14 DAY TRIAL // Intel has confirmed that a fix is on the way for customers experiencing flickering on external monitors connected to late-2012 Mac minis via HDMI. Apple will most likely incorporate the fix in its OS X 10.8.3 update.
Answering questions from concerned customers, Intel confirms on its forums that the company’s engineering team is working on a patch.
“We are aware of the flickering issue, and there will be a fix provided in the future. The overall flicker issue is also being addressed here; http://communities.intel.com/thread/32932,” writes Nic, an Intel staffer / moderator.
Nic confirms that, “Apple will provide the driver with the fix when they are done configuring our driver (that has the fix). An ETA on this is currently unknown.”
In other words, expect the patch to arrive in the form of OS X 10.8.3, the next incremental update for the Mountain Lion operating system. Which is not very reassuring, since Apple has just commenced testing on the first beta build.
Usually Apple takes a couple of months to finalize development on a new system update, but it’s not a must with every seed. If OS X 10.8.3 contains more than one such burning patch, you can expect it to drop even early next month.
Not surprisingly, according to the seed note accompanying OS X 10.8.3 Mountain Lion Build 12D32, developers have been asked to focus their testing efforts on Game Center, AirPort, AirPlay, and (drumroll) graphics drivers.
Intel’s chipsets are likely not the only ones in need of maintenance, as Apple also uses solutions from NVIDIA and AMD to provide crisp visuals on its Macs.
However, there’s a good chance the mothership has already instructed developers to investigate the matter acknowledged by Intel on their forums. The issue could well be patched in the next 10.8.3 beta seed.