Apple Releases iMac Graphics Firmware Update to Address Freezing Issues

imacApple today released iMac Graphic FW Update 3.0, a new firmware update to address issues which could cause users' machines to freeze up.

About iMac Graphic FW Update 3.0

This firmware update fixes a graphics issue that may cause an iMac to hang under certain conditions.

Do not shut off the power on your iMac during this update. Loss of power could result in your iMac failing to start up.

The update weighs in at 482 KB and requires OS X Lion. Apple does not specify exactly which iMac models require the update, so users should run Software Update to see if the download appears for their specific machines.

Discussion forums on Apple's site and elsewhere have been filling with numerous reports of freezing issues on iMac models under OS X Lion. It is unclear if this update is designed to target the exact issues being reported in those complaints, but it seems reasonable to speculate that Apple is indeed looking to solve at least some of those problems.

Related Roundup: iMac
Buyer's Guide: iMac (Buy Now)
Related Forum: iMac

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

20 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Monday December 16, 2024 8:55 am PST by
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
iphone 16 apple intelligence

Apple Drops Plans for iPhone Hardware Subscription Service

Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by
Apple is no longer planning to launch a hardware subscription service that would let customers "subscribe" to get a new iPhone each year, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman first shared rumors about Apple's work on a hardware subscription service back in 2022, and at the time, he said that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to gain...
blackmagic vision pro

Blackmagic Debuts $30K 3D Camera for Capturing Video for Vision Pro

Monday December 16, 2024 4:17 pm PST by
Blackmagic today announced that its URSA Cine Immersive camera is now available for pre-order, with deliveries set to start late in the first quarter of 2025. Blackmagic says that this is the world's first commercial camera system designed to capture 3D content for the Vision Pro. The URSA Cine Immersive camera was first introduced in June, but it has not been available for purchase until...
mac pro creativity

Apple Launched the Controversial 'Trashcan' Mac Pro 11 Years Ago Today

Thursday December 19, 2024 7:00 pm PST by
Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup. The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of ...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 2 Redux

Top 5 Apple Products to Look Forward to in 2025

Friday December 20, 2024 2:22 pm PST by
It's looking like 2025 is going to be an important year for Apple, with the company planning to revamp the iPhone, push further into smart home products, and improve Apple Intelligence. There are tons of new products rumored for 2025, including new iPhones, M4 Macs, a smart home command center, and much more. We've highlighted the top five Apple products that will have the biggest impact in...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

New Apple TV Rumored to Launch Next Year With These Features

Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year. Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Rumored to Stick With 'Triangular' Camera Design

Wednesday December 18, 2024 2:36 am PST by
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...
elevation lab airtag battery

Your AirTag's Battery Will Last for Up to 10 Years With Elevation Lab's New TimeCapsule Enclosure

Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:05 am PST by
Elevation Lab today announced the launch of TimeCapsule, an innovative and simple solution for increasing the battery life of Apple's AirTag. Priced at $20, TimeCapsule is an AirTag enclosure that houses two AA batteries that offer 14x more battery capacity than the CR2032 battery that the AirTag runs on. It works by attaching the AirTag's upper housing to the built-in custom contact in the...

Top Rated Comments

sinisterdesign Avatar
174 months ago
huh, 10.7.1 fixed this for me. it was playing video content, any video that locked it down hard. add the added new "feature" of restoring windows on restart and you can find yourself in some furious curse-laden rants.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rjc101 Avatar
174 months ago
From the installer script, this only applies only to iMac Model ID "iMac12,1" which I think is the current 21.5" iMac (Mid 2011) ?
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
devianter Avatar
174 months ago
I have a 24" iMac. First generation aluminum 2.8GHz with Radeon 2600HD. Those machines had major graphics card freezing issues that were addressed by 2 firmware updates. Anytime I woke my machine from sleep I would see the last screensaver image and a cursor but couldn't get back to the desktop. Other times it would just freeze up. Only way out of it was to hard boot it by holding down the power button to shut down and then reboot it.

oh god i hear ya. i remember i bought the first aluminum imac 24" in august 2007, it had tiger back then. then leopard came out, and EVERY goddamn animation would just freeze the machine. mouse not moving, nothing. and by animation i mean anything, even minimizing or opening a stack folder in dock, or the dock magnifier. it had to be hard resetted. after 2 weeks they released the firmware update and it works well till this day (4 years).
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
roland.g Avatar
174 months ago
I have a 24" iMac. First generation aluminum 2.8GHz with Radeon 2600HD. Those machines had major graphics card freezing issues that were addressed by 2 firmware updates. Anytime I woke my machine from sleep I would see the last screensaver image and a cursor but couldn't get back to the desktop. Other times it would just freeze up. Only way out of it was to hard boot it by holding down the power button to shut down and then reboot it.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mbarriault Avatar
174 months ago
Early 2010, 27" with Core i5 and Radeon 4850. Nothing in Software Update.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rjc101 Avatar
174 months ago
Apparently not. Mine didn't need an update. Maybe it's just for the low-end 6750M models?
The installer script checks for Mac ID "iMac12,1", Graphics Card ROM "113-C2950K-193" and an OS X version of 10.7 with a build of 11A511 so it reads as though it won't run on 10.7.1

Must be for one of them!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)