14 DAY TRIAL // A patch Apple has been working on for the past month or so has been released to the public in standalone form, in addition to being incorporated in Mac OS X 10.6.5 developer builds.
Following the release of Mac OS X 10.6.4, the fourth incremental update to Snow Leopard, Apple received reports of glitchy graphics, especially from Mac gamers.
Valve, the video game developer behind Steam, acknowledged the flaw in a blog post.
Soon after, Apple started working on a patch.
Last week, select Apple developers receiving Mac OS X 10.6.5 test builds began reporting the inclusion of the patch, revealing that the fifth incremental update to Snow Leopard would pack the necessary fixes.
The update, however, is now available in standalone form, ready to be downloaded.
Apple has posted one of its usual notes on the Downloads area of its Support web site where the company outlines the fixes included with the Snow Leopard Graphics Update.
“The Snow Leopard Graphics Update contains stability and performance fixes for graphics applications and games,” the Cupertino-based electronics and software vendor states.
According to the note, the update also includes fixes that:
“- address frame rate issues occurring in Portal and Team Fortress 2 on certain Macs - resolve an issue that could cause Aperture 3 or StarCraft II to unexpectedly quit or become unresponsive”
An additional technote posted by Apple yesterday lists the affected Macintosh computers, as well as additional information on the issues it resolves.
For starters, these are the Macs that need Apple’s Snow Leopard Graphics Update, as noted by the company over at its Support area. MacBook (13-inch, Early 2009), MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2010), MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2010), MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010), iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2009), Mac Pro (Early 2009), Mac mini (Early 2009), Mac OS X 10.6.4, Mac mini (Mid 2010), iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2010), iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010), MacBook (13-inch, Mid 2010)
The Mac maker doesn’t forget to include Portal, StarCraft II, and Team Fortress 2 in the list of “affected products.”
Apple then elaborates, saying that the Snow Leopard Graphics Update “Addresses frame rate issues occurring in Portal and Team Fortress 2 by Valve."
Affected systems include "iMac (Late 2009 and Mid 2010), Mac mini (Early 2009 and Mid 2010), Mac Pro (Early 2009), MacBook (Early 2009 and Mid 2010) and MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010) or MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2010) models," Appe says.
According to the technical note, the release also “resolves an issue that could cause Aperture 3, or StarCraft II by Blizzard, to unexpectedly quit or become unresponsive.”
Finally, the update fixes “an image corruption issue that may occur when disconnecting and reconnecting external displays while the system is running.”