Apple told developers that the first update to OS Yosemite will include changes to Wi-Fi, a hopeful sign for customers who have reported that the new OS crippled their Internet connections.
Yosemite 10.10.1, which was seeded Monday to registered developers only, will include changes to the Notification Center and to Wi-Fi, according to several Apple-centric blogs, including MacRumors. Computerworld confirmed the beta availability and its areas of focus.
Although Apple does not detail changes prior to publicly launching an update, the appearance of Wi-Fi on the short list may provide Yosemite users some solace if not an immediate solution.
The discussion forums on Apple's support site have continued to accumulate large numbers of messages from users who say that their Wi-Fi connections haven't worked reliably since they upgraded to OS X Yosemite.
As of late Monday, the largest thread dedicated to wireless networking problems contained more than 770 messages and had been viewed nearly 104,000 times, large numbers for Apple's peer-to-peer support.
Reports of connectivity issues cropped up within hours of Apple releasing Yosemite on Oct. 16, and have continued to pour in since.
"I am a Cisco- and Unix-qualified software engineer and have tried every trick in the book since Yosemite's release and I don't think I'm going to find a easy solution as I think this is a serious hardware-software conflict," said kevinski_uk in a Nov. 3 message. "Apple have basically rendered my [MacBook Pro] useless unless I downgrade to 10.9.3."
Some users have had success implementing one or more of the seemingly endless suggestions that have piled up on that thread, others on Apple's support site and on third-party blogs. Turning Bluetooth off on nearby Macs and iOS devices has worked for some, for example, but not for all. Others reported having Wi-Fi connectivity problems with OS X Mavericks as well, but that conditions sharply deteriorated once Yosemite had been installed.
"Tried everything in the book ... many things seem to provide a temporary respite, which is even more peculiar," said OceanDrifter.
Those who had contacted Apple support have reported that they've provided system and connectivity data to the company's engineers, with some concluding that meant Apple was working on a fix.
But Apple's secrecy -- it rarely acknowledges bugs or discusses fixes-in-progress -- has infuriated many. "Honestly, they need to start by admitting there's an issue. It's seriously upsetting that they have said nothing!" asserted janiceva.
Among Computerworld staffers who ran Yosemite developer previews prior to the launch, some encountered no Wi-Fi problems while others had serious issues through the first several iterations of the summer's beta, with Wi-Fi connectivity becoming stable late in the preview process and remaining so with the final code.
It's impossible to predict when Apple will release Yosemite 10.10.1 to the public, as the company declines to disclose dates. The first update to 2013's Mavericks appeared eight weeks after the operating system's debut; in 2012, Apple shipped the first update to Mountain Lion four weeks after that edition's release.