Filed under: Internet, Internet Tools, .Mac
.Mac mail down, speculations abound
If you're a .Mac mail user, then you probably know that .Mac's mail system has been down for almost 6 hours. According to the .Mac system status, 100% of users are experiencing the problems. Here's what Apple says: 100% of members might experience slower than normal response when using IMAP mail. Mail can be sent and received using .Mac webmail. Normal service will be restored ASAP.
This comes after .Mac has been rumored to undergo re-branding around the time of WWDC (which is next Monday).
Update (8:38p EST): Apple just updated the system status to report that some may not be able to access the .Mac welcome page. Stay tuned to TUAW for updates on the .Mac outage.
Update (9:37p EST): Apple is telling users that they can access the .Mac mail by using the webmail system; however, most users cannot access the entire .Mac website. We're currently experiencing a "504 Gateway Timeout" error when trying to load both the homepage and webmail. Looks as though the same services are down.
Update (10:40p EST): Some commenters are noting that they are now able to retrieve their .Mac mail. Apple has yet to update the .Mac system status.
Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Sal said 9:18PM on 6-02-2008
No wonder. Mobileme or me here we go...
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Ryan Orlick said 9:28PM on 6-02-2008
I was wondering why my mail wasn't working. It just keeps asking for my password.
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Deef said 9:31PM on 6-02-2008
wow i think my head is going to explode waiting for it to come back on
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KennyB said 9:32PM on 6-02-2008
--==Workaround==---
https://www.mac.com/
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JKT said 9:32PM on 6-02-2008
mac.com is not working. Not a valid workaround. Tried it.
JKT said 9:32PM on 6-02-2008
I received e-mail as recently as 7PM EDT, so not all systems have been down for 6 hours. However, all accesses since then have been hung up.
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KennyB said 9:35PM on 6-02-2008
Keep Refreshing, I was able to login. But no email access.
allout said 9:34PM on 6-02-2008
http://mac.com is down
must be MobileMe
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allout said 9:35PM on 6-02-2008
sorry, https://mac.com/ is down too
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PGMartin said 9:35PM on 6-02-2008
Hum... just posted a comment here using my .mac address as a new user login... I guess I'll never have access to the link that is required to confirm my comment !!
I'm part of those who aren't able to access .mac mail neither from a mail client nor the webmail service since about about 3 or 4 pm (EST). Can't even access the service home page. Frustrating...
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mike said 9:36PM on 6-02-2008
if it's really me.com... or mobileme.com... they'll have to lower the price to compensate for the horrible branding.
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JKT said 9:37PM on 6-02-2008
And as soon as we all start posting, I'm suddenly receiving SMTP mail from .Mac again. Whee!
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KennyB said 9:37PM on 6-02-2008
or..... try
http://17.250.248.32
DNS issues???
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mike said 9:41PM on 6-02-2008
maybe it was those stupid kids that punked comcast... maybe they're bored and high again and have nothing to eat so they're causing more 'cyberterror' upon us!
PSM said 10:23PM on 6-02-2008
When I use that link I get to a healthy-looking .Mac page showing I have 5 unread emails, but then when I click on mail it takes me back to the "mail unavailable" page.
TUAW, if you can do anything for the Mac community, please use your influence to shame Apple into providing respectable service for .Mac customers. I have never had an email account in all my life that was down so often for so long, and where the provider showed no concern if its users could access their email or not.
Seth A said 9:39PM on 6-02-2008
Ahh, so that is why I didn't get that email. Lol. Well, good thing it wasn't that important. You would think they would wait to do something like this until like 1 AM, although, I got emails up till around 6:30 CST, so it hasn't been 6 hours for me.
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Ominx said 9:41PM on 6-02-2008
Back up for me. Still .Mac.
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Keir said 9:42PM on 6-02-2008
Whoopee...
The new name(s) (MobileMe, Me) are pretty crappy and now we have to put up with this ridiculous downtime without any warning or any reasonable response from Apple, and we're the one's paying them for this "service".
Not impressed Apple. Sure there are those people who are having heart palpitations at the mere thought of an overhaul to the service, but personally, I would like to be able to check my email. Clearly I'm asking a little too much.
Sure, I use Apple hardware and software, and most of the time enjoy using them (in the items i've purchased that haven't had physical issues...not many) but is the standard level of secrecy really necessary for a bit of an (overdue) upgrade for what is really just an email/gallery/sync service.
Just release it, and get it working please :)
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Aloysius Snuffleupagus said 9:42PM on 6-02-2008
Fun and all to speculate what's going on under the hood... but... my mail has been down all day!! I use it, y'know, for work! C'mon, Apple! If this is the least bit intentional (I'm not convinced it is) then do it in the middle of the night! Urg!
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Keir said 9:48PM on 6-02-2008
I'm in the UK and experiencing the same issues.
I'm not sure it's *really* an internationalized service in the same way Yahoo is.