Apple readies another crack at ending Yosemite’s Wi-Fi ills

Apple is putting the final touches on the next update to OS X Yosemite as it again tries to stamp out Wi-Fi problems customers have experienced — and reported — since the operating system launched three months ago.

In a seven-day span, Apple released two iterations of the beta of OS X 10.10.2, the first on Jan. 14, the second on Jan. 21, hinting that the final release is imminent.

Apple, like most developers, typically shortens the interval between builds the closer it comes to a final release.

As they have before, the cryptic release notes for what was pegged as build “14C106a” called out “Wi-Fi” as one of the few areas for testers to focus on, according to numerous online reports and confirmation from registered Apple developers.

On Monday, 9to5Mac.com, citing Apple employee sources, said that an even-newer beta, tagged “14C109,” is circulating within the company and comes with a claim of, “Resolves an issue that may cause Wi-Fi to disconnect.”

Mac owners who have had trouble connecting to — and staying connected to — wireless networks are hoping that 10.10.2 will finally give them relief.

“I suspect Yosemite 10.10.2 [14C106a] is nearly there as to Wi-Fi,” wrote an optimistic “hexdiy” in a message last Wednesday on Apple’s support forum.

A handful of comments that referenced earlier beta builds said things looked promising. “I installed [Jan. 14’s 14C99d] and after several days, the problem seems to have gone away,” said kbastian.

Those messages were just two of nearly 2,200 on a massive support thread opened Oct. 17, the day after Apple released Yosemite. The thread has been viewed more than 683,000 times, an extraordinary number for the Cupertino, Calif. company’s support discussion forums.

Messages from frustrated, even furious, Mac owners continue to accumulate.

“Yosemite on my machine today is almost unusable,” reported ausappleuser last week. “Will it be fixed though? I have ceased to care and will be moving on.”

“If I was Apple, I would be totally ashamed and embarrassed,” chimed in Gianvito Fanelli. “This is the third month that I CANNOT use the Internet properly. Continuous drops with a few moments of peace.”

Apple’s first crack at cleaning up the Wi-Fi disconnect mess, Yosemite 10.10.1, which was released Nov. 17, did not cure users’ Internet ills, according to reports on the same thread last year.