Although this doesn't seem to relate to the
janky LCDs that some users were seeing on their 20-inch iMacs, Apple has admitted that at least some of the newest machines do have an issue. Reportedly, an Apple spokesperson stated that a "small number of iMac users have made us aware that a recent software update can sometimes cause their iMacs to freeze, requiring them to restart." Apparently, the machines become "unusable, requiring a hard reset in order to recover," and Cupertino is currently "tracking down the root cause of the bug." So, if you just so happen to be moments away from chucking your new iMac through the nearest window over this, restrain yourself -- a software update with the cure should be coming "later this month."
posted Oct 5th 2007 9:16AM
It's not a bug, it's a built in feature for all Macs.
Yeah, they are trying to be more Windows-like so all the switchers feel comfortable with the computer.
It just works!
rofl.
Now if Microsoft would concede to Windows being a virus magnet and provide free virus protection we can call it even.
I'm just wondering how many people that bash Macs all the time have actually used one the last 5 years?
http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=v0QxafBu0b8
hahhah
Its funny how Apple people never want to admit their products are no better/worse than the windows PC products. The hardware has defects and glitches just as much as PCs. The software has just as many problems, although not as widely reported - maybe because the Apple market share is considerably less. The more market share Apple gets the more we will be hearing about these glitches instead of having them swept under the rug.
I have been using both macs and windows pcs for a couple years now, upgraded to the macbook pro last year from an older imac, and I have to say, my mac laptop is not all that impressive AT ALL. Other than the fact that it's pretty and thin, it does hang on me (i think about 4 or 5 times this year could be worse). Also it gets insanely hot quickly and very uncomfortable to use, and I don't play games or do video editing stuff, just web editing some light photoshop and itunes and safari. The battery's also getting worse in just a year of normal use although I followed the user guide and calibrate the battery every month.
On the other hand, I've been happy with my IBM laptop from work which I had for about 5 month, never locked up or anything with same kind of work load as the MBP, and it runs equally quite compare to my MBP but MUCH MUCH MUCH cooler when operating. With proper virus protection, I never have virus. Also MSN messenger for windows has full functions like video and voice chat, but that's just a personal preference.
So it's sad now I pretty much just take my IBM from work and use it at home, although I spent $1999 for that MBP. I do turn it on for iTunes cuz my music library is to big to move.
One thing I really really like about the MBP is its touchpad, its the most awesome thing ever so easy and intuitive to use, oh and keyboard feels much better than the IBM and it lights up too.
I don't believe all the hype for Apple stuff anymore, at least their computer aint that much better than Windows PCs.
so no big jokes now that it's apple having issues with graphics drivers? considering microsoft's past issues of blue screens tended to be surrounded by faulty graphics drivers, now apple has their iMac's just freezing and loosing the ability to input commands. Yet Microsoft was bitch slapped for the BSOD, hmm lets see....
applefanbois much?
shit happens on all computers. No exceptions.
while I have been less than thrilled with the 2 apple computers I have owned over the years, this issue is not on par with the BSOD issue that used to be a daily happening in windows. If this becomes commonplace, then lets give it the same amount of ridicule. Until then, only a little ridicule. What would really get me upset if I was effected is the promise to issue a patch "later this month." It's not like these people overpaid for their computer because they weren't gonna use it. Get it fixed asap.
nemo: I noticed the sparseness of comments on an Apple thread ans was surprised. This is engadget after all.
Then again, maybe their shiny new iMacs are all rebooting right now. :)
Thank-you, I'm so glad to see the readers if engadget lash back at the slanted nature of so many of these posts. I think the people who post and write these articles are finally realizing that the Apple fan base, while vocal, is minimal compared to the Microsoft fan base.
Keep it up!
"shit happens on all computers. No exceptions."
agreed, I work on an IT helpdesk at a college, I see just as many Macs mess up as PCs
@jodosh:
I'm a heavy daily user of Windows. I get a BSOD on my Windows PC about as often as my Mac at home gets a kernal panic ... which is to say "rarely".
"Daily" is a slight exaggeration for a PC that isn't defective or running beta drivers.
Such stuff shouldn't happen to macs... Let's do a bit of logic thinking: windows and linux need tons of drivers for all available hardware, that's disaster waiting to happen... Macs don't have much choice or freedom regarding hardware... so not a lot of drivers to make, so they should only be marketed when bullet-proof...
if we take the statement that 'as many macs as PC's come into the repair center', and apply two things: the number of macs and the diversity of hardware issue, then the macs are faring very, very bad
it just works.
Heh, just like every Mac I've ever used.
B.b.b.bbbut.. Macs are impervious to these types of Windows-like glitches.. LOL @ Apple FanBots .. suck it up
mine runs perfect. I haven't had to restart it in several weeks, and the only reason I restarted then was a software update. Whne the BSOD was the issue dujour, it was happening across the boards, constantly to millions of Windows users.
But keep reachin', its cute to watch you try so hard, flunky.
Now back to being the pivot man in a balmer / gates circlejerk for you.
(also known as the 'Windows user experience'.)
Ok, but when are they going to fix that sh*ty glossy screen? That thing is more annoying than listening to a Steve Ballmer keynote.
Balmernotes are teh sh!t.
I don't know what you ate for breakfast, but it clearly removed you sense of humor and love and goodwill for Balmer.
Besides, he's Balmer the Billionaire Baller!
steve balmer is an embarrassing ass.
trust me, I know - he's my dad.
yeah i love how the writers go EASY on APPLE for their faults. if this was MS with a vista issue we would have every APPLE fanboy rantign about how great their MACS are..
HELLO APPLE FANBOYS WERE ARE YOU? I KNOW YOUR READING THIS COMMENT........RESPOND DAMNIT STOP HIDING BEHIND UR OVERLORD JOBS!
So... Windows doesn't have a spell checker?
you know you don't need a spell checker, or the ability to turn off caps lock, when your WNd0Ze 31337..
That was happening to me when I would run Parallels and a few other applications. But now I have gone from 1gb of ram to 4gb of ram hasnt done it since
I guess I lucked out with my iMac. I know the rule is never buy a first generation Apple product, but I bought the first gen Intel iMac and haven't had any problems. It is strange that they are having problems now. I run OS X and Vista on here with no problems whatsoever. I was thinking about selling this iMac and buying one of the new ones, but the glass screen and these problems have convinced me to keep my other one.
Let me get this straight. Every windows machine you have ever used, has crashed every single day? I would avoid using computers if I were you. You're clearly not very good with them.
What the hell are you talking about?
You guys are simply funny.
I've been using Windows for like 10 years by now and OS X for last year.
Even if you OS X freezes on you every day (never happened to me at all, I don't own an iMac though) – it's still light years ahead of Windows "stability" which crashes at least once a day on majority of WIndows machines I've used.
So yes, Macs are great. Very stable. Never crashed for me. Build quality is top-notch. And yes, you look at least 1.5 times sexier with MacBook Pro than some loser with crappy Dell, hahaha!
As previous posters said: LOL @ AntiApple FanBots - suck it up! Stop being jealous, earn money and buy yourself a Mac. :)
lol.. my carbon fibre VAIO TZ beats what ever pos mac you have fanboi/sheep..
I hope you are just joking around. While I do love my iMac and OS X, I must give some love to Microsoft and Vista. I need Windows to run some accounting software, so I thought I'd bite the bullet and give Vista a try. I've been pleasantly surprised. It boots up faster than XP on similar hardware, and I haven't had any programs freeze or crash since I installed it except for iTunes (which crashed last night for the first time). OS X is nice and does boot faster than any flavor of Windows, but it isn't the greatest thing since sliced bread by any stretch of the imagination.
man if your windows crash every day you are doing something worng, for me since windows 2000 blue screen never occured but once when hard drive died ;;
[OSX] is still light years ahead of Windows "stability" which crashes at least once a day on majority of WIndows machines I've used.
I can setup OSX to crash every minute for you if you want.
The truth is, XP and OSX have both good stability in the vast majority of systems out there.
What bothers me more is not that iMac froze: I mean, no one is perfect, so fine, it froze under certain conditions. Why should it always be so hard for Apple to admit they have a problem and go fix it though?
Even Microsoft isn't so stubborn.
You Sir are a fool.
What p;lan et are you on to think windows crashes everyday, you are in some sort of dreamland.
My Rev A MacBook Black freezes completely fairly frequently after a series of other possibly related faults. I am convinced that there is an inherent flaw in Apple's BIOS (or some other 'low level' software) that effects the Sleep / Wake, Bluetooth and directory structure. All of these cause various random problems that I am spotting across the forums, not just on the new iMacs. The old Aluminium and Titanium Powerbooks do not appear to suffer these issues at all. Could this be an Intel thing?
Wow, the amount of Windows trolls is amazing!
You lemmings scare me! You are the type of people that make dictatorships possible.
I especially like the ranking order. Yeah, that isn't obvious. Rank away. Pro Apple = Bad, Pro MS = good. It is OK, we'll let you have it. We concede it to you - The Engadget comments section belongs to Microsoft fans.
We'll just settle for the real world, where Apple is and always was a better, more forward thinking, trend setting, extremely innovative company that Microsoft will spend the rest of its existence trying to keep up with by making cheap, classless wal mart grade copies of other companies ideas.
That is the real world, like it or not, bitches!
Yeah, that comment proves you aren't a lemming. Nice.
care to disprove it?
Can we drop all this "fanboy" name-calling crap?? Honestly!! There isn't a single computer system created that doesn't have the occasional problem. This one has been aknowledged, and they are working on a fix. Period.
Nothing is perfect and I hope that we can all agree that choice is what makes this business interesting. Yes, they all copy off of each other but occasionally an extra feature will get added that adds to the overall experience. Silly little things like "Magasafe" are great ideas, who cares where they came from. (Except maybe the lawyers)
Apple designs are elegant. Yes, they occasionally hide some shortcomings but they have definitely adavanced the overall experience. I agree that there may be a heavy apple slant to this blog but honestly apple is/was in a position where they are innovating, and it is cool to read about. They have certainly made some slips lately and this is likley as a result of their success. A big company moves much slower than the underdog who is focused on one thing at all costs. Apple has a lot going on right now and they are having some growing pains at the moment. I for one hope that they are able to pull through because even if I never purchase a Mac it's important to have them as part of the electronics "gene pool".
It's a gadget blog and Apple does gadgets well(mostly). For those that are too narrow minded to accept this there is always the "apple free" version. Noone is forcing you to read this.
Ouch. I understand Microsoft having trouble with innumerable video cards mixing with innumerable motherboards on machines built by innumerable manufacturers.
But Apple having trouble with the only video card they put on the only motherboard available for a machine they designed and built themselves?
That's weak.
Now if only they'd fix the problem of random airport disconnections.
Hmmm with all the problems over at Apple later I'm surprised they don't change their name again..to Mac-in-tush, the way they have the fanboys bending over lol!
that is beyond weak, I am embarrassed for you.
you fail hard.
Don't be..MY pants are up ! :-D
That's what they get for choosing ATI. I got burned by them in early 2000 and have ever since tried to boycott them.
Not all Intel iMacs have ATI graphics cards. Some have NVidia. The newer ones do use ATI, so maybe it is an ATI thing but I doubt it since my first gen iMac has an ATI card and I have no problems at all.
it was clear that this was going to happen if mac opened up to .. well anything ... i admire and enjoy working on a mac when i can but i realise its stability comes from isolation and the same components
yes, please stop this puerile crap.
But what I'm thinking right now, having to invest in a new pc (and oh yes macs are pcs, no more no less) is one thing: why do I hear a lot about faulty hardware on Apple computers and little from other companies? The possible explanations are:
a) Websites like to make Apple look bad
b) Apple is screwing up a bit lately
c) both
But at least one thing we must appreciate, Apple admits to have sold faulty hardware and will probably replace these parts for free.
My last laptop was an HP nx7000, it had a known hardware issue, the gaphic card chip was not properly fixed on the card and would loosen a bit with high temperatures, which the laptop produced not having adequate cooling.
so after 2 years my 2000 € laptop was a piece of junk and I had to get a new one. HP never admitted to having sold faulty hardware.
Some people I know would say: you see, pcs (meaning, every computer that is not an apple) are crap. But then, there's a lot of other companies out there.
I'm never going to buy an HP again, but from what i read getting an apple is as risky these days, but this might just be my subjective perception.
Can anybody give me hint, which is not just saying "it aint't so, period"?
nobody wants to actually make apple look bad (except for haters maybe)
but all this comes in contrast to their politics and marketing ...
its like that prick who keeps going on about other peoples faults and wrongs when he has them too ... whats that guy called .. yeap .. a hypocrit !
i admire the design of the mac a lot but selling yourself as better then everybody else takes a hefty dose of arrogance
The older (white) iMacs like mine have Nvidia graphics cards which have worked flawlessly for me at least.
Apple switched to ATI cards on the new iMacs for some reason. Over the years I have had many more problems with ATI video cards than with Nvidia cards so I'm not surprised at all that its a video card issue.
ATI must have low balled the Nvidia bid and now Apple is discovering that you get what you pay for.
The original intel iMac uses ATI. I should know, I have one. Mine uses the ATI Radeon X1600. They switched to NVidia when they switched to Core 2 Duo and then back to ATI with these new versions.
As much as I would love to bag on Apple's QA process, which in general doesn't seem all that formalized, directed, or effective in my experience (which is admittedly from the perspective of their windows software where they may just not give a damn, though not giving a damn about a huge segment of your customers isn't reassuring), my guess is this is a third party driver issue. Most of their general OS updates are applied throughout the product range, so if there was a flaw in an update written by Apple and applied to Apple components, the problem should manifest itself on MacBooks, etc. as well.
Unless Apple has some unique kernel mode software of their own specifically for the iMac line (which I couldn't hazard a guess as to what that might be), the only unique kernel mode code would be from drivers, most of which are written by third parties (though Apple might be responsible for the motherboard logic chipset drivers). I'd look at the video card vendor as the likely culprit.
I'm a power user of both macs and PCs. I almost never see a BSOD or kernel panic on either of my machines. However I do IT work for a company that uses a lot of PC's and all I have to say is; PCs in the hands of the general population have problems all day long, but my mom (completely computer illiterate) never sees a problem on her mac.
Hey kids, can't we all just get along?
I love my Mac, I love OSX and I also love the fact that it runs Vista because I love Vista. I even quite like running Ubuntu from time to time. I love my Lenovo Thinkpad that work gave me, even though it doesn't run OSX.
I love my iPod too and I love my Samsung Blackjack. If they would open up the OS to third party apps then I'm sure I'd love my iPhone.
Each one of these devices has crashed from time to time, even my iPod sometimes has problems. They are however all pretty mature versions of the software that surrounds us. This rampant fanpersonism that is evident does reflect human nature though, we all like to belong.
I just say co-exist, the one wish I had is that my OSX and Vista machines would play together a little better.
I just set up the 20 inch model for our graphics guy. I was able to set up Parallels and an XP install on the 4th try, but it works now flawlessly.
This was my first experience with a Mac and I'm pretty impressed with the polish of OS X. The graphics guy is so very happy now.
Why would you buy a new iMac before Leopard comes out?
My question is why wouldn't you? I plan to stay with Tiger until at least until version 4.11.1. I want a stable well proven OS running on my Mac. With Apple's latest QA blunders I may even wait till 4.11.2 before upgrading.
I don't run version 1.0 of anything
Why wouldn't you? Because if you want to upgrade your OS you have to spend lots of money. Good job answering a question with a question. I like where your head is at kid!
I bought mine to get a free iPod nano AND free printer. I'm selling them on eBay and using part of the money to get Leopard (student price!). Makes perfect sense.
I have respect for the old Mac and Apple users... the users that can actually trouble shoot their machine rather than just scream at the spinning rainbow of pizza death...
but this trendy crap is where I draw the line for apple users...Do not go out of your way to bash M$ if you don't know what chipset a mac had before Intel...if you had a windows machine that froze everyday thats called user error not M$...
you are not an all knowing god of computer OS's if you dont how to install a new video card...nor should you tell me how great your iCrap is if you only use it for internet surfing and nothing else...
and yes i agree with apple marketing when they say their users dont know how to use a computer "it just works"...thank you for agreeing with me apple your users for the most part are ignorant and refuse to learn...
I'm done ranting...
Shhhh grownups are talking here
yes its true they are freezing up, but there's no way in he'll a mac user will go back to vista so don't make yourself sound dum saying that vista is better, I know because after switching back to vista a month ago I still can't figure out what was I thinking when I switch vista, it looks nice and iTunes and safari work good on it even my airport extreme base station its able to work as my old mac used to but other than that, it full of bugs just like xp used to be when it first came out, to me vista is like a old with a mess up engine that just got a new paint job, it really is. So stop being funboys and give both system a try instead of bitching about things you really dont know about
Using a 24" aluminum iMac that I bought about a month ago, I had this problem, but I reinstalled OS X and didn't install the iMac Software Update (aka the new graphics drivers) and I've been fine since then.
How do you "hard reset" an iMac?
Ahh... so there IS something wrong with the new iMacs.
So why did Apple delete these messages asking for iMac support from their forums again? (I'm often surprised how little people take them task about that.)
Wow, I can't believe Apple actually conceded here, they NEVER do that.
How do I know? Oh, let's just say Rev A G5s had the exact same problem but Apple refuses to acknowledge them still (yet I have video proving it after an OS reinstall, reseating the RAM etc as Apple techs make you go through this process over and over again...).
As an owner of the 20" variety, I can attest to the fact that there are significant issues surrounding the 1.1 updates. However, you can fix the problem WITHOUT A HARD RESET by reverting to version 1.0 using Pacifist.
Oh. My. God. A piece of hardware or software isn't 100% perfect. Oh. My. God.
In a week or so Apple will have fixed this tiny OSX 'blip' and go on being the glorious experience that makes it a joy to use each and every day.
Windows, on the other hand, will still be the grotesque caricature of a personal computer it has always been.
Bloody hell, I love macs yeah. But people like you REALLY make us look bad.
Things have problems.
"Oh. My. God. A piece of hardware or software isn't 100% perfect. Oh. My. God." - Jemaze2004
Home Turf dude!!.
If I can't defend Apple kit in the comments section of an Apple related news item then the Windows PR army will truly overrun this place more than they already do. I can't believe the amount of anti-apple folks going out of there way to make trouble in a comment section that really has absolutely nothing to do with them...it's just bad manners or worse bullying ( or the reality - windows privately payrolled PR army)
For sure though I will say I NEVER go into a windows related news item and start mouthing off...so that's how I know something rank is going on in the Apple comment sections..
At the very least I love apple kit and I ALWAYS celebrate and defend the things I hold dear to me...
Keep the faith dude - there's a lot of vested interests out there desperately trying to get you to 'walk away from Apple'...
why can't we all just use what we prefer and get along, aren't you people tired already?
My 24" aluminum iMac does not have any problems, unless I'm running Windows. Then, and ONLY then, it sometimes freezes up... But I attribute that to crappy Windows registry rot or driver issues.
In OS X, everything runs smoothly. No problems. My iMac is on all day, every day, and I've yet to be disappointed by its performance.
I don't get why Windows fanatics are so eager to bash my choice of computer. Does it make you feel better somehow? Does it justify your purchase in some way? I don't get it.
I use a Mac because it works for me. I switched after building PCs for a living, and getting sick of being asked to troubleshoot everyone's computer all the time. Now I can say "Sorry, I use Mac" and people leave me alone, unless they use Macs, in which case they don't have NEAR as many technical problems or questions.
I'm sorry, but all this platform-bashing seems silly. It accomplishes nothing. I've been on both sides of the fence, and I've contributed to these flamewars in the past, but I have to say I don't understand why it's an issue at all--- You'll use what you like, and I'll use what I like, and that should be the end of it.
I wonder if there are dishwasher geeks who sit around on blogs all day arguing Whirlpool versus Maytag...
I knew from the moment Apple released those Ipods they were going to have a BIG OL' HEAD...they are becoming what they were initailly trying not to be. Pathetic.
After all...leave an apple out for a while and it will start to rot :)
Freezing, eh? That's no bug, that's Mac OS.
I'm an IT Director for a medium sized (600 users) clothing company. Our marketing and design departments have been on Macs for well over 10 years. I have a new 24" iMac and Macbook Pro at home, along with an XP and Vista machine. So two PCs and two Macs.
From experience at work and at home I can say that if there were an equal amount of Macs (with their current capabilities) in this world as there are PCs, my guess would be that there would be more Mac issues than PC issues. The whole "blue-screen-of-death" has been carried over from the Windows 98 days. I tend to have more Mac problems at home than PC problems. At work, we get our fair share of MAc problems.
If Macs did everything a PC can do, Apple would be in big trouble. Apples do very little and they do it in a "fashionable" and cool way. But some of our Design and Marketing people will not use Macs and they can produce the same results as all the other Macs in the office. It just doesn't have a "cool" way of doing it.
I will have to admit though, that as much as I am trying to fight it, I am starting to veer away from the Mac. The reason is becasue most of my Mac friends have a chip on their shoulders. And it seems to stem around the fact that they use "Apple" products and refuse to try a PC. The PC people are the open-minded ones. They are are willing to try out something new like the Mac and they may never turn back, but at least they have an open mind.
Mac People are so cool and individual and different from the rest of the world...........hmmmmmmm, let's see.
Sounds to me like they are all alike! To be different and cool, they get Apple stuff, just like the 80 year old man I saw at the Apple store buying an iMac and the 40 year father buying himself that iPod. The 50 year old lady which bought herself an iPhone!!
Boy, all of these people are really succeeding at their main goal...to be cool, hip, and individual!! ROTLF!
You want to really be hip, cool, and individual? Put together your own PC, whether it has a Linux variant or Windows. Then customize it even more to your liking....this makes you individual. Hip and cool come from the way you act, not buying the stupid products everybody else already has.
I just converted from Vista, so I thought the freezing/restart was normal...
BSODs ... it's interesting how people refer to BSODs on Windows like it is common for all flavours of it. On Windows 9x, it was truly common and if not for the fact that I was in my upgrade-fever phase back then, I would not have tolerated Windows. Granted, I even tried linux and OS/2 Warp, while holding on tenaciously to DOS6.22, so I guess I can very much bear with the BSODs. This is especially when most are caused by my overclocking of cpu and rams. :P
On Windows 2000 and Windows XP however, it's a different story. I rarely experienced crashes. The few times when I had one was due to some old devices that had crappy drivers or when the ram died on me one time for one of my notebook. So maybe it's important for us to clarify when we compare BSODs with Apple PCs hanging up. Otherwise, we are really lumping up the whole family of Windows OSes, which are quite different beasts. :)
I agree with Ivan, as a elder Mac user who supports both Macs and Windows in IT, its becoming more frustrating to support Mac users because they have this chip on the shoulder that their Mac should work 100% all the time, if they have a problem they can't fix, they quickly blame IT for not giving them the "NEWEST" macs and its their excuse for not working. While the Windows users in the firm are busy working even though, they have issues on their PCs, they just continue to work and not make a huge fuss about it.
Umm.. A small number?? Well, then i guess i belong to it.. It sometimes indeed freezes, mostly while im playing WoW.. Quite irritating, and indeed, i need to hard reset my iMac.. Apple, fix this soon!! Please!!
Need to know if Apple is planning for fix to late '06 iMacs. I bought a late '06 iMac ICD2 20" w/ATI Radeon X1600 256Mb VRam in June '07 (refurb as new) and have had a ton of freezes. Already had the RAM replaced in September, this is driving me insane.