Apple wins lawsuit claiming it misled users over Spectre and Meltdown security flaws TechRadar Skip to main content TechRadar is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here's why you can trust us. Apple wins lawsuit claiming it misled users over Spectre and Meltdown security flaws By Sead Fadilpašić published 10 June 2022 Judge rules Apple was not to blame (Image credit: Future) Audio player loading… A class-action lawsuit against Apple for allegedly misleading customers regarding the notoious Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities has been dismissed. Reuters reported U.S. District Judge Edward Davila, in San Jose, California, ruled that the plaintiffs did not prove Apple knew about the vulnerabilities and kept quiet, selling their products at inflated prices, as a result. They also failed to prove Apple provided security patches that significantly slowed down the performance of the devices. Apple, as well as other tech giants, first reported discovering the two flaws in early 2018. The customers, who filed the class-action lawsuit at the time, claimed Apple knew about the flaws as early as June 2017, but kept quiet about it until a New York Times report basically forced them to speak. (opens in new tab) Share your thoughts on Cybersecurity and get a free copy of the Hacker's Manual 2022 (opens in new tab). Help us find how businesses are preparing for the post-Covid world and the implications of these activities on their cybersecurity plans. Enter your email at the end of this survey (opens in new tab) to get the bookazine, worth $10.99/£10.99. Vague claims and affirmative misrepresentation But the judge says the plaintiffs failed to prove they relied on Apple's marketing, when making their purchase choices. Apple's claims that their devices were "secure" and "built with privacy (opens in new tab) in mind" were too vague to support their claims. The judge also said that Apple's claims of newer processors being faster than the older ones weren't false, just because patches may have slowed them down. "Plaintiffs have failed to allege an affirmative misrepresentation, an actionable omission, and actual reliance" on misstatements by Apple, Davila wrote. The plaintiffs now have until June 30 to appeal the decision.Read more> Apple says all Macs and iOS devices have been hit by Meltdown and Spectre (opens in new tab) > Spectre returns - Intel and ARM-based CPUs hit by serious vulnerability (opens in new tab) > Apple's PC and mobile chips suffer from world-first data theft exploit (opens in new tab) Spectre and Meltdown were two major vulnerabilities, discovered in early 2018, which allowed threat actors to read the contents of the memory in a vulnerable endpoint (opens in new tab). Following up on the initial reports, researchers later discovered that practically all devices built in the last decade were vulnerable. It turned out to be one of the greatest vulnerabilities (opens in new tab) of all time. To make matters even worse, many OEMs scrambled to get a fix out as soon as possible, pushing incomplete solutions that only slowed the devices down, and in some cases, even bricking them entirely.These are the best cloud hosting services around (opens in new tab) Via: Reuters (opens in new tab) Sead Fadilpašić Sead is a seasoned freelance journalist based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He writes about IT (cloud, IoT, 5G, VPN) and cybersecurity (ransomware, data breaches, laws and regulations). In his career, spanning more than a decade, he's written for numerous media outlets, including Al Jazeera Balkans. He's also held several modules on content writing for Represent Communications. See more Computing news Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to theTechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Thank you for signing up to TechRadar. You will receive a verification email shortly. There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again. MOST POPULARMOST SHARED1The iPhone 14 Pro is made of the wrong stuff; the Pixel 7 proves that to me2Stop saying Mario doesn't have an accent in The Super Mario Bros. Movie3Google Pixel Tablet is what Apple should've done ages ago4RTX 4090 too expensive? Nvidia resurrects another old favorite5More than one million credit card details leaked online1The iPhone 14 Pro is made of the wrong stuff; the Pixel 7 proves that to me2iPhone 15 tipped to come with an upgraded 5G chip3If this feature succeeds for Modern Warfare 2, Microsoft can't ignore it4Apple October launches: the new devices we might see this month5The Rings of Power episode 8 trailer feels like one big Sauron misdirect Technology Magazines (opens in new tab)● (opens in new tab)The best tech tutorials and in-depth reviewsFrom$12.99 (opens in new tab)View (opens in new tab)