Apple concedes to iMac freezing bug, promises fix

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."

[Nubaeus @ Oct 5th 2007 9:19AM]

It's not a bug, it's a built in feature for all Macs.

[BuDdWeYeR @ Oct 5th 2007 9:36AM]

Yeah, they are trying to be more Windows-like so all the switchers feel comfortable with the computer.

[Ignatius @ Oct 5th 2007 10:14AM]

It just works!

rofl.

[MacGuru @ Oct 5th 2007 11:34AM]

Now if Microsoft would concede to Windows being a virus magnet and provide free virus protection we can call it even.

[BigPana @ Oct 5th 2007 12:19PM]

I'm just wondering how many people that bash Macs all the time have actually used one the last 5 years?

[jilie @ Oct 5th 2007 12:31PM]

http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=v0QxafBu0b8
hahhah

[Tim @ Oct 5th 2007 12:48PM]

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.

[deedeedee @ Oct 6th 2007 10:19PM]

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.

[wireless.nemo @ Oct 5th 2007 9:22AM]

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?

[John @ Oct 5th 2007 9:29AM]

shit happens on all computers. No exceptions.

[jodosh @ Oct 5th 2007 9:35AM]

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.

[Alan Strangis @ Oct 5th 2007 9:39AM]

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. :)

[aaron @ Oct 5th 2007 9:41AM]

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!

[Jack @ Oct 5th 2007 10:10AM]

"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

[phoomp @ Oct 5th 2007 10:18AM]

@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.

[andi @ Oct 5th 2007 10:56AM]

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

[jekin @ Oct 5th 2007 9:23AM]

it just works.

[Dan @ Oct 5th 2007 9:28AM]

Heh, just like every Mac I've ever used.

[GoreTEX @ Oct 5th 2007 9:35AM]

B.b.b.bbbut.. Macs are impervious to these types of Windows-like glitches.. LOL @ Apple FanBots .. suck it up

[sillyRABBIT @ Oct 5th 2007 9:47AM]

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'.)

[Neeko @ Oct 5th 2007 9:36AM]

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!

[Sean @ Oct 5th 2007 9:53AM]

So... Windows doesn't have a spell checker?

[01 @ Oct 5th 2007 12:43PM]

you know you don't need a spell checker, or the ability to turn off caps lock, when your WNd0Ze 31337..

[Rickumus @ Oct 5th 2007 9:36AM]

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.

[The Pepto Pimp @ Oct 5th 2007 9:58AM]

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!

[LUVtheiPOD @ Oct 5th 2007 10:18AM]

steve balmer is an embarrassing ass.

trust me, I know - he's my dad.

[websyndicate @ Oct 5th 2007 9:44AM]

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

[mlb @ Oct 5th 2007 9:46AM]

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.

[Hice @ Oct 5th 2007 10:12AM]

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.

[mlb @ Oct 5th 2007 10:21AM]

What the hell are you talking about?

[grmbl @ Oct 5th 2007 9:47AM]

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. :)

[GoreTEX @ Oct 5th 2007 9:51AM]

lol.. my carbon fibre VAIO TZ beats what ever pos mac you have fanboi/sheep..

[mlb @ Oct 5th 2007 9:53AM]

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.

[coplice @ Oct 5th 2007 9:57AM]

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 ;;

[suv4x4 @ Oct 5th 2007 11:33AM]

[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.

[qualar @ Oct 8th 2007 7:02PM]

You Sir are a fool.

What p;lan et are you on to think windows crashes everyday, you are in some sort of dreamland.

[Wonderkid @ Oct 5th 2007 9:53AM]

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?

[HardyHARhar @ Oct 5th 2007 9:58AM]

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!

[Marduk @ Oct 5th 2007 11:00AM]

Yeah, that comment proves you aren't a lemming. Nice.

[HardyHARhar @ Oct 5th 2007 1:45PM]

care to disprove it?

[Scott Culp @ Oct 5th 2007 10:00AM]

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.

[superOK @ Oct 5th 2007 10:23AM]

Now if only they'd fix the problem of random airport disconnections.

[bugmat @ Oct 5th 2007 10:28AM]

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!

[OhNo @ Oct 5th 2007 10:44AM]

that is beyond weak, I am embarrassed for you.

you fail hard.

[bugmat @ Oct 5th 2007 11:19AM]

Don't be..MY pants are up ! :-D

[Jared @ Oct 5th 2007 10:31AM]

That's what they get for choosing ATI. I got burned by them in early 2000 and have ever since tried to boycott them.

[mlb @ Oct 5th 2007 10:54AM]

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.

[rudebo @ Oct 5th 2007 10:55AM]

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

[Hanzo @ Oct 5th 2007 11:02AM]

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"?

[rudebo @ Oct 5th 2007 11:05AM]

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