Intel Chips Have Memory Access Design Flaw and Fix Could Lead to Performance Drop

[Salvor Hardin]

Literally the hardware blunder of the decade. Wow.

Should easily outdo the Xbox 360's Red Ring of Death.

 

[jasonefmonk]

This is an almost incredible problem. 10 years of processors, from the most popular manufacturer. So many products running unsupported software will go without updates. So many more will see a significant performance hit. There’s not a lot of silver lining here.

At least now we know.

 

[PickUrPoison]

Class actions to be filed tomorrow I suppose.

 

[eno12]

Not surprised at all. Just another in a long list of blunders.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Wow, another Mac security flaw and now this...not a good day...

https://wccftech.com/15-year-old-macos-security-flaw-dumped-online/

Meh, that flaw is only an issue if someone has physical access to your machine and certain privileges already. That's like giving someone the key to your home and then blaming the lock company when they steal stuff.

 

[mdatwood]

Here is an article with the likely details. It's quite readable, even if you're not super technical.

https://cyber.wtf/2017/07/28/negative-result-reading-kernel-memory-from-user-mode/

 

[Martyimac]

Two days into the new year and the news just keeps getting worse.

 

[applefan69]

Like everybody I am wondering about how Intel is going to pay up. My first thought was that there was no way my 2011 was affected, but wow 10 years is a lot of processors.

 

[zahuh]

Can someone confirm that my macbook pro speed will be slower as my battery degrades? Then, do we know if Apple is doing the same thing with iPhone's as it is with Macs (making them slower to save battery longevity)? Thank you

 

[cmaier]

Can someone confirm that my macbook pro speed will be slower as my battery degrades? Then, do we know if Apple is doing the same thing with iPhone's as it is with Macs (making them slower to save battery longevity)? Thank you

No

 

[mistasopz]

If this was a bad air bag, they would have to replace it?!

What a bizarre comparison. An airbag that flies out and saves a driver or passenger during a collision is not the same thing as a design flaw in a computer processor. As the article states, this will have to be patched at the OS level. Intel is no more capable of producing perfect chips than Apple is capable of producing bug-free software.

 

[ILikeAllOS]

Just another reason for Apple to finally start building their own desktop processors for the Mac line...

 

[cmaier]

What a bizarre comparison. An airbag that flies out and saves a driver or passenger during a collision is not the same thing as a design flaw in a computer processor. As the article states, this will have to be patched at the OS level. Intel is no more capable of producing perfect chips than Apple is capable of producing bug-free software.

But they should be capable of producing CPUs that don’t require the OS to be patched. Firmware patches, microcode patches, etc. are one thing. But requiring the OS to be patched is always a fail.

 

[swingerofbirch]

I think 5-30% slowdowns effectively erases any gains in Apple's 13" notebooks over the last several years, which to me at a user level seem the same (only big change I noticed was going to SSD).

 

[cmaier]

I think 5-30% slowdowns effectively erases any gains in Apple's 13" notebooks over the last several years, which to me at a user level seem the same (only big change I noticed was going to SSD).

The good news is that you also have to subtract 30% from the one from a few years ago since the intel bug has been there for a decade

 

[dlemmon]

So.... I can put up with a 30% slowdown (which includes an unwanted os upgrade), buy a new computer, or leave the venerability in place? This sucks.

 

[dantroline]

What a bizarre comparison. An airbag that flies out and saves a driver or passenger during a collision is not the same thing as a design flaw in a computer processor. As the article states, this will have to be patched at the OS level. Intel is no more capable of producing perfect chips than Apple is capable of producing bug-free software.

An intel computer is used to store sensitive information, say, on police informants, or other vulnerable people. If it can be demonstrated that this flaw resulted in the deaths of those people (its not just a performance problem but a security one), then it's as big as an airbag issue. Just because computers don't have sharp edges or only sit on desks doesn't mean they can't hurt people.

 

[superduperultra]

Bet the NSA knew about this all along.

 

[Tucom]

Time to pick up my jaw off the floor.

Holy **** Intel...

 

[mi7chy]

Good thing for competition. I alternate between AMD and Intel with every system purchase. Fortunately, I'm on AMD and next system may very well be AMD (Threadripper) again.

 

[chucker23n1]

Just another reason for Apple to finally start building their own desktop processors for the Mac line...

Because Apple is infallible?

An intel computer is used to store sensitive information, say, on police informants, or other vulnerable people.

I… uh… are you thinking of a different “Intel”?

 

[jamesrick80]

Glad to have AMD Ryzen...MacOS should start using AMD Ryzen processors too in the near future to lower those dramatic prices.

 

[Strelok]

Intel is gonna pay the piper for this one. Although I’m guessing there will just by layoffs followed by golden parachutes plus bonuses up top

 

[Porco]

It feels like Intel saw Apple’s announcement about iPhone battery/performance issues and said ‘hey, we can make a bigger splash than that!’.

 

[Dorje Sylas]

Just another reason for Apple to finally start building their own desktop processors for the Mac line...

Until they also get caught goofing something at the lower level architecture. And unlike Microsoft I don't expect Apple to put out updates to vulnerable machines that are actually a decade old and can't run the latest (and also super buggy) macOS.