Firmware Update Adds Lion Recovery to Early 2011 iMacs

Apple released iMac EFI Update 1.7 for early 2011 iMac models late on Wednesday. The update added Internet Lion Recovery support, and adressed Thunderbolt-related issues, too.

In addition to Lion Recovery support, the firmware update fixed issues with Thunderbolt display compatibility, and improved Thunderbolt Target Disk Mode performance.

Apple's Thunderbolt-enabled iMacApple’s Thunderbolt-enabled iMac

Internet Recovery was first introduced with the launch of the Thunderbolt-equipped Mac mini and MacBook Air. The feature lets users restore or repair a Lion installation over an Internet connection when the computer’s hard drive has failed, or a new drive has been installed, and a bootable installer ins’t available.

The update requires an early 2011 iMac with Thunderbolt port, and OS X 10.6.8 or 10.7.x.

iMac EFI Update 1.7 is free and available via the Software Update application, or as a downloadable installer at the Apple Support Web site.