firmware either for most macs except the iMac Pro.

10.13.2 Supplemental Update for most macs except iMac Pro:



http://swcdn.apple.com/content/down...9wyripp4v22ni/macOSUpd10.13.2Supplemental.pkg


http://swcdn.apple.com/content/down...pp4v22ni/macOSUpd10.13.2SupplementalPatch.pkg


http://swcdn.apple.com/content/down...yagdvc2q89229x9wyripp4v22ni/BridgeOSBrain.pkg


http://swcdn.apple.com/content/down...9229x9wyripp4v22ni/BridgeOSUpdateCustomer.pkg


http://swcdn.apple.com/content/down...dvc2q89229x9wyripp4v22ni/FullBundleUpdate.pkg


http://swcdn.apple.com/content/down...OSUpd10.13.2Supplemental.RecoveryHDUpdate.pkg


10.13.2 supplemental update specifically for the iMac Pro:


(note only the iMac Pro gets the macos brain, and this time only the iMac Pro gets the embedded os firmware and firmware update)

http://swcdn.apple.com/content/down...0hawoeewmv1p41dv9579bnsgmn3d9z/macOSBrain.pkg


http://swcdn.apple.com/content/down...mn3d9z/macOSUpd10.13.2iMacProSupplemental.pkg


http://swcdn.apple.com/content/down...z/macOSUpd10.13.2iMacProSupplementalPatch.pkg


http://swcdn.apple.com/content/down...oeewmv1p41dv9579bnsgmn3d9z/FirmwareUpdate.pkg


http://swcdn.apple.com/content/down...mv1p41dv9579bnsgmn3d9z/EmbeddedOSFirmware.pkg


http://swcdn.apple.com/content/down...ewmv1p41dv9579bnsgmn3d9z/FullBundleUpdate.pkg


http://swcdn.apple.com/content/down....13.2iMacProSupplemental.RecoveryHDUpdate.pkg


And here is a funny trick. Replace the file extension pkg with pkm in these links and download the pkm file for macOSUpd10.13.2Supplemental.pkg and macOSUpd10.13.2iMacProSupplemental.pkg, i.e., macOSUpd10.13.2Supplemental.pkm and macOSUpd10.13.2iMacProSupplemental.pkm and open the pkm files with textedit and you can see the new build numbers somewhere near the top - BEFORE applying the update.

So you can get these pkm files here:


http://swcdn.apple.com/content/down...9wyripp4v22ni/macOSUpd10.13.2Supplemental.pkm


and


http://swcdn.apple.com/content/down...mn3d9z/macOSUpd10.13.2iMacProSupplemental.pkm


It is 17C205 for most macs except the iMac Pro and 17C2205 for the iMac Pro.



safari 11.0.2 for sierra:



http://swcdn.apple.com/content/down...kxko4twuee5e2eyglb7wua/Safari11.0.2Sierra.pkg


safari 11.0.2 for el capitan:


http://swcdn.apple.com/content/down...a1cgip0haqgpvsmsyjw/Safari11.0.2ElCapitan.pkg

So can you confirm that for a non iMac Pro I need to download all 6 of the listed downloads and install them individually.

 

[barnyard]

FWIW

2011 27" iMac - slow install. No noticeable change to performance afterwards.

2015 12" Macbook - fast install. No noticeable change to performance.

2012 27" iMac - very slow install too, but it got done. Haven't seen any noticeable changes in performance yet.

 

[tywebb13]

So can you confirm that for a non iMac Pro I need to download all 6 of the listed downloads and install them individually.

Why don’t you try to do it through the updates tab in the mac app store first? That would be easier. That would download them to your /Library/Updates folder and install them simultaneously.

The links are more for people with multiple macs who don’t want to keep downloading it each time they install.

 

[L Caputo]

Why don’t you try to do it through the updates tab in the mac app store first? That would be easier. That would download them to your /Library/Updates folder and install them simultaneously.

The links are more for people with multiple macs who don’t want to keep downloading it each time they install.

Am doing this on an unsupported mac, would like to have the installers handy, so do I need to download them all and then install them individually.

 

[Pndrgnsvc]

"There's also a Safari 11.0.2 update available for macOS Sierra 10.12.6 and OS X El"

At least Apple is taking care of existing users here somewhat.



I guess it means just a separate update...

Many thanks, kind sir. I went ahead and gave it go, and yes, is seemed to be exactly as you said (of course).

 

[MistrSynistr]

Not to get off point here but I think its time we (and I mean the world) finally gets tough on hackers. If the west doesn't have the stomach for summary executions just hire Chechen mercenaries to do the job.

Always remember hackers will be your last line of defense against a totalitarian takeover.

 

[harrisondavies]

*Onyx sorted it for me. Thanks*

Hi,

Does anyone have a direct download link for this update?

I had a failed update and now it's not showing up in MAS.

Thanks.