swapnonil

Q: Greyish Smudge marks behind the glass screen.

I have a 21.5 iMac bought in November 2009.

There appears to be numerous greyish smudge marks behind the glass screen on the top left hand corner.

It was not apparent to me at first, but after I started using OMMWriter it became easily visible. I also tried placing a neutral white background like TextEdit and it was easily visible even then.

I have cleaned the screen on numerous occasions and it has not had any effect.

What should I do?

These spots are quite disturbing.

iMac 21.5, November 2009, Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Jan 15, 2010 10:55 AM

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Q: Greyish Smudge marks behind the glass screen.

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  • by indy91700,

    indy91700 indy91700 Apr 6, 2011 12:20 PM in response to swapnonil
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 6, 2011 12:20 PM in response to swapnonil
    French iMac 27 october 2009

    I can not go ... I have Apple Care and I have already changed 3 times the LCD panel for spots on screen + graphics card + power supply ... Apple if you hear me ... I want a refund ... Very disappointed
  • by qwimjim,

    qwimjim qwimjim Apr 6, 2011 1:05 PM in response to swapnonil
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 6, 2011 1:05 PM in response to swapnonil
    i have a 27" iMac i5 purchased in december 2010, my smudging is all over the right side of my monitor and starting on the left side. i called applecare and sent in photos, they said they would grant me a one time exception and would fix the problem but should it happen again under warranty they would not fix the problem because it is due to an environmental issue. that had to be the most insulting customer service moment i've ever experienced in my entire life, a company basically saying "you spent a fortune on our product, and we will not honor our warranty on it in the future". say what you will about dell and hp, as maddening as it can be to deal with them, if there's a hardware issue they will fix or replace it. to be told point blank that apple will no longer honor the warranty, the extended warranty i paid nearly $200 for, is unbelievable!

    i do not smoke. i have no carpet in my apartment. i don't drink coffee, there has never even been liquid within 30 feet of this computer, i have no humidifier. it is the winter so i haven't had my windows open or let in any "dirty" air from the outside. i just can't believe how callous this company is.. i purchased my imac in december, my macbook air in january, and my ipad in march. i've been telling everyone how great apple products are, but after this incident? i am advising everyone who has pc's not to switch. it would be one thing if these were $300 machines, but they are far from it.. if you can't rely on your warranty what's the point? i bought my imac for the display, it was supposed to be the greatest display i've ever owned, and yet in 20 years of owning computers it is the first one i have ever had an issue with.

    i will never purchase another apple product after this experience. unfortunately apple probably doesn't care, and they don't care about you either. i'm ******.
  • by indy91700,

    indy91700 indy91700 Apr 6, 2011 3:40 PM in response to swapnonil
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 6, 2011 3:40 PM in response to swapnonil
    Should not be too happy for those who have the Apple Care ... For my part, I'm in the third slab changed and the last have made me switch to EXCEPT ... And one begins to wonder if I have the carpet at home or if I'm ready for a street ... Apple seems to pave the way for me to refuse the extended warranty that I have until October 2012 under the fallacious pretext Environmental ... There is no doubt! So Apple Care or not, even fight, because after 3 years you will have in the bone, or even before! Note that I am a non smoker and I stated that the technician on the phone that my Mac was clean after disassembly (no trace of yellow nicotine or dust) ... While one who made me the Imac claimed he had solved a lot of dust, claiming to have had Apple Care on the phone twice ... Apple is really desperate to play the offside ... Pathetic! Approved technicians receive instructions from Apple and prepare the ground ... This topic is timely!
  • by rei_vilo,

    rei_vilo rei_vilo Apr 9, 2011 3:13 AM in response to swapnonil
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Apr 9, 2011 3:13 AM in response to swapnonil
    Hi,

    I called the French Appel after-sales-service. Nothings is clear.

    The problem doesn't seem to be referenced in the database.

    However, I was put through to the 2nd-level support and they were rather embarrassed.

    I complained about the lack of quality on both hardware and service on [feedback|http://www.apple.com/feedback]. Do the same!

    How loud should we shout so Apple proposes us an acceptable solution?
  • by petter_t,

    petter_t petter_t Apr 9, 2011 7:34 AM in response to qwimjim
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 9, 2011 7:34 AM in response to qwimjim
    It's so depressing to see so many others have problems with this, and the attitudes you are met with.

    I have a late 2009 imac 27" core i7, that has gotten progressively worse over time. I'm going to turn it on monday and see what they say. Will report back.
  • by Alex Shum,

    Alex Shum Alex Shum Apr 15, 2011 3:12 AM in response to petter_t
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 15, 2011 3:12 AM in response to petter_t
    update - my Helsinki (Finland) bought iMac 27 had its display replaced under warranty due to massive grey smudging. But it hardly got better - new LCD displays another known mass defect - yellow tinge. Upper part is OK, lower bears very noticable yellow tinge over it. As I am an amateur photographer this kind of defect is totally unacceptable (to tell the truth it is not acceptable in any case) so my iMac is in for another repair, and I am off to another expensive trip to Helsinki (I reside in St. Petersburg, Russia).
    See you in the neighbour thread dealing with yellow tinging. Apple, isn't it high time to prioritize quality over mass production? Yours are not the cheapest equipment, and the amount of faults is just plain dismal. I am a very UNsatisfied customer.
  • by dirkt68,

    dirkt68 dirkt68 Apr 15, 2011 5:04 AM in response to Alex Shum
    Level 2 (200 points)
    Apr 15, 2011 5:04 AM in response to Alex Shum
    sorry… this whole thing is absurd,

    people use their "home"-computers at home. in an enviroment, where usually all that "not allowed, because it could damage your machine" stuff is to be expected: dust, humidity, cooking, (maybe) smoking, pets, central heating, temperature changes due to airing out rooms or saving energy at nighttime etc.

    i've jet to find another technical device in my home, that can't cope with these absolutely normal enviromental factors. non of their manuals tell me, i have to use them in a basically sterile enviroment only (which your average home is definitively not).

    if the imac is due to its construction prone to develop smudge marks on the inside of the glass panel, there should be an easy mechanism for the user to remove the glass and clean it himself, without voiding the warranty. if dust and heat can cause further technical issues within the actual LCD itself, then there should be either user-removable dust filters, or the whole thing should be constructed in another way. issues like these didn't happen to all the LCDs i used within the last ten years.

    i bought my 21,5" imac three weeks ago and have yet to experience the aforementioned issues myself. but reading all this stuff, it seems not a question of if, but rather of when it will happen.

    not verry happy now at all, and wishing i'd better bought me another mini or book

    Message was edited by: dirkt68
  • by petter_t,

    petter_t petter_t Apr 15, 2011 5:13 AM in response to petter_t
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 15, 2011 5:13 AM in response to petter_t
    My grey smudge problem resulted in a replaced display, free of charge, despite being outside of the 1 year warranty period.
  • by bhankins,

    bhankins bhankins Apr 17, 2011 9:46 AM in response to petter_t
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 17, 2011 9:46 AM in response to petter_t

    Do you mean replaced iMac or just the display itself?

  • by chintan the kalra,

    chintan the kalra chintan the kalra Apr 17, 2011 11:33 AM in response to bhankins
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 17, 2011 11:33 AM in response to bhankins

    Ditto here with iMac 24, 13 month old .. grey smudges + APP = LCD promptly replaced, but, with a tongue-in-cheek mention of 'environmental effect' clause .. DVD drive replaced too. Sweet, ness!

     

    Still battling 'sudden' shutdowns (shut-off's actually) ... not necessarily temperature related, but definitely caused by partly-intensive audio/video scrubbing AND strangely, since the LCD replacement a couple days ago - every time that 'quicktime' or QT 'new movie recording' is launched .. waiting for some on-site TLC as promised by our friendly neighborhood 'Anything Mac' folks

  • by alliwini,

    alliwini alliwini Apr 18, 2011 8:02 AM in response to swapnonil
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 18, 2011 8:02 AM in response to swapnonil

    Same story, different computer.  We are now on our second computer with the same issues. Gray marks that start in the upper right hand corner and spread across the screen to the left and down the right side. PAID for the applecare and now they insist that it is not an issue with the computer, but it is an issue with our house! She said that they will service the computer one more time, but no more for this issue, an issue that has come up way too many times with other imac owners to simply be an "environmental issue" in our houses. It's my feeling that they know there is an issue with these computers and they keep telling us the same thing to put the blame on us and not their machines/design.  I have a $300 air purifier with a HEPA filter in our house and she claims that it might be dust.  If the air purifier doesn't take care of the dust issue, I don't know what apple expects from the environment of the people who are going to be using their computers.  She also suggested that I could dust more....interesting.  I'm taking it in today for service for "the last time" with 2 print outs of other posts just like mine (just a couple of the 14 pages here).  I have a bad feeling that this will happen again, but I will cross that bridge if I come to it.  Like most of the people here, I like this computer and want it to work.  We paid a lot for our machines because we believed that apple made high quality products that they would stand behind (and not place the blame on us and tell us we need to dust more often- she didn't have much to say about the fact that we have a HEPA air purifier running 24/7).  I understand that there will be issues with products and they will not be perfect, but when it happens I expect a company like apple to make it right, not pass the buck.  Maybe a new product line: The ibubble- an overpriced plastic dome to create a sterile environment in which to use our imacs.

  • by dirkt68,

    dirkt68 dirkt68 Apr 18, 2011 12:47 PM in response to alliwini
    Level 2 (200 points)
    Apr 18, 2011 12:47 PM in response to alliwini

    the glass panel of the imac is basically a baaaad idea. looks good, but from a functional viewpoint it's terrible. form over function!

  • by hit85,

    hit85 hit85 Apr 24, 2011 12:47 AM in response to swapnonil
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 24, 2011 12:47 AM in response to swapnonil

    Late 2009 27" imac and the "smokey" grey smudges, so no warranty anymore. Also don't have Apple Care.

     

    Bought the mac Dec 2009, noticed the smudges in April 2011, been using the computer everyday.

     

    Looking for tips and information about how to go about this one. Contact Apple or go directly to authorized service? What's the European pricetag for this? Since this is a wide spread issue, wouldn't want to throw money at something that should be covered even when warranty is gone.

  • by greeny56,

    greeny56 greeny56 Apr 24, 2011 10:24 PM in response to greeny56
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 24, 2011 10:24 PM in response to greeny56

    Updating my previous post. I did get the LED screen replaced through Apple Care. They gave me the same company line that they have given everyone else regarding Environment and Condensation problems etc.But they did agree to get it fixed. Here in Melbourne, Australia, Apple use Unisys for their Tech support and a Technician come out to my house to undertake the replacement. I asked him if he had done many replacements due to the Grey smudges,he reluctantly said he had done a 'few'. I watched him whilst he was dismantling  my iMac and when he removed the LED panel, I took a look at the 'Guts' of the machine. Low and behold right where the smudges on the screen appeared they coincided with the Heat transfer Bar that runs from the Heat sink to what I believe to be the Video Card (on the right hand side of the iMac). There is also a similar arrangement on the left hand side. Could this be part of the problem that we all seem to be experiencing?

     

    It is strange that we are discussing a major problem on an Apple discussion site and no one from Apple has attempted to give us an expanation.

    If there is any one from Apple out there, please have the courtesy to respond to this problem and give us a valid explanation. The paying Public should not have to put up with this.

  • by Aiyesha,

    Aiyesha Aiyesha Apr 25, 2011 7:08 AM in response to swapnonil
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 25, 2011 7:08 AM in response to swapnonil

    I have the same problem with my iMac 27" too and it is getting more and more prominent on the right side of the screen with each day passing by. I bought this machine a few months ago. I also see yellow tinge on the bottom right corner. Being a professional photographer, this is not acceptable at all and it majorly hampers my work.

    I will be contacting the customer care soon. I hope Apple comes up with a permanent solution for this problem asap!

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