One of the biggest challenges that Apple’s engineers seem to be up against in OS X is maintaining Wi-Fi stability, where quite often users will find their Macs unable to connect to Wi-Fi routers, or have an inability to maintain connections with these routers and other Wi-Fi devices.
This issue seems to especially happen after updates, where after applying new software patches or even major OS upgrades from Apple, Wi-Fi connections may suddenly start dropping off, or require full configuration resets before they start working acceptably.
The 10.10.2 pre-release software update has an emphasis on Wi-Fi testing.
Of course an update may not fix the specific issues that you are experiencing, and in some rare cases might even add a problem or two, but what this hopefully means is that if you have been experiencing problems with your Wi-Fi connections in OS X after upgrading to Yosemite, and these have so far not been addressed by updates or troubleshooting efforts, then perhaps wait to see if the upcoming 10.10.2 update will fix the issues at hand.
I see plenty of folks expressing issues with wi-fi problems since upgrading to Yosemite, but I had the same problem late in the development of Mavericks.
About a 5-6 weeks ago my 2013 iMac could not stay connected to the wi-fi. I had no trouble connecting and staying connected with my iPhone, iPad, Apple TV (all in the same room), and my daughter had no issues with her Asus laptop or my wife with her iPad.
I then broke out my 3+ year old MacBook Pro and older 24-inch iMac that had been boxed up. Updated both to Mavericks and had the same problem. The only common denominator is Mavericks and it had something to do with one of the last couple of updates to Mavericks.
You suggested that people should “perhaps” wait to see if upcoming Yosemite updates solve their problems. Like they have a choice? Their real choice was not to upgrade to OS X 10.10 in the first place until all the bugs were worked out. But that train has already left the station. If they were heedless – as most apparently were – and upgraded without a viable strategy in hand to revert to Mavericks (or earlier) if the upgrade didn’t pan out, then they are stuck – victims of their own careless haste as much as of Apple’s inadequate testing of the new OS.
Which raises another point. With the addition of Apple’s public beta program wherein perhaps a million more users were added to the testing pool, how in the heck did this WiFi problem slip through undetected and unresolved? Could it be that Apple didn’t have enough staff on hand to read the feedback all these new testers generated? It seems improbable that no one reported this issue until after Yosemite was released to the world at large. More likely Apple simply did not have the tools available to properly examine, evaluate and prioritize the added feedback. Which means a lot of people wasted their time testing Yosemite in the mistaken belief that Apple would take their work seriously. Somebody dropped the ball, big-time. Is anyone at Apple accountable any more for anything? Or has Apple really become Microsoft, as the UI of their new OS suggests? Sharing, as it does, the same flat design gestalt and usability shortcomings with Windows 8? Perhaps Hell has frozen over at last.
I like Mr Le Blanc’s second paragraph very much! How indeed could a million beta testers not have had issues with WiFi connectivity? (or Mail sluggishness, or ….) I think the idea of a more open beta testing pool is excellent; however, if Apple is not able to make use of the deluge of data that arrives, then what is the point? Excellent thoughts Mr La Blanc, thanks for sharing!
A very good point. And the Mail issue is yet ANOTHER one that isn’t new. Didn’t a lot of folks have issues with Mail in the update to Mavericks?
In reference to Mr Le Blanc’s comments about the Yosemite Public Beta testing, I was part of that effort and I reported six or seven issues I found. Some of them got resolved and a few are still present. I don’t know if my trouble reports directly rang any bells at Apple, or if they just helped fill an in bucket until someone found a resolution. Also as part of the Public Beta group I didn’t have any offical avenue to ask questions or to communicate with any other Beta testers via any forum. Keep in mind that as a beta tester I was bound by a NDA (Non Discloser Agreement) and could not go to non Apple websites seeking help and or answers to my questions. As part of the beta testing guidelines I (and many others) were advised not to run the beta on a “Production” computer. I ran the beta on my MacBook Pro with general web activities and light email, so maybe a lot of the issues with Yosemite appeared after the official release when people started installing Yosemite on “Production” computers.