I have now updated the databases used by SilentKnight, and the following pages here, to reflect firmware updates installed with last week’s macOS updates to Ventura 13.4, Monterey 12.6.6, and Big Sur 11.7.7:
All Apple silicon Macs have an iBoot update (8422.121.1), and all Intel Macs with T2 chips have an integrated update including iBridge/BridgeOS (1968.120.12.0.0, iBridge 20.16.5058.0.0,0). If you have installed one of those three macOS updates and your Mac’s firmware hasn’t been updated as confirmed in SilentKnight, or on those pages, you should contact Apple Support and ask for their assistance.
The situation is inevitably more complicated for Intel Macs without T2 chips, with their individual EFI firmware versions. However, there has been a welcome rationalisation of version numbers for those Macs that have had firmware updates this time. The following Macs should all have been updated to version 512.0.0.0.0:
- iMac17,x and iMac18,x
- MacBook9,1 and MacBook10,1
- MacBookPro13,x and MacBookPro14,x
iMac19,1 is the odd one out, as that has been updated to 1968.120.12.0.0, the same EFI version as T2 models.
There have been no firmware updates for older models, or for MacBook Air, Mac mini or Mac Pro models without T2 chips. It looks probable that those Macs will remain with their current firmware indefinitely, although Apple does sometimes release unscheduled firmware updates when there are significant problems to address.
If you ever use the eficheck tool to check the integrity of your Mac’s firmware, you may find that running it manually in a command like
/usr/libexec/firmwarecheckers/eficheck/eficheck --integrity-check
fails to check fully. That’s expected to be fixed in macOS 13.5. Although running it manually may not work at present, it does still run automatically as originally intended. eficheck is only available on Intel Macs without T2 chips.
Finally, Big Sur is now reaching the end of its third year of support, and its last expected security update is likely to be to version 11.7.8 in the summer, although Apple might release 11.7.9 in September. If your Mac is still running Big Sur and can be upgraded to Monterey, now is the time to plan that move, before it stops getting any further security updates. Monterey is expected to continue receiving security updates for another year before it too loses support.
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