The hidden independent processor has very little to do with memory management for the app processor or even the system housekeeping routines that run at root. It appears to be a processor that allows complete access to the computer without an OS even having been booted, or even being installed for that matter, so a remote manager can access the machine to repair or even installing a new OS remotely, regardless of whether or not a system has ever been installed or not.
That being said, this hidden independent processor IS built in to the Intel processor itself and is dependent on other computer system logic board and peripherals to be accessed, i.e. just existing on the Intel processor is, in and of itself not a risk. The Logicboard and peripherals chosen must permit the external access before there is any risk of outside vulnerability to the computer.
I was looking at the list of hardware manufacturers who use these processors that Intel itself had listed as vulnerable and noticed a blatant Intel chip user that was absent from that list: Apple. Although Apple Macs can run Windows and Linux, Apple's hardware does not use BIOS as part of their normal startup procedure, instead it runs an Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) which may not support the Management Engine access in the Intel processor, or which has the ME switched off by default.
"Maybe they can fix the deprecation routine that slows the PC down gradually over time until it simply fails to run anymore.I never understood why a perfectly good computer running a limited number of application gradually slows to the point of unusability."
Frankly, I talked about apps -- rather than come right out and say that Apple's coding discipline enforces memory cleanup far more rigorously than Microsoft's does -- or, ever has -- including at the system level...
Maintaining runtime memory cleanup coding discipline is a PITA, but it pays off in long-term satisfaction. Example: my MBP runs for months without ever being shut down -- without any perceivable performance hit...