Try as I might I cannot at the moment load any Apple web page, either in the US or Australia, using either Safari or Firefox (which I occasionally engage when Safari splutters) on my late 2013 iMac OS 10.11.2

I’ve turned off ad blocking extensions (Ghostery, Scamzapper etc), tried various user agents in the Safari Develop menu and turned off Little Snitch network filter. The page loads about 25% of the progress bar but no content and then stops. No “safari cannot load page” dialog or anything. Non Apple sites are fine.

However I can load any Apple site with my iPhone or iPad via my normal WiFi network. Logically this all seems to point to some system setting/ blocking issue specific to my iMac. I’m now at my wits end (such as they are) and would be grateful for any advice…

Have you tried disabling all extensions? You can do that from the Develop menu. Refresh the page after it's done.

Jon, just tried disabling extensions (from the Develop menu). Only difference was progress bar reached about 50% but still no content loaded. Is it *irony* that I was just trying to track the delivery of an iPhone from the Australian Apple Store?!

To narrow the solution space…

• Try a different browser. Google Chrome or Firefox come to mind
• Logon to a different account on your computer and try from there
• Try a different DNS server from this list

Have you given your unloaded pages a substantial opportunity to time out?

I've run into some unusually long pre-pop-up stalls lately.

Sounds like it may be an Apple problem, although their pages load fine for me in NYC.

Thank you both artie505 and joemikeb for your advice which has narrowed the solution space to zero and I now know that my new iPhone is in transit.

I had previously allowed a substantial timeout period for both Safari and Firefox. Logging into the guest user account didn't fix it. However the process of logging back into my own account *has* solved the problem and Apple web pages now load satisfactorily. Logging out and back in seems like a good troubleshooting tool to add to the arsenal and a lot quicker than a restart

It's still a mystery to me why, whatever the issue was, it only affected Apple sites. I don't want to think about it!

Logging out/in can be helpful, but it's generally reserved for situations in which you question your boot account; it doesn't get as deeply into OS X as does restarting, which in turn doesn't get as deeply into OS X as does shutting down/powering up.

I treat it as my first option only when it's apparently called for. (Also, I prefer my test user account to be pristine, so I trash/recreate it every time I log in to it....makes it a time-costly option.)

I'm happy to hear that you're back up and running (and that your new iPhone is on the way).

Andy, I suspect that your computer's HD file became corrupt, such that it thought you were in North America. Accordingly, it was spinning backwards. Once you logged out & back in, the HD reversed its spin and all was put to right.

Nice one Harv, very creative. Good to know that a HD must spin backwards to work in North America

Does this also mean that I will get younger if I fly continuously westwards? I might get younger but I would soon get sick of airline food!

On a slightly more serious note, the issue re-occurred this morning but was fixed with a Restart. Hmm. I'm beginning to suspect that Little Snitch is the culprit and I have at some point inadvertently created a rule and/or denied an important Apple connection attempt in frustration at the thousands that appear to be a routine part of the networking environment.

If a Little Snitch rule is your culprit your issue wouldn't be resolved by a restart.

If you like, though, you can try disabling LS by toggling it in its Preferences > General pane.

In Australia, hard drives must be installed upside down.

Andy, as this problem is not limited to Safari, I wonder if the User or OS is at fault. To wit, if you create a new User and log in as that, does the problem persist?

Also, when you last upgraded your OS, was it via the Incremantal or Combo method? Reinstalling the Combo often resolves assorted ills and almost never makes matters worse. IMNHO, it's worth a try.

Parenthetically, as a child, my wife spent a year in Western Australia, and has many fond memories of such. Well, maybe not of Witchitty grubs...😱

Harv, this particular user is often at fault and not just at the keyboard I have tried logging on as a guest user and this didn't solve the problem; I may be wrong but I have assumed that a guest user, which does not seem to have admin privileges, would be OK for this purpose. Logging out and back in from my account works, at least temporarily, which suggests to me that the log OUT process clears up the nexus but whatever I do after that creates it again! I visit Apple sites very rarely so I have resolved that, before I do, I'll log off and on. Besides, my new iPhone has arrived...

Regarding OS upgrades, I've always used the App Store update process. I've often read about installing Combo updates to solve issues but I don't think this one is serious enough for that. I wonder what will come after El Capitan - El Nino perhaps?

I'm a long way from Western Australia. Too hot, sandy and windy for me. Wichetty grubs are high protein indigenous snack food and I understand are only palatable if liberally smeared with Soy or Sweet Chilli sauce. Unless you were bushwacked, why on earth would you eat moth larvae? I sympathise with your wife if she was ever presented with one...

This sounds like it may be a cache issue, and since you haven't mentioned having addressed the possibility I'll suggest that you d/l OnyX (donationware) - Be certain to get the version that's appropriate for your version of OS X! - and run its cache clearing routine.