Apple today shared a support article that offers users of the new 12-inch MacBook assistance getting around a bug involving Setup Assistant. According to the article, some users have had the spinning beach ball appear during the initial setup of their MacBook.
Apple is suggesting that users who get stopped by this bug to either wait 30 minutes for setup to resume, or to complete the Setup Assistant process without connecting to the internet. If the user chooses the latter option, they must reboot their machine after running Setup Assistant and choose a network after the laptop restarts. From there, they will be able setup iCloud and other services.
Apple writes:
You can read our review of the 2015 12-inch MacBook here. It’s worth noting that when I went through the setup process on my MacBook, I did not run into this bug, so it’s unclear how widespread it actually is.
If your MacBook stops responding and shows a spinning wheel after you create a user account in Setup Assistant, simply allow setup to continue. The setup process will resume after about 30 minutes.
You can avoid this delay if you complete Setup Assistant without connecting to the Internet. When Setup Assistant prompts you to select your Wi-Fi network, click Continue without selecting a network. If you have an Ethernet adapter, disconnect it before you start the setup process. After you complete Setup Assistant, restart your Mac. Now you can join your Wi-Fi network or connect your Ethernet adaptor, as well as set up iCloud.
If you restart your Mac during setup
If you restart your Mac during setup, the Setup Assistant will appear again. If you continue setup and see a message that the user account you’re trying to create already exists, create a temporary user account to finish setup.
I ran into this with all 3 of my MacBooks http://t.co/nMASIraxv9
— Michael Kukielka (@DetroitBORG) April 22, 2015