Apple Acknowledges iMac Freezing Issue, Fix In Works

[MacRumors]

Apple has acknowledged an iMac freezing issue that was published by AppleInsider earlier this week.

AppleInsider had noted two growing Apple discussion boards filling with complaints regarding the issue (one, two). Indeed, MacRumors' own forums have dealt with the issue.

It has been suggested that the ATI graphics drivers are to blame, as the issue became more pronounced after iMac Software Update 1.1. Both software updates for the new iMac have been geared towards the graphics drivers.

In a statement to Macworld, Apple confirms it is aware of the issue and assures a fix is coming.

“We are tracking down the root cause of this bug, and will issue a software update which corrects it as soon as we can — most likely later this month,” the company spokesperson said. “We apologize for the inconvenience.”

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[happydude]

ours freezes most often using itunes. have to hard restart. does "later this month" just coincide with the last updates sent out before 10.5?

[nigrunze]

I have yet to experience this issue and hopefully never do.

[Cloudane]

Originally Posted by nigrunze

I have yet to experience this issue and hopefully never do.

Me neit

[ImperialX]

Apparently Software Update 1.2/1.3 didn't help at all.

This is a hardware fault. Time to start getting replacements.

[DMann]

Originally Posted by ImperialX

Apparently Software Update 1.2/1.3 didn't help at all.

This is a hardware fault. Time to start getting replacements.

It would be nice to have an upgrade path from the ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO. Hopefully, ATI will crank out an update before long. In the meantime, I'd prefer swapping the card for an NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT..... Apple really ought to offer this as an option, at least for the duration of time it takes to produce a fix.

[Stridder44]

Finally. Maybe they can make drivers for them that don't suck. I mean bug fixes are critically important and all, but how about some performance improvements?

[Kinetic]

Originally Posted by happydude

ours freezes most often using itunes. have to hard restart. does "later this month" just coincide with the last updates sent out before 10.5?

I thought it was just me! Mine freezes up about 3 out of 5 times using iTunes. Last night, I finally had enough and started trying to diagnosis it and then I found out others are having the same problem. I really do hope they fix it ASAP. Considering it's the begining of the month we potentially have a few weeks before we get a fix. Oh well, I guess I won't be using iTunes and that means no buying songs or movies until it's fixed.

Originally Posted by tcoleman

It's a lot easier to deploy software fixes than it is to replace hardware...

Not to mention a lot cheaper to fix. My fear is that QC on hardware has been slipping and lord knows you can find rants on how long it takes Apple to respond to those now. As Apple grows and gets bigger and more costly to address, I hope their response doesn't take longer as well.

[mac 2005]

If the issue is tied to the last update, how does one go about removing said update? Anyone relying on their iMac for professional projects (i.e., income) may not see a solution "later this month" as being helpful.

[AgingGeek]

First!?

What? Apple actually admitted to a bug rather than acting like the big stone idol? What is this world coming to?

[psychofreak]

Originally Posted by AgingGeek

First!?

What? Apple actually admitted to a bug rather than acting like the big stone idol? What is this world coming to?

They always do it in the end, its just annoying when you have the problem and they deny it like when I had the random shutdown syndrome with my Macbook...

[Shintocam]

Originally Posted by AgingGeek

First!?

What? Apple actually admitted to a bug rather than acting like the big stone idol? What is this world coming to?

Well, no. Apple admited to ATI's software (drivers) having a bug. IE "It's not our fault".

Huh...I typed "IE" in my post and Safari locked up......Camino didn't seem to mind

[ro2nie]

My iMac C2E 24" was freezing every 15 min approx. last week, just after updating to "iMac software update 1.1".

I then ran all MainMenu scripts, Disk Warrior, Disk utility's repair disk (from the tiger installation disks), disabled all login items, and the issue seems to have dissapeared except for when I play any games like Command & Conquer.

Still waiting for the fix... Glad to see Apple is working on this...

[lukechip]

Originally Posted by ro2nie

....and the issue seems to have dissapeared except for when I play any games like Command & Conquer....

Is this C&C under OS X, or a bootcamp reboot into XP / Vista.

I'm getting a C2E iMac as soon as Leopard ships, and love C&C, and wondered if I should get the OS X or the Windows version.

[DMann]

Originally Posted by ro2nie

My iMac C2E 24" was freezing every 15 min approx. last week, just after updating to "iMac software update 1.1".

I then ran all MainMenu scripts, Disk Warrior, Disk utility's repair disk (from the tiger installation disks), disabled all login items, and the issue seems to have dissapeared except for when I play any games like Command & Conquer.

Still waiting for the fix... Glad to see Apple is working on this...

Fix aught to roll out, at the very least, by Leopards\'s release:

http://blogs.chron.com/techblog/arch...oming_soo.html

[DMann]

Actually, this is impressive -- Apple is actually addressing this issue at the start. When the G5 iMacs were shutting down due to overheating, the motherboard, logic board, and power supply replacements were done quietly. It's a good thing that this issue is being dealt with head on, and in turn will hopefully restore faith among Mac consumers concerned with quality control.

[twoodcc]

well i thought apple would say more like "later this week" instead of "later this month".

anyways, at least they are working on it.

[neven]

My iMac has had this problem since day one (the day they were released), and subsequent updates made no difference for better or for worse.

To those who are frustrated when given unhelpful information by Apple employees when the problem first happens, what do you expect? You have a non-reproducible bug they're not aware of - what are they supposed to do?

[Dont Hurt Me]

This restores my confidence in Apple, much better then nothing said for months.

[tcoleman]

Originally Posted by DMann

Actually, this is impressive -- Apple is actually addressing this issue at the start. When the G5 iMacs were shutting down due to overheating, the motherboard, logic board, and power supply replacements were done quietly. It's a good thing that this issue is being dealt with head on, and in turn will hopefully restore faith among Mac consumers concerned with quality control.

It's a lot easier to deploy software fixes than it is to replace hardware. In this case, it seems pretty clear that they think it's a software problem.

[pavelbure]

Originally Posted by DMann

n turn will hopefully restore faith among Mac consumers concerned with quality control.

agreed. lately i have been wondering if i made a good switch over to the mac. this bug is terrible. i had better stability on windows 98 that was running for 8hrs without a restart than i had on this 1.1 update.

hopefully this will fix the problem i have in imovie 06 i am getting weird graphic glitches on themes. go to "reflection - white" theme, click on the "open" theme, when title 1 appears near the end i get some sort of bar code looking thing instead of a title 1 reflection. if i type something in it goes away, only to reappear when i add it to my timeline. this is really irritating me. also occasionally when i add clips they will be all distorted. quicktime does the same thing.

[SiliconAddict]

And if this was Microsoft there would be an uproar that MS sucks. But when its Apple....Good work Apple for staying ontop of this. *sighs* Double standard indeed.

[psychofreak]

Originally Posted by SiliconAddict

And if this was Microsoft there would be an uproar that MS sucks. But when its Apple....Good work Apple for staying ontop of this. *sighs* Double standard indeed.

MS don't make the software specifically for each hardware item, this would be Dell/Toshiba/Lenovo etc's job...and in fact there are hardware/software conflicts all the time in the PC world, especially with Vista...

[ezekielrage_99]

Sorry for the n00b question but is this update only for the newly released iMac (the aluminum one) or for all the Core 2 Duo iMacs?

I was just wondering because my white 20" Core 2 Duo iMac seems to freeze up sometimes and I was interested to see if this update will solve my problems.

[DreamsPower]

Hope this is a confirmed and true news... 'cause I was start hating Apple, and I dont want. Even if my iMac rolling at 1.0 update is working well now...