Is AES-NI enabled in Macbook Pro 2011 2.0Ghz (CPU Intel i7 2635QM) ?)

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Is AES-NI enabled in Macbook Pro 2011 2.0Ghz (CPU Intel i7 2635QM) ?)

Hi everyone,

According to the MacBook Pro page on Wikipedia, the MacBook Pro 15" (Early 2011) model (aka MacBookPro8,2) has in base configuration an Intel CPU 2.0 GHz quad-core (2635QM).

Around April 2011, I looked at the Intel i7 2635QM page specifications to work out if this CPU supports AES-NI instructions and it did not. This was also confirmed by a review about MacBook Pro 8,2 on ArnandTech.

On 3rd July 2011, I checked the same page and I see that the same CPU has AES-NI support. I know what I saw a few months back but I cannot find any explaination has to why the specifications changed and more importantly if the Macbook Pro 15" (Early 2011) with Intel i7 2635QM supports AES-NI.

Can anyone confirm/infirm AES-NI support in i7 2635QM CPU on Macbook Pro ?

If you can show me that truecrypt uses AES-NI on this processor on this Macbook Pro model, it would be great!

Thanks you very much.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Jul 21, 2011 8:42 AM

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Answer 1

Aug 2, 2011 10:07 AM in response to symbion

I don't know about the MBP, but I just got a new Mac Mini Server (also with a quad-core, 2.0 Ghz, 2635QM) and I definitely do not have AES-NI. I had installed CentOS on it and didn't find out until I checked /proc/cpuinfo. Then I re-installed Lion and double-checked with Truecrypt, which also reported no hardware support. Very annoying for this "server" platform. I'll be returning mine since this was the entire reason for investing in this machine.

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Answer 2

lenardd

Level 1

5 points

Aug 16, 2011 8:43 AM in response to symbion

Hi,

Below is a link that I found on the Apple models that have (and don't have) AES-NI:

http://www.hutsby.net/2011/08/macs-with-aes-ni.html

--Lenard

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Answer 3

Aug 16, 2011 9:05 AM in response to lenardd

lenardd wrote:

Hi,

Below is a link that I found on the Apple models that have (and don't have) AES-NI:

http://www.hutsby.net/2011/08/macs-with-aes-ni.html

--Lenard

Yes that's why this is so frustrating. That site (which is based off Intel's site) lists I7-2635QM as supporting AES-NI. It's supposed to support AES-NI, but in Apple's computers it does not. From what I've gathered it looks like the manufacturer has to enable AES-NI on that particular processor instead of it being enabled by default.

This review accurately describes the situation for MBPs:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4205/the-macbook-pro-review-13-and-15-inch-2011-br ings-sandy-bridge/2

Where all new MBPs have AES-NI *except* the 2.0Ghz model. And as I've confirmed with my own machine (now returned to Apple), this is also the case with the MacMini Server.

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Answer 4

symbion Author

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Aug 16, 2011 7:45 PM in response to quicksketch

Thanks. This confirmed my thoughts.

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Answer 5

Sep 14, 2011 9:02 AM in response to symbion

I recommend submitting feedback to Apple here:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/macbookpro.html

And letting them know that they can release an update to enable AES-NI in early 2011 MBP.
Asus and other manufacturers have already released BIOS updates that enable AES-NI.

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Answer 6

Sep 14, 2011 5:13 PM in response to charlitis

That's not a bad idea. I'd be curious to know if the new Firmware update issued today happens to slip this feature in: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1450

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Answer 7

exfalso

Level 1

4 points

Sep 14, 2011 8:24 PM in response to quicksketch

yes, its enabled now

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