Apple asks developers to focus on Wi-Fi in first Yosemite beta update

Apple has handed the first Mac OS X Yosemite update to developers for testing, and is reportedly asking them to focus on three areas, including Wi-Fi connectivity, which have been problematic for many users.

The OS build is labeled as version 10.10.1 (14B17), according to a note posted on Apple’s developer site, and is available currently only to registered Apple coders.

Multiple technology news sites and blogs are reporting that the release notes for the beta build are very brief, but that they include a request for testers to focus on Wi-Fi, Exchange accounts in the Mail application and the Notification Center.

The mention of Wi-Fi in the notes could mean Apple has finally recognized that Yosemite may contain a bug that causes the Wi-Fi connections of a substantial number of users to malfunction. IDG News Service, which first covered the issue five days after Yosemite’s release, and again a week later, has been unable to get a comment from Apple despite multiple attempts.

Complaints from Mac owners whose Wi-Fi went haywire or became completely useless after moving to Yosemite have been pouring into social media sites, discussion forums and blogs since the OS’s release on October 16.

On Apple’s official support forum, there are 575 threads about Internet and Wi-Fi issues in Yosemite, including one thread titled “OSX Yosemite Wifi issues” which is nearing 800 comments, and has been viewed more than 106,000 times. Another one titled “Yosemite (OS X 10.10) killed my WiFi :(“ is at almost 200 comments and has more than 32,000 views.

Complaints are varied and refer to connections that slow down to a crawl, that drop constantly or that don’t work at all. Tens of unofficial fixes and workarounds have been posted by affected users, but many of them are convoluted, requiring changes to system configurations, and often they only work for a few people. No one has seemingly been able to come up with a universal fix.

“I have tried everything [that] I have found on [the] internet and nothing helped. I am waiting for an upgrade. I hope Apple will release it asap,” wrote a Mac owner identified as “Dadulak” on Tuesday on the Apple Support site.

The site 9to5Mac has posted a screen shot of the Yosemite beta update release notes, whose content is also being reported by other outlets, including Softpedia and Apple Insider.

Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.