Apple software update kills MacBook [Update]

[Update: Problem solved - Read solution at the bottom of the article]

Apple recently released an update for airport. The update is called “AirPort Update 2006-001” I decided to install it tonight on my 2.0GHz MacBook, when the auto updater popped up. After installation it asked to reboot.

I rebooted, but the system never came back up. Instead of the wonderful OS X desktop, all I saw was a white blank screen at first. It looked strange, and the longer I looked at it, I noticed that different colored vertical lines were starting to appear. After about a minute or so, there were hundreds of lines going down the screen.

I forced a shutdown by holding the power button, and booted up again. Same thing. Shit! So, knowing that the next step would be to reset the PRAM, I did just that. No luck.

MacBook users beware! The AIRPORT UPDATE 2006-001 could potentially kill your computer! Can anyone confirm if this has happened to anyone else?

Here are the screenshots

Ouch!

Update:

I called Apple this morning, and they were able to help me even without the extended AppleCare. They had me reset the MacBook’s PMU, which fixed the problem. The Apple tech said that this is a problem that Apple is now fully aware of. It’s been happening to people when they are rebooting or shutting down after updates, or even just completely randomly. It is a problem with the screen resolution, and currently, resetting the PMU is the only solution.

Here is the Apple article on resetting the MacBook PMU.