I bought a new MacBook Air M3 that came with 15.2 installed. When I set it up, I couldn't log in with my Apple ID right away because I didn't have my phone with me for 2FA. As well, when I first booted, Software Update had an option to upgrade to 15.5, but I used it for a while (web browsing, installed a couple of apps, downloaded some ebooks, etc.) before doing that. I don't remember any other options for installing updates. Would macOS have automatically installed security patches on first boot, or am I at security risk because I didn't upgrade to 15.5 right away and/or didn't have my Apple ID linked for a couple of days? (Sorry if this is an odd question, I'm more used to the Windows model of security patching.)
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Security patches on new MacBook
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sounds like you’re good use for a MacBook
No. It’ll prompt you and then you can install it just like any other computer. There is usually an automatic update option, but I believe it’s still prompts you.
Absolutely. Anyone of those known vulnerabilities could’ve been exploited on your computer. Would I lose sleep over this? No. If you’re asking this question here it sounds like you don’t have security advisors so that means you’re not a high value target. Enjoy your new Mac and get the updates knocked out when you get a chance. The only advice I can give you for security is don’t install software from untrusted sources. That means that hacked version of Adobe Photoshop download it from some sketchy website.
Also, I went digging deeper in the documentation since I posted, and found this: https://support.apple.com/en-ca/101591
which says that security updates are installed automatically – I'm assuming I'm misunderstanding something, so if anyone is able to help me understand, I'd be grateful!
which says that security updates are installed automatically – I'm assuming I'm misunderstanding something, so if anyone is able to help me understand, I'd be grateful!
They do
Yes, it’s a setting just like in a Windows computer. It will automatically install the updates for you. It doesn’t mean when you buy a new computer and open it up it instantly installs everything. It means you don’t have to manually check every so often.
At least this is my understanding. If anyone has a different understanding, please feel free to chime in.
I think I get what you're saying, but I'd like to be sure – I did manually check Software Update when I first booted, but all I saw available was the 15.5 update. So let's say that I wanted to make sure I'm up to date without upgrading to a new OS version. How do I do that?
If you're concerned about this the best thing to do is just update your computer when a new release comes out. Many security changes require a full new version (Usually a X.X.1) and will require a reboot. You can check manually for this in System Settings, go to General>Software Update. It will say if your computer is up to date or if it is pending an update.
You can see more details about updates on this page: https://support.apple.com/en-us/108382
And some details about the general malware security of macOS: https://support.apple.com/guide/security/protecting-against-malware-sec469d47bd8/web
Your computer will also automatically notify you in the top right corner of the screen when a new update is found, and you can then schedule to update overnight. This will not dismiss itself without you closing it or confirming the update, so don't be concerned about missing it.
Besides that, I wouldn't worry too much about it. It's rare that any serious security vulnerability is used at volume before it is fixed, and being careful about where you source downloads from makes all of this almost completely irrelevant. Make sure you fully trust any app you download from the internet before overriding Gatekeeper if it complains.
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P.S. Consider using Time Machine at some point in the future. Since the machine is new it's less likely that it will break, but if it ever does in the future you can restore all of your data using the Time Machine backup. More details can be seen here. https://support.apple.com/en-us/104984
You can see more details about updates on this page: https://support.apple.com/en-us/108382
And some details about the general malware security of macOS: https://support.apple.com/guide/security/protecting-against-malware-sec469d47bd8/web
Your computer will also automatically notify you in the top right corner of the screen when a new update is found, and you can then schedule to update overnight. This will not dismiss itself without you closing it or confirming the update, so don't be concerned about missing it.
Besides that, I wouldn't worry too much about it. It's rare that any serious security vulnerability is used at volume before it is fixed, and being careful about where you source downloads from makes all of this almost completely irrelevant. Make sure you fully trust any app you download from the internet before overriding Gatekeeper if it complains.
--
P.S. Consider using Time Machine at some point in the future. Since the machine is new it's less likely that it will break, but if it ever does in the future you can restore all of your data using the Time Machine backup. More details can be seen here. https://support.apple.com/en-us/104984
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Thanks for this. The only thing that showed up when I looked manually when I first booted was the 15.5 update, so does that mean that the OS was otherwise up to date on security updates etc.? I'm just a bit confused because the Apple documentation says security updates are automatically installed, but when I first booted, I didn't see anything but the 15.5 update (which I installed after a few hours of use).
I only downloaded a few things (eBook app, ebooks from reliable sources, a utility app that I haven't installed yet), so I am not too worried about that – but what about things like browser vulnerabilities?
Short Version:
The only thing you should concern yourself with is system updates and basic web safety. Everything else works invisibly in the background to keep your machine safe and "just works." Even during the brief period where you were on 15.2, the other security methods, such as the check for if a downloaded program is malicious, were active and would have updated to the most recent blacklist on their own.
Long Version:
There are multiple channels for security enhancements, all of them except for software updates happen automatically and require no input from the user, nor is there a way to see their update status/version without terminal commands. XProtect (the equivalent of Windows Defender) checks for updates daily, and the updates will be applied immediately without user prompting, for example.
In any situation where the security update isn't automatic and invisible, it will be bundled with a versioned update. macOS 15.5 is both the most recent feature update and security update. If they found a new security issue today that cannot be automatically delivered to your Mac and applied as your machine is running, they would release macOS 15.5.1 to fix it.
The system checks for these updates occasionally, and usually will finish downloading them before notifying you that it wants to install them. Since they can be multiple GB, this can take a while. macOS background processes always try to prioritize system performance, so it might have deferred or slowed down downloading the update while you were doing other tasks, especially if the machine was not plugged in.
Safari updates, including security related changes, are also delivered along with macOS software updates. If you use something like Firefox or Chrome, they would be updated separately from the computer's software.
Rapid response updates have not been deployed since 2023, but they would also appear in the same location as normal updates, and if possible will be installed automatically without a reboot. The version will then have a letter added, such as "macOS 15.5 (a)". There was a single occasion of there being a release that ended with "(c)" because the initial "(a)" security update, an update to Safari, caused issues loading pages.
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OP, 15.5 was the security update.
15.2 was released in December 2024, 15.5 earlier this month.
As long as you’ve updated to 15.5, you should be fine.
15.2 was released in December 2024, 15.5 earlier this month.
As long as you’ve updated to 15.5, you should be fine.
So what should my net takeaway be from this? Essentially, should I have concerns right now that some sort of malware/exploit/whatever made its way onto the machine before I installed 15.5?
Don’t be concerned.
In the extremely unlikely case you somehow were endangered by using 15.2 for a few hours, 15.5 would have caught it and dealt with it. Very, very large emphasis on extremely unlikely.
If you're still on macOS 15.2, then you don't have any of the new security updates installed yet.
Since 15.2, there have been 6 updates (15.3 , 15.3.1 , 15.3.2 , 15.4 , 15.4.1 , and 15.5) that include bug fixes, security updates, and more. By default, macOS is set to install updates automatically, but when those updates are actually installed depends on how you're using the MacBook Air. Also, updates will not automatically download and install if the power adapter isn't plugged in per Apple.
Note: Laptop computers must have the power adapter plugged in to automatically download updates.
No. The takeaway should be update your Mac, turn on auto updates if it’s not on by default then forget about it. Have fun using your Mac without stressing about it
Is there a way to be certain there are no issues, though? I plan to use this as my main computer, do banking, work stuff etc. on it, so any prospect of malware etc. seems quite dire.
Unless you’re secretly one of the 100 most famous people in the world, you are worrying far too much.
I have a friend who executes his entire life from a MacBook Pro which hasn’t been updated in over a year (I confirmed the version). Inadvisable but nobody has gotten in. Another hadn’t updated their computer since 15.0 until this week and did an entire job and apartment move during that period, also fine.
Plenty of people got a MacBook in the exact same situation as you and went days without updating it. There just aren’t many critical exploits on macOS that can be carried out broadly, and I’m not aware of any from the past many months.
Enjoy your Mac. One of the best parts about them is you don’t need to worry about stuff like this.
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lol no.
i'm still running 15.2.
this is not the 90s where if you didn't enable a firewall first minute on your windows XP you got a virus.
When I received my M4 Macbook Air a few weeks ago, the only update available was 15.5 (to which I soon updated).
Go to Settings > General > Software Update > "Automatic Updates" and select the ⓘ
You will see something similar to this:
I haven't changed the Default settings.
Apple generally respects an "opt-in" mentality, and will ask the User to make the decisions.
I enjoy being the final arbiter--the one to say "Yes" or "No"--of these things.