Resolved Mid 2010 iMac & El Capitan Boot Screen

[MJWMac1988]

I'm considering installing El Capitan on an elderly acquaintance's Mid 2010 iMac -- actually on one of his external hard drives. Anyone who has a 2010 iMac and who has already upgraded to El Capitan, please let me know if your boot screen is still the traditional gray or if it is now the new black. Based on what little info I've been able to find, only 2011 and/or 2012 and newer Macs get the black boot screen; however, I need to know for sure before I install it on his computer. This matters because my friend is going to continue to use Snow Leopard as his primary OS (he needs Rosetta), but he also wants to stay up to date as far as Safari goes.

The problem: Several people who downgraded from Yosemite to earlier versions of OS X in the past year found that the first few seconds of their boot screens in the older OSes are still "Yosemite black," after which they haphazardly switch to traditional gray. Since the black boot screen is the result of an EFI/firmware update, there is no way to undo it. I'm sure that would really bother my friend (and me) if it were to happen to his iMac.

I asked this same question on MacRumors last month with regard to my Late 2009 iMac, and several people with older Macs seemed to say that they still have only the gray boot screen. My friend's iMac is so close in age to the affected Macs that I need to know beyond a shadow of a doubt what will happen to his boot screen if I install El Capitan. Thank you very much.

 

[redheeler]

I can confirm the boot screen remains gray on the mid 2010. To my knowledge only the late 2013 and later iMacs get the black one.

 

[MJWMac1988]

Thank you, redheeler. That's a relief to hear.

 

[n-evo]

I have to ask: Why does it matter what color the boot screen has to begin with? But yeah, only newer models get the black one.

 

[MJWMac1988]

I have to ask: Why does it matter what color the boot screen has to begin with? But yeah, only newer models get the black one.

Hi, n-evo. It wouldn't matter, if it didn't cause a(n admittedly) minor issue for people who intend to continue dual booting between El Capitan and pre-Yosemite OSes, but it does. So far, I've only seen evidence that it happens when downgrading from Yosemite; but I think it's safe to assume, until proven otherwise, that it would also happen when downgrading from (or dual booting with) El Capitan (instinct tells me Apple will never fix this type of issue because they don't normally cater to people who downgrade to or dual boot with older OSes). Admittedly, the problem appears to be only visual, but a visual imperfection of this type is all it would take to bother people who strongly dislike "blemishes" or imperfections in their daily user experiences.

Here is what I wrote earlier: "Several people who downgraded from Yosemite to earlier versions of OS X ... found that the first few seconds of their boot screens in the older OSes are still "Yosemite black," after which they haphazardly switch to traditional gray. Since the black boot screen is the result of an EFI/firmware update, there is no way to undo it. I'm sure that would really bother my friend (and me) if it were to happen to his iMac."

I am now convinced, thanks to redheeler and others in other threads, that this issue only affects newer Macs (2013 or newer; or maybe also 2012?, depending on the model?).

 

[n-evo]

It's purely esthetically though and doesn't impact functionality of the Mac in any way. I can somewhat understand that certain people will be bothered with it though.

 

[MJWMac1988]

It's purely esthetically though and doesn't impact functionality of the Mac in any way. I can somewhat understand that certain people will be bothered with it though.

You're absolutely right, of course.

However:

1.) Visual "glitches" may always make some people feel as if something is wrong with their software/hardware, even if they keep reminding themselves that nothing is wrong.

2.) Such "glitches" are annoying to many people (including me ) because they know a company as big and massively wealthy as Apple should have no excuses for making such visual "glitches" un-fixable, especially since they have been basing their sales in very large part on their products' classy, sophisticated appearance since 1998.

 

[redheeler]

2.) Such "glitches" are annoying to many people (including me ) because they know a company as big and massively wealthy as Apple should have no excuses for making such visual "glitches" un-fixable, especially since they have been basing their sales in very large part on their products' classy, sophisticated appearance since 1998.

Apple has rarely been kind to those who want to use older software versions and downgraders. If everyone was using the latest version of OS X exclusively on supported Macs, the black boot screen wouldn't be a problem.

 

[MJWMac1988]

Apple has rarely been kind to those who want to use older software versions and downgraders.

I know. I wrote the same thing in my second comment above.

If everyone was using the latest version of OS X exclusively on supported Macs, the black boot screen wouldn't be a problem.

If Apple hadn't arbitrarily discontinued Rosetta support, they wouldn't have left quite as many people behind, including me, although I do strongly dislike (understatement) some of the unnecessary, arbitrary, counterproductive and counterintuitive changes -- as well as removal of various functionalities -- Apple began making in OS X (and newer versions of their apps), starting with Lion.

 

[n-evo]

You're absolutely right, of course.

However:

1.) Visual "glitches" may always make some people feel as if something is wrong with their software/hardware, even if they keep reminding themselves that nothing is wrong.

2.) Such "glitches" are annoying to many people (including me ) because they know a company as big and massively wealthy as Apple should have no excuses for making such visual "glitches" un-fixable, especially since they have been basing their sales in very large part on their products' classy, sophisticated appearance since 1998.

It's probably more a case of you projecting your own annoyances over these details onto your elderly acquaintance, rather than she'll be actually bothered by it. But that's just my idea.

 

[bankshot]

If Apple hadn't arbitrarily discontinued Rosetta support, they wouldn't have left quite as many people behind, including me, although I do strongly dislike (understatement) some of the unnecessary, arbitrary, counterproductive and counterintuitive changes -- as well as removal of various functionalities -- Apple began making in OS X (and newer versions of their apps), starting with Lion.

Regarding Rosetta, would it be an option to run Snow Leopard in a virtual machine? Officially, only Snow Leopard Server can be run in a VM, but there are various tutorials online describing how to get the regular client version running. If I still needed Rosetta, this is what I'd do. As it is, I have VMs of Lion and Mountain Lion for compatibility with various things - very convenient!

 

[MJWMac1988]

It's probably more a case of you projecting your own annoyances over these details onto your elderly acquaintance, rather than she'll be actually bothered by it. But that's just my idea.

You're probably partially right about my projecting my own annoyances onto him, but not by much. He really is a perfectionist, neat freak, with OCD. Everything has to be "just so" in his world. I'm not saying that as a criticism of him. It's just a statement of fact. He has told me so many times himself. I've often joked with him about it, especially when I am biting my tongue to hide my frustration (I have helped him with Mac matters for the past ten years by email). I asked everyone here on MacRumors about the boot screen in El Capitan because I don't want to take any chances with regard to what might or might not bother him, especially if it is un-fixable.

 

[MJWMac1988]

Regarding Rosetta, would it be an option to run Snow Leopard in a virtual machine? Officially, only Snow Leopard Server can be run in a VM, but there are various tutorials online describing how to get the regular client version running. If I still needed Rosetta, this is what I'd do. As it is, I have VMs of Lion and Mountain Lion for compatibility with various things - very convenient!

Yes, I repeatedly tried one of those tutorials a couple of years ago in an attempt to install the Snow Leopard Client in VirtualBox, but it failed every time. I searched for other tutorials, but didn't have any success in finding anything else -- at least that I could recognize.

 

[n-evo]

You're probably partially right about my projecting my own annoyances onto him, but not by much. He really is a perfectionist, neat freak, with OCD. Everything has to be "just so" in his world. I'm not saying that as a criticism of him. It's just a statement of fact. He has told me so many times himself. I've often joked with him about it, especially when I am biting my tongue to hide my frustration (I have helped him with Mac matters for the past ten years by email). I asked everyone here on MacRumors about the boot screen in El Capitan because I don't want to take any chances with regard to what might or might not bother him, especially if it is un-fixable.

Haha okay, in that case I haven't said anything.