MATLAB problems after Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 16 or Java for OS X 2013-004 are installed

After the latest round of Apple’s Java updates, some Java-based applications began exhibiting problems. At my shop, MATLAB was one of the applications that was affected by this.

The root cause was discussed and identified in this StackOverflow thread and appears to affect Swing applications, including MATLAB.

Symptoms

After applying Apple’s Java For Mac OSX 10.6. Update 16 to a 10.6.x Mac, or Java for OS X 2013-004 to a 10.7.x – 10.8.x Mac, MATLAB 2012b and below stops functioning correctly. You can open the program but it does not register any mouse or keyboard interaction until the window is resized.

Status as of Friday, June 21

After speaking with Mathworks support, I tested and verified the following:

MATLAB R2011a runs in Mac OS X 10.6.8, 10.7.5 and 10.8.4 with the latest Apple Java updates installed.

MATLAB R2013a runs in Mac OS X 10.7.5 and 10.8.4 with the latest Apple Java updates installed. MATLAB R2013a does not support 10.6.8.

At the moment, here are the options that appear to be available:

For 10.6.x: MATLAB users should install and use MATLAB R2011a

For 10.7.x – 10.8.x: MATLAB users should upgrade to MATLAB R2013a if possible. If not possible to upgrade to 2013a for code compatibility reasons, MATLAB users should install and use MATLAB R2011a.

Other options may include trying to roll back Java to the previous version, but that can cause other issues. I don’t recommend trying that unless neither MATLAB R2013a or MATLAB R2011a are viable options.

Update – Friday, June 21 at 5:15 PM EDT

It looks like Apple has resolved this issue by posting new versions of the Java For Mac OSX 10.6. Update 16 and Java for OS X 2013-004 installers:

Java for OS X 2013-004 – http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1572
Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 16 – http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1573

I’ve tested the newly rev’d Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 16 update on 10.6.8 and MATLAB R2012b. The new update allowed MATLAB R2012b to run normally again. I still need to test 10.7.5 and 10.8.4, but this looks promising.

Update – Friday, June 21 at 9:40 PM EDT

I’ve now tested the new revision of the Java for OS X 2013-004 update on Mac OS X 10.7.5 and 10.8.4, both times with MATLAB R2012b. The new update allowed MATLAB R2012b to run normally again on both OSs.