Flash playback issues reported on Apple's new 27-inch iMacs
Some users of the new 27-inch iMac have expressed issues with the hardware, specifically stuttering when playing back Flash content on Apple's new desktop system.
As first noted by Engadget, two threads (1, 2) on the Apple Discussions support forums are filled with users who claim that Flash-based content on the Web makes processor use on the new 27-inch iMac spike, and the video becomes choppy.
Theories on why the issue exists are wide, with posters suggesting it could be the Flash player software, Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, or the computer's hardware. A number of users noted that running Flash videos in Windows 7 via Boot Camp allowed playback with no slowdowns, suggesting the problem could be Snow Leopard related.
By viewing the system's activity monitor, the spike in CPU and RAM usage is reportedly attributed to the Flash player, and system restarts provide only a temporary fix for some. Some users have temporarily addressed the problem by installing the ClickToFlash plugin to prevent default loading of Flash content on Web sites, and render it through HTML5.
The new 27-inch iMac can be equipped with an ATI Radeon HD 4670 or ATI Radeon HD 4850 discrete graphics card, as well as a 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.66 GHz Intel Core i5 quad-core, or a 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7 quad-core processor.
Following the release of Snow Leopard, it was revealed that the operating system upgrade shipped with an oudated version of the Adobe Flash player. The issue was addressed by Apple with the release of Mac OS X 10.6.1, less than two weeks after the launch of Snow Leopard.
As first noted by Engadget, two threads (1, 2) on the Apple Discussions support forums are filled with users who claim that Flash-based content on the Web makes processor use on the new 27-inch iMac spike, and the video becomes choppy.
Theories on why the issue exists are wide, with posters suggesting it could be the Flash player software, Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, or the computer's hardware. A number of users noted that running Flash videos in Windows 7 via Boot Camp allowed playback with no slowdowns, suggesting the problem could be Snow Leopard related.
By viewing the system's activity monitor, the spike in CPU and RAM usage is reportedly attributed to the Flash player, and system restarts provide only a temporary fix for some. Some users have temporarily addressed the problem by installing the ClickToFlash plugin to prevent default loading of Flash content on Web sites, and render it through HTML5.
The new 27-inch iMac can be equipped with an ATI Radeon HD 4670 or ATI Radeon HD 4850 discrete graphics card, as well as a 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.66 GHz Intel Core i5 quad-core, or a 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7 quad-core processor.
Following the release of Snow Leopard, it was revealed that the operating system upgrade shipped with an oudated version of the Adobe Flash player. The issue was addressed by Apple with the release of Mac OS X 10.6.1, less than two weeks after the launch of Snow Leopard.
Comments
What would be interesting is finding out what the root cause is. In any event I hope Appleinsider has future plans to rigorously bench mark on of the I based machines. I'm bery interested to hear about any thermal throttling issues these machines may have.
Dave
PCs don't seem to have a problem with flash-based content, so why is it still such an issue with Mac systems years after the fact. Now, it's just getting ridiculous.
Now before people start aiming their guns at me -- yes, flash in general is not exactly the most loved standard on the web, but that STILL does not excuse years and years and YEARS of craptacular playback on Macs.
That being said, I don't know who's more to blame, Apple or Adobe.
My guess is two fold:
1. Flash on OS X sucks
2. Apple is pissed about Flash being so poorly built that they're refusing to spend dev hours fixing issues they run into with it - OR it's simply very, very low on their priority list.
In any event I hope Appleinsider has future plans to rigorously bench mark on of the I based machines. I'm bery interested to hear about any thermal throttling issues these machines may have.
AI isn’t the best site for benchmarking reviews. I wish they would consolidate a bunch of the more reputable sites results into an article, like they do with analysts.
PS: As an aside, you and others may find this article and comparison interesting. It’s a very good comparison of pre-loaded crapeware that comes on all the major PC vendors machines.
I'd blame Adobe and/or lack of Apple-Adobe communication. Another example, right now you have to run Snow Leopard's Safari in 32-bit mode if you want to use the Adobe Reader plugin for PDFs (necessary to get some fill-in forms to display and print properly). Adobe's not keeping up.
That's exactly what it is. Jobs has admitted that he admires Microsoft's ability to work well with others. Apple is one of those companies that doesn't like to conform, and likes to do things their own way. This might be the cause of both their great products, but horrible partnering skills.
This should be fixed, definitely, but it should raise some good discussions on the topic as well.
if you run Safari in 32bit mode (get info on Safari in the finder and check "run in 32bit mode" these flash issues will be RESOLVED.
I discovered this a few weeks ago, I'm a flash developer and actually rarely use Safari and had the exact issues being described here.
Wait... hasn't flash always sucked? What's the news here?
We all know Flash is one of the worst things on OS X, Adobe is basically incompetent and unable to make any of their software work decently on the Mac platform.
PCs don't seem to have a problem with flash-based content, so why is it still such an issue with Mac systems years after the fact. Now, it's just getting ridiculous.
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Unfortunately only Adobe has the power to fix this problem. This is exactly why we shouldn't be relying on a closed source platform for a core Internet standard. Adobe ignored Flash on Linux for years and finally in the last 12-18 months has given it some attention. Now it's quite good. Flash on the Mac is a distant third in terms of performance and stability.
I have experienced problems with Flash on ALL computers!
Big surprise. It's a POS that should be banished from the web.
Generally I find that the problems most closely correlate to the limitations of the server, bandwidth problems, or poor implementation of the controls in the web site.
Of course this is independent of any temporary problems that may be occurring with the new iMac.
We all know Flash is one of the worst things on OS X, Adobe is basically incompetent and unable to make any of their software work decently on the Mac platform.
Photoshop is alright :-)
I would definitely call this an adobe issue. You can't try it on OS X and then on Windows, and conclude it's an OS X issue...the adobe flash code for those 2 platforms is probably significantly different.
he adobe flash code for those 2 platforms is significantly different.
Corrected
I wonder if apple is trying to tell us something
Hopefully it isn't the day of things just working are over.