Can't access apple.com on chrome or safari???

[Loa]

Hello,

I've been having trouble accessing apple.com for a while now. Haven't been able to access the site on Chrome for a couple of months now, and even Safari is hit and miss. Every other website works fine.

Any ideas?

Loa

P.S. 1st gen Mac Studio running MacOS 12.5.1, Chrome and Safari updated.

[Edit: problem solved, *probably* by changing DNS settings.]

 

[HDFan]

What happens when you try to access them?

What Safari extensions do you have installed?

What network programs do you have installed (anti-virus, little snitch, etc.)?

 

[bogdanw]

P.S. 1st gen Mac Studio running MacOS 12.5.1, Chrome and Safari updated.

Update to macOS 12.6.7

 

[Loa]

What happens when you try to access them?

What Safari extensions do you have installed?

What network programs do you have installed (anti-virus, little snitch, etc.)?

On Chrome: just stall as if my internet connection was really really slow, but never loads. On Safari: sometimes it loads slow, sometimes not at all.

Only extension on Safari was Folx. I've removed it: not change after app restart.

I got a few extensions on Chrome though, all of which I use.

I got no networking programs.

Update to macOS 12.6.7

I could give that a try, but for years now I've been on a "If it's not broken, don't update" policy with my macs. I can see how the update "could" help with Safari, but with Chrome?

 

[bogdanw]

I could give that a try, but for years now I've been on a "If it's not broken, don't update" policy with my macs. I can see how the update "could" help with Safari, but with Chrome?

But it is broken, that’s why it was fixed eight times since then
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacOS_Monterey#Release_history
Apple has fixed so many “actively exploited” vulnerabilities in the last year that I’ve lost count.
Fixes put in place to mitigate them might affect systems that have not been updated.


You could also try to change DNS settings https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/change-dns-settings-network-preferences-mac-mh14127/mac
public DNS Servers
Cloudflare
1.1.1.1, 1.0.0.1
Google
8.8.8.8, 8.8.4.4
OpenDNS
208.67.222.222, 208.67.220.220

Don’t forget to disable iCloud Private Relay https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212614 and Hide IP address https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/privacy-sfri35610/mac
and turn "Use Secure DNS" off https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/10468685?hl=en

 

[Loa]

But it is broken, that’s why it was fixed eight times since then

I understant that. But an OS that is somehow broken in a way that prevents users from accessing a single website, the company's own website, it's just... beyond crazy! (Especially since that same company does everything it can to prevent OS downgrading if upgrading doesn't fix things.)

I'll try changing the DNS settings and if it doesn't work, I'll upgrade.

Thanks.

 

[Boyd01]

I understant that. But an OS that is somehow broken in a way that prevents users from accessing a single website, the company's own website, it's just... beyond crazy!

FWIW, I am also on MacOS 12.5.1 and have never had problems accessing apple.com with either Safari or Chrome, so I don't think it's "broken". But the big difference is that I'm using a 2018 Intel Mini. If something is broken, it's probably related to your Apple Silicon Mac and it's possible that upgrading would fix that.

 

[Loa]

Well, updating to 13.4.1 did NOT solve the issues.
After upgrading, I was able to access apple.com once on chrome. Doesn't work anymore. Nor on Safari...

 

[Loa]

More info: I downloaded Firefox and tried apple.com. Worked once flawlessly, but not a second time. Not working at all right now. All other sites work perfectly on all 3 browsers.

What the heck is this bug?

 

[Boyd01]

Might be some hint if you go to the Firefox developer tools - click the 3-bar menu > more tools > web developer tools, then click the console tab. When I go to apple.com in Safari and look at the console, there are no errors. But this is just a portion of the many console messages in Firefox, although the site still works fine for me. I don't really use Firefox but believe yellow alerts are not as serious as actual errors, which would be shown in red.

 

[MacCheetah3]

First, I would try a ping (because it should be a quick check):

How to Do a Ping Test on a Mac Computer : HelloTech How

Learn how to do a ping test on your Mac computer, and how you can read the results to troubleshoot latency issues.

www.hellotech.com

Then, if the above appears fine:

How to Run a Traceroute on a Mac : HelloTech How

Learn how to run a traceroute on a Mac, so you can pinpoint the cause of your network and internet issues.

www.hellotech.com

 

[Reverend Benny]

Are you using any 3rd party apps such as "focus" that can block specific sites?
How about screentime? Been changing any settings there?

Are you able to try a different network connection, such as using your phone as a hotspot or similar (to rule out connectivity issues)

I would guess its a software and/or setting blocking it.

 

[Loa]

I'll give those a try, but a quick test showed that apple.com doesn't load on chrome either on my main computer (studio) or my old 2015 macbook pro laptop.

But on Safari, this morning at least, it loaded fine ONCE on both machines. Now neither can load the site on safari.

I tried using my old iPod touch: on safari and chrome, nothing loads on apple.com, other websites work fine.

 

[bogdanw]

Your router is the most likely cause. Change the DNS servers in the router.

 

[rpmurray]

You didn't mention whether or not you tried the ping and traceroute that @MacCheetah3 suggested.

 

[Loa]

Here's the result of the ping:

--- apple.com ping statistics ---
50 packets transmitted, 50 packets received, 0.0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 20.022/23.493/38.739/3.596 ms

As for the traceroute, as far as I can understand the hellotech explanations, the results seem normal:
1 emg2926 (192.168.0.76) 0.843 ms 0.323 ms 0.266 ms
2 modemcable001.47-177-173.mc.videotron.ca (173.177.47.1) 11.034 ms 10.700 ms 13.223 ms
3 10.170.192.246 (10.170.192.246) 16.468 ms 15.167 ms 12.480 ms
4 216.113.122.1 (216.113.122.1) 22.579 ms 19.781 ms 19.734 ms
5 17.1.146.62 (17.1.146.62) 35.198 ms 23.272 ms 19.972 ms
6 17.253.144.10 (17.253.144.10) 19.722 ms !Z 18.982 ms !Z 25.112 ms !Z

 

[MacCheetah3]

Here's the result of the ping:

--- apple.com ping statistics ---
50 packets transmitted, 50 packets received, 0.0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 20.022/23.493/38.739/3.596 ms

As for the traceroute, as far as I can understand the hellotech explanations, the results seem normal:
1 emg2926 (192.168.0.76) 0.843 ms 0.323 ms 0.266 ms
2 modemcable001.47-177-173.mc.videotron.ca (173.177.47.1) 11.034 ms 10.700 ms 13.223 ms
3 10.170.192.246 (10.170.192.246) 16.468 ms 15.167 ms 12.480 ms
4 216.113.122.1 (216.113.122.1) 22.579 ms 19.781 ms 19.734 ms
5 17.1.146.62 (17.1.146.62) 35.198 ms 23.272 ms 19.972 ms
6 17.253.144.10 (17.253.144.10) 19.722 ms !Z 18.982 ms !Z 25.112 ms !Z

Yeah, those look fine.

So, (immediately) after running those successful ping and traceroute tests, apple.com still did not load in a Web browser?

 

[Loa]

The problem is intermittent. So this morning it wouldn't load but gave these results. Tonight the site loads consistently.

???

 

[Loa]

Still working. Maybe because I changed the DNS settings? I guess I'll never really know!

Thanks for the help.

 

[MacCheetah3]

Maybe because I changed the DNS settings? I guess I'll never really know!

The problem did seem like it involved DNS. However, the behavior being intermittent is strange (to me). I’ve had ISP DNS failures/quirkiness in the past, requiring me to (at least temporarily) switch to public DNS servers (as mentioned by @bogdanw ). But the issue was not intermittent and effected all devices on my home Wi-Fi network.

Nevertheless, I hope the problem doesn’t return for you.

 

[Reverend Benny]

You didn't mention what router you are using.
Some come with built in features such as antivirus, webprotection and all sorts of stuff.
Also, while you're at it, have a look for updates for your router, its always good to keep them updated.

 

[Loa]

Still working as of this moment, no more delay or failures to connect to apple.com.

As for the router, it's a pretty old router that came from my ISP (Videotron, in Quebec): zyxel emg 2926

I haven't messed with it in years and I'm not even sure I still have the admin password! I'll try and access it to see if there's an update.

 

[bogdanw]

As for the router, it's a pretty old router that came from my ISP (Videotron, in Quebec): zyxel emg 2926
I haven't messed with it in years and I'm not even sure I still have the admin password! I'll try and access it to see if there's an update.

"Default ZyXEL credentials are admin/1234"
https://mysupport.zyxel.com/hc/en-u...irmware-be-upgraded-updated-on-the-EMG-series
ZyXEL in the news https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tag/zyxel/