Apple Says All iOS Devices & Macs Are Affected By Meltdown & Spectre, Software Fix Out Already

To say that the computing world has been rocked to its core over this past week would be an understatement, given the revelations of how pretty much every chip in every gadget has a massive security hole.

Apple has confirmed that all of its devices are affected by the serious hardware vulnerabilities uncovered in chips made by Intel and other manufacturers.

In a statement released on its website, Apple said that nearly all of its iOS devices and Mac computers are affected by the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities that came out in the open earlier this week. This means all iPhones, iPods, iPads, Apple TVs, MacBooks, Apple Watches and iMacs are affected by the security hole.

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

"All Mac systems and iOS devices are affected," the Apple statement said, "but there are no known exploits impacting customers at this time," the company clarified. Apple stressed that most exploits based on the hardware vulnerabilities depend on apps running malicious code. This means staying away from third-party app stores and only downloading software from "trusted sources," such as its own iOS and Mac App Stores.

Furthermore, Apple said that it has addressed the Meltdown and Spectre bugs through software updates for MacOS (10.13.2), iOS (11.2), and tvOS (11.2), respectively, encouraging users to update their devices to the latest versions of their operating system. A fix for Safari browser is on its way.