Apple Releases Fix for MacBook Pro Hard Drive Issues

Wednesday August 19, 2009 1:58 pm PDT by Eric Slivka

Apple today released Hard Drive Firmware Update 2.0, addressing issues with certain hard drives on the latest MacBook Pros models. Apple had been reported last week to be working on the issue, which involves intermittent "beeping" noises and occasional brief system freezes on machines using 500 GB, 7200 rpm hard drives.

MacBook Pro Hard Drive Firmware Update 2.0 reduces certain infrequent noises made by 7200-rpm drives.

These drives shipped with the June 2009 MacBook Pro.

To complete the firmware update process, please follow the instructions in the updater application (/Applications/Utilities/Hard Drive Update.app).

The updater will launch automatically when the installation is complete.

New Hard Drive firmware will be: 0007APM2

As the issue was first gaining attention in the first days after release, it was judged to likely be stemming from the G-Force anti-shock protection mechanism found in the Seagate Momentus drives used by Apple. The G-Force mechanism is essentially redundant to Apple's own Sudden Motion Sensor technology included in its notebook computers, but it is unclear exactly what steps Apple took with this firmware update to address the issue.

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