Apple today shared a support article that offers users of the new 12-inch MacBook assistance getting around a bug involving Setup Assistant. According to the article, some users have had the spinning beach ball appear during the initial setup of their MacBook.
Apple is suggesting that users who get stopped by this bug to either wait 30 minutes for setup to resume, or to complete the Setup Assistant process without connecting to the internet. If the user chooses the latter option, they must reboot their machine after running Setup Assistant and choose a network after the laptop restarts. From there, they will be able setup iCloud and other services.
Apple writes:
Allow Setup Assistant to complete
If your MacBook stops responding and shows a spinning wheel after you create a user account in Setup Assistant, simply allow setup to continue. The setup process will resume after about 30 minutes.
You can avoid this delay if you complete Setup Assistant without connecting to the Internet. When Setup Assistant prompts you to select your Wi-Fi network, click Continue without selecting a network. If you have an Ethernet adapter, disconnect it before you start the setup process. After you complete Setup Assistant, restart your Mac. Now you can join your Wi-Fi network or connect your Ethernet adaptor, as well as set up iCloud.
If you restart your Mac during setup
If you restart your Mac during setup, the Setup Assistant will appear again. If you continue setup and see a message that the user account you’re trying to create already exists, create a temporary user account to finish setup.
You can read our review of the 2015 12-inch MacBook here. It’s worth noting that when I went through the setup process on my MacBook, I did not run into this bug, so it’s unclear how widespread it actually is.
I ran into this with all 3 of my MacBooks http://t.co/nMASIraxv9
— Michael Kukielka (@DetroitBORG) April 22, 2015
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bought a 2015 15″ mbp last month and encountered this exact issue. waited a long while, rebooted and the issue did not recur, setup completed normally.
Same here. Had issues with number of MacBook AIr and Pro in the last months, I’m going to blame Yosemite, because that’s where issue occurs. I was hoping this would be sorted in 10.10.3, I’m wondering what version of OS X these macbooks are arriving with?
Just a fun fact for those of you who are learning their new MacBook: don’t freak out if it starts going slow sometimes. It’s 100% annoying 100% of the time, but most of them can be easily fixed unlike Windows. I switched because of the functionality that Apple offers. There’s free software available on http://www.detoxmacbook.com that will make it run like new again and maintain it :) Just stay on top of that clutter!
Just a fun fact for those of you who are learning their new MacBook: don’t freak out if it starts going slow sometimes. It’s 100% annoying 100% of the time, but most of them can be easily fixed unlike Windows. I switched because of the functionality that Apple offers. There’s free software available on DETOXMYMAC (dot) org that will make it run like new again and maintain it :) Just stay on top of that clutter!
This is ridiculous. Those workarounds live up to their name, too. I’m noticing a very clear similarity between Windows’ reputation and the current state of products. I’m ready to toss my Apple TV through the window, I nearly put my 6 Plus through a wall a few days ago, and Yosemite isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, either. Why not add a crappy new-user experience to it all?
Oh please just STFU with your blame game stupidity…
Because Apple is not at fault, right? All users should be capable of fixing the licensed software themselves. Or are we supposed to just accept things that don’t function as they should?
I bumped into this problem about a month ago when setting up a new Macbook Air (not one of the models that just came out; I was probably one of the last people to get a new laptop of last year’s model). It locked up while doing the setup. I waited a while, but when it didn’t recover, I finally shut it off and started all over. And then of course ran into the problem that I couldn’t make my account because it already existed, but there was no way to use that existing account to complete the setup. I did pretty much what the advice here says, I made a second account to finish getting through setup. Then once I did, I went and deleted that account and went back to using my regular one.
I guess I’m relieved to find out it’s not that my particular laptop has a defect, though disappointed that the software had this glitch in it affecting many people.