Apple has issued an EFI firmware update for the newly released Mac Pro, which addresses some outstanding hardware bugs that have been identified since the release of the machine.

The new Mac Pro, which was announced at WWDC in June of this year, was today made available for purchase through the Apple online store. The system introduces a radical new design twist for Apple's pro Mac systems, ditching the old aluminum chassis that was reminiscent of the initial PowerMac G5, in favor of a new, rounded, and relatively minute form factor that relies on Thunderbolt connectivity for expansion, rather than internal PCI-express slots.

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As with prior releases of new hardware, Apple has found some initial hardware bugs that need to be addressed with a quick firmware update. The update, which is a small EFI-firmware patch, improves the system's reliability during boot, addresses a problem with the built-in memory self-test that occurs on startup, and also improves graphics power handling when using Windows in Boot Camp.

The update should be available through Software Update for Mac Pro systems that need it, and since Software Update runs initially when you first create an account and log into the system, new users should see this patch immediately available to install. In addition to using the Software Update service, you can download and run the patch manually from Apple's support page (~5MB download).

Since it's a firmware update, be sure to follow all on-screen instructions for applying the patch. Your system may restart several times, and may make odd sounds and flash images on your screen during the process, so let it run its course and the system should reboot normally when finished.

While backing up your data before applying any patch is recommended, as this is available for a newly released system, you should apply the patch before migrating your data to the system, or immediately after doing so while your migrated data is still in duplicate on your older system.

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