14 DAY TRIAL // Apple has released the first graphics firmware update targeting MacBook Pro 17-inch, Early 2009 users, addressing what could be described as “vertical lines or distorted graphics on the display.” The firmware update is available as a downloadable standalone installer (available here on Softpedia), or via the Software Update mechanism on MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009) machines.
Earlier this month, Softpedia reported that Discussions poster forcefedmedia, a camera operator and video editor, had been in the possession of one 17-inch Pro for just three days when he started noticing green lines showing on the notebook's screen soon after enabling the powerhouse graphics. Several other 17-inch Pro users followed in, telling the same story, while the issue seemed to be cooling-related – not a GPU problem. User Christian Siebe, for example, said, “I've got the exact same problem, with a 3 day old Unibody 17", 2,93 GHz, 4GB ram, matte display. Problem disappears for a while with a restart. Seems like the 9400 is unaffected.”
Apple's Support section now reveals that all 17-inch, unibody MacBook Pro users are advised to download and install the update. According to Apple, “this firmware update is recommended for all 17-inch MacBook Pro (Early 2009) users and addresses the appearance of vertical lines or distorted graphics on the notebook display.”
The company behind the Mac operating system then links to an additional Support piece outlining the particularities of the new firmware, and the steps users must follow to install and use the update. The steps are more widely detailed here.
Weighing in at 770KB, the MacBook Pro Graphics Firmware Update 1.0 is to be installed on 17-inch Pros running Mac OS X 10.5.6, and supports several different languages, including Deutsch, English, Français, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Español, Italiano, Nederlands, Dansk, Norsk Bokmål, Polski, Português, Pусский, Suomi, Svensk, Japanese, etc.