Last Week on My Mac: Is your Mac still secure from malware?
If you’re still running macOS Mojave or earlier, now is the time to take action to ensure your Mac maintains protection against malware.
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Are old Macs still protected as long as we update to the latest security patch whenever available?
- Thread starter hajime
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It is perfectly reasonable to buy a new computer after 12 years - nothing wrong with that. That said, while I am not sure what you use your Mac for exactly, I think you can probably keep using High Sierra for a while longer if you want to. I am still using Sierra on my 2012 MacBook Pro, and I am just a little extra careful of what websites I visit. No problems yet, and Sierra hasn't been supported for years.
As for the MacBook Pro M1 16", I must respectfully disagree. The screen quality on the new Mac is a huge gamer changer compared to 2010. As is going from USB 2.0 to Thunderbolt 4. Not to mention the improved GPU power (yes the CPU is much better too, but not nearly as big of a difference as the GPU). It is a bit disingenuous to claim the 2010 MacBook Pro is better or equally as good as the new 16". And this is coming from someone who really likes the unibody generation of MacBook Pros.
Yes, I also think that buying a new computer after 10 years of use is reasonable.
I ran the same application on the two machines side by side. Strangely speaking, despite the MacBook Pro 16" with M1 Pro has a better screen and higher resolutions, somehow the application looks the same on both screens. Keyboard of the 17" is more comfortable to type. I just put the MacBook Pro 16" with M1 Pro aside and continued to use the old machine. Then, I returned the M1 Pro MacBook Pro the second time since last November. Then, I realized that my older 17"'s OS is no longer supported. There are also apps that do not run on Silicon Mac but work well on my 17". Adobe CS5 is working well on the 17" and I don't need to pay for annual subscription. I guess it depends on what applications and hardware are being used.
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I agree, it does depend a lot on what you use the the computer for. That is why I am still running Sierra on my MacBook Pro. I have some 32 Bit Intel based Applications that just don’t work under the newer versions of macOS. And you are right about Adobe, not having to use their new subscription system is so much nicer!
As I said, I think you can probably keep using High Sierra for a while yet.
It all depends on what you're doing with the system. There's degrees of security and your personal risk tolerance. SeaMonkey is a modern web browser, and you need MacOSX 10.9 or later to run it (so any machine that's Mid-2007 or newer).
SeaMonkey: System Requirements
www.seamonkey-project.org
Except for the screen quality, battery life, webcam and keyboard and trackpad.
I am still running High Sierra on my mid-2015 Macbook Pro, I held off updating because some users were reporting blue screen deaths upon updating from High Sierra to Big Sur, now I am debating whether or not to make the leap from High Sierra to Monterey (Ventura is not compatible with my Macbook Pro).
Ultimately the question is, if one visits mainstream websites and is careful about clicking email links and the like, are not the odds low of getting malware, even with an unsupported OS?
Not a 2010, but I picked up a 2015 MBP last year with perfect Retina screen, new battery, new keyboard, and new trackpad.
The webcam isn’t great but almost none of the Macs have good webcams, except for maybe the iMac Pro I hear.We’re running Monterey on that 2015 MBP. It will be getting security updates and Safari updates until 2024.
However, I also run High Sierra on a 2010 iMac. I don’t run Safari on it but I run Chrome which is still fully up-to-date on that machine.
Not a 2010, but I picked up a 2015 MBP last year with perfect Retina screen, new battery, new keyboard, and new trackpad.
We’re running Monterey on that 2015 MBP. It will be getting security updates and Safari updates until 2024.
However, I also run High Sierra on a 2010 iMac. I don’t run Safari on it but I run Chrome which is still fully up-to-date on that machine.
Thanks, yes, I think I am just going to roll the dice and update it to Monterey, that extra two years of security updates is worth it, but thanks for reminding me, moving from Safari to Chrome would be one way I could continue on High Sierra.
And you are correct, the 2015 Macbook Pro's run great, no need currently for me to get a new one.
I think you should do it, but from HS to Monterey is a big jump. The Catalina and Big Sur updates had major internal changes and broke many apps. You will need to research all the apps you are using to discover which still work (or have updates which work) with Monterey. My recommendation would be to install Monterey on an external SSD, install apps and copy documents, photos etc. to do some testing. When you have built it with everything working as expected, clone it back to your internal disk.
My view is that annual updates may seem a nuisance, but doing 5 years worth of updates in one go will be painful.
Ever since Big Sur I’ve had problems doing this. Does this work consistently for you?
I no longer do clones for this reason.
Probably not, but many will put the opposite point of view. In favour is that HS to Catalina will weed out all your 32-bit applications which will not longer run; then Catalina to Monterey those apps using kernel extensions which have been banned ("deprecated" in Apple-speak). I just prefer to get the pain all in one hit!
You are right to question this. I used the word 'clone' somewhat loosely. But cloning a bootable system does work as a one-off clone using CCC or Superduper.
The question in the title of the thread has been answered by Apple on 24 October 2022:
“Note: Because of dependency on architecture and system changes to any current version of macOS (for example, macOS 13), not all known security issues are addressed in previous versions (for example, macOS 12).”
https://support.apple.com/guide/deployment/about-software-updates-depc4c80847a/web
Ars Technica - Apple clarifies security update policy: Only the latest OSes are fully patched
https://arstechnica.c
“Note: Because of dependency on architecture and system changes to any current version of macOS (for example, macOS 13), not all known security issues are addressed in previous versions (for example, macOS 12).”
https://support.apple.com/guide/deployment/about-software-updates-depc4c80847a/web
Ars Technica - Apple clarifies security update policy: Only the latest OSes are fully patched
https://arstechnica.c
It is going to take a lot of repetition of that message. Nearly everyone has it firmly in their mind that they will have all security patches for 3 years and so don't need to upgrade macOS.
Upgrade or not: Pain and suffering from a macOS upgrade or consequences of malware from known unpatched security issues.
From the recent news, it was my understanding that Apple still provided security updates for the previous few OS releases, the difference being they did not guarantee full updates, meaning they might not address all issues, is that correct?
I don't know, there is one program that I rely on that might not work with the update, I might just stay on High Sierra and do the financial websites on Chrome.
Apple has already been doing this. Not all known issues get patched, and Apple won’t comment on which remain exposed in the older OS.
You’re much better off upgrading your computer and then test the app you aren’t sure about, and if it doesn’t work, set up an isolated environment (virtual machine, etc.) to run that one app, rather than routinely running a vulnerable operating system. Using an updated browser won’t necessarily be adequate protection to counteract vulnerabilities.
Thanks for the help on Calibre in my message, you know what stinks, everything is working great and I don't need any of the new features with any of the newer OS releases, only thing that would be cool is the updated Stocks app with all of the free news articles, on IOS this is one of my favorite apps, Apple does a great job of providing high quality articles with each corresponding stock, but anyway I come back to the fact that Apple is not fully patching MacOS beyond the latest one, so I'm still not sure it is worth it to update, I highly doubt the risk of this computer bricking vs. a lax computer security update protocol from Apple is worth it.
And I do follow many computer security websites, the lion's share of the reported Mac threats are dependent on the user installing something or a malicious actor taking control through admin access or a usb device connected to the Macbook.
But I do defer to your expertise and others on this site, still the prudent thing would be to update, I get that.
is the indexing (and Spotlight searching) of images. That is about the only feature I like in Ventura. As far as running apps is concerned this is the smallest (and least painful) upgrade for many years.
Being somewhat of a junkie I always upgrade as soon as possible.