Meaning of Red Apple during boot

Since I upgraded to Mavericks 10.9.3 on my Retina MBP I've intermittently gotten a red apple for a brief instant during boot! It then switches back to the normal gray. Is this an Easter egg, a bug or does anyone even know?!? This does not happen every time, but has happened several times...


Thanks!

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mavericks (10.9.3)

Posted on May 20, 2014 6:32 AM

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Posted on May 22, 2014 9:48 AM

Reset PRAM. http://support.apple.com/kb/PH4405


Screen Resolution settings are stored in PRAM.


What is stored in PRAM?

  • Speaker volume
  • Screen resolution
  • Startup disk selection
  • Recent kernel panic information, if any


http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

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May 22, 2014 9:48 AM in response to wa1oui

Reset PRAM. http://support.apple.com/kb/PH4405


Screen Resolution settings are stored in PRAM.


What is stored in PRAM?

  • Speaker volume
  • Screen resolution
  • Startup disk selection
  • Recent kernel panic information, if any


http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

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May 22, 2014 9:51 AM in response to dominic23

I had looked that up, but it doesn't answer the question whether the red apple is a problem, or just some artifact... it doesn't bother me, and hasn't seemed to affect anything else. Until I hear otherwise I'll just leave well enough alone.

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May 22, 2014 10:37 AM in response to MJ

It's most likely a corruption or fault in the GPU of your Mac. It's not a diagnostic indicator, so it doesn't "mean" anything as such but rather is a symptom of a graphics problem. If resetting the PRAM doesn't fix the problem permanently, take your Mac to an Apple Store or authorized Apple service center for diagnosis.


Regards.

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May 22, 2014 10:47 AM in response to wa1oui

Yes, as I said, it's an indication of a fault, most likely in the GPU, though it's not impossible that it's due to a corruption in the PRAM or startup data. See if resetting the PRAM cures the problem. If not, but the problem appears only on the startup screen you can probably live with it, but it's likely to at some point start affecting things elsewhere.


Regards.

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Meaning of Red Apple during boot

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