Apple is warning billions of Mac and MacBook users worldwide to update macOS as a matter of priority.
The latest version of macOS Sequoia was released earlier this week as macOS 15.1.1. It comes less than a month after the major 15.1 release that addressed several small bugs and security fixes alongside the first wave of generative AI software in the Apple Intelligence suite.
Release notes for macOS Sequoia 15.1.1 list two issues addressed. The first is a fix to the JavaScriptCore (concerning "maliciously crafted web content"), the second fixes an issue with WebKit (concerning "Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to a cross site scripting attack"). These are recorded as CVE-2024-44308 and CVE-2024-44309. Forbes contributor Kate O'Flahery has delved into the technical issues of these attacks.
The importance of applying this update has been reinforced thanks to an intervention by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency"
"Apple released security updates to address vulnerabilities in multiple Apple products. A cyber threat actor could exploit some of these vulnerabilities to take control of an affected system. CISA encourages users and administrators to review the following advisories and apply necessary updates:"
The macOS update was launched simultaneously with iOS (18.1.1) and iPadOS (18.1.1) updates. Forbes' contributor David Phelan has taken a closer look at the iPhone update -- as well as the update to iOS 18 for the current range, Apple is providing an update to iOS 17 to ensure the fixes are available for the broadest range of iPhones as possible.
macOS Sequoia supports every Mac and MacBook that runs on Apple Silicon. In addition to any Mac with these M-series chipsets, macOS Sequoia also supports several Intel-powered Macs -- namely those with the Xeon W and Coffee Lake or later chipset. Effectively that means the iMac Pros released since 2017, iMacs released since 2019, MacBook Pros since 2018, Mac Minis since 2018, and Mac Pros since 2019 are also supported and should be upgraded as soon as possible.
To start a manual update to macOS 15.1.1, go to the System Settings / General / Software Update and click Update Now. This is in a different location on older Mac hardware,, go to System Preferences and click Software Update.