Apple MacBook Pro 2011 GPU-Related Glitch Fixed With Mac OS X 10.6.7
Display issues have plagued the early 2011 MacBook Pros since they launched at the beginning of this month. Users have complained about display flickering to system freezes due to possibly a GPU-related problem. Apple's release today of Mac OS X 10.6.7 aims to resolve these issues including a few other fixes.
The update note reads:
The Mac OS X 10.6.7 Update for MacBook Pro is recommended for all early 2011 MacBook Pro models. It includes general operating system fixes for Mac OS X Snow Leopard that enhance the stability, compatibility, performance, and security of your Mac, including fixes that:
• Improve the reliability of Back to My Mac
• Resolve an issue when transferring files to certain SMB servers
• Address various minor Mac App Store bugs
• Address minor FaceTime performance issues
• Improve graphics stability and external display compatibility
An Apple Discussion thread that began March 1 revealed that many users experienced their MacBook Pros freezing during GPU-intensive apps. One user was able to pinpoint the problem down to the discrete AMD Radeon GPUs. Freezing seemed to occur when CPU intensive apps coincided with running apps that caused Mac OS X to automatically switch graphics processing from Sandy Bridge's integrated Intel graphics to the discrete GPU. The user was reportedly able to reproduce this problem on every floor model MacBook Pro at his local Apple Store.
Apple flagged the issue as a priority in its internal support database but believes that the problem lies in firmware not the GPU. This Mac OS X 10.6.7 update is believed to fix the problem. If you were experiencing these issues on your early 2011 MacBook Pro, has the update fixed it for you?
[via ArsTechnica]