HT4044: About LCD display pixel anomalies for Apple products released in 2010 and later

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TerrellPDX

Q: Red and green square dots?

I only have problems with randomly appearing red or green squares when I launch iPhoto and occasionally when watching video.  A reboot usually fixes it until I launch iPhoto again. Anyone else see this happening?

iMac (27-inch Mid 2010), iOS 5.1

Posted on Apr 10, 2012 3:39 PM

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Q: Red and green square dots?

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  • by jack fox,

    jack fox jack fox Dec 26, 2013 3:36 PM in response to SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE
    Level 1 (50 points)
    Dec 26, 2013 3:36 PM in response to SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE

    The squares reappeared and hope was crushed again, but I am not ready to give it away, not just yet, even though I see them now as I write this. As to Apple, they are quiet (too quiet), but I do not think they would risk or survive an act of sabotage as a sales plan. I am still hoping for a workaround. My latest observation is that usb usage hastens the anomally.

     

    jmf

  • by SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE,

    SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE Dec 26, 2013 4:15 PM in response to jack fox
    Level 1 (135 points)
    Dec 26, 2013 4:15 PM in response to jack fox

    I read in a reply a few pages back, is the that mini display port could allow us to make use of these lemons (if you have a Pro or an Air for TDM). --Thats what they are. Lemons.

     

    I once held Apple to a higher standard, I laughed at people suffering with Windows machines under these circumstances... But if it's out of warranty its out of warranty, and the cost of a new logicboard and a new graphics card + the time and work to do this exceeds the price of a newer one, then...well, buy a 6 month old refurb is what I say. And forget buying them supercharged & fully loaded, buy them at mid-range specs becuase we'll be back here in 3-4 years with some other suspicious defect. I plan on sending my machines for buyback every 3 years max now because computers just don't have longevity. They build these things so delicately, much is done at the atomic level.

     

    And whether or not you believe they are ticking timebombs with reliable operating expirations, the fact remains the newer machines simply don't behave like a babied 3-4 year old machine. It's not like I spilt coffee down the back of my iMac. The thing sits there bolted to the wall. Yet, every new OSX upgrade, it gradually becomes more pixalated, more weird, more of what I don't want from an Apple product. Declination is inevitable, whether Apple or other forces contribute to it. One could argue normal house dust and heat make it worse, so until the day I have a computer that is hermetically sealed and can run at temps of 250 degrees without burning up inside or burning my hands, I've given up. Just donate the thing, roll back the OSX to it's OEM state, and let the lucky kid choose the OS language, imagine the smile and the positive effect you'd have on them.... IMHO

  • by steinmanal,

    steinmanal steinmanal Dec 28, 2013 9:14 AM in response to TerrellPDX
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 28, 2013 9:14 AM in response to TerrellPDX

    For what it is worth, I'd like to add my name to the list of people with a Mid-2010 27" iMac (with Radeon HD 6770M Graphics Card) that is experiencing the following issues:

     

    - Random red & green groups of pixels.  These do no appear all the time, but they do appear every day. 

    - Occasional system freezes with bizarre screen activity.

     

    The hardware has been tested by an Apple Certified Technician and passed.  Unfortunately, the problem did not present at all when they had the machine, even though he was running graphics-intensive stuff (like iTunes visualizer) on the same user profile that I use.  Like many of you have pointed out, the technician felt strongly that the issue is software and not hardware.

     

    I'm feeling pretty desperate to find a solution to this.  Even though this machine is over three years old, I bought it as a high end Intel Core i7 and done some upgrades (SSD, 16GB RAM) to make it a perfectly good machine for years to come.

     

    It seems that this issue affects many but not all 2010 27" iMacs.  But hopefully Apple will recognize that there is an issue and somehow address it.

  • by Holdylocks,Helpful

    Holdylocks Holdylocks Dec 28, 2013 1:20 PM in response to TerrellPDX
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Dec 28, 2013 1:20 PM in response to TerrellPDX

    I am having the same issue - 2010 mid year iMac i5. I have tried just about every suggestion short of replacing hardware. I thought I had it fixed last night after installing a fresh copy of mavericks. When I woke up this morning the computer was frozen. The last thing I did last night was install the latest updates. I then did a clean install of Mountain lion and let it sit... Sure enough the problem came back within an hour - square dots and frozen.  This was the first mac I ever purchased and I am now regretting that decision.

  • by jack fox,

    jack fox jack fox Dec 28, 2013 1:39 PM in response to steinmanal
    Level 1 (50 points)
    Dec 28, 2013 1:39 PM in response to steinmanal

    We seem to have ourselves a club here. My latest deperate hope is changing display to 1920 x 1080.

     

    jmf

  • by SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE,

    SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE Dec 28, 2013 2:12 PM in response to TerrellPDX
    Level 1 (135 points)
    Dec 28, 2013 2:12 PM in response to TerrellPDX

    Empty USB ports also helps with this issue on startup. My finder windows aren't scrambled. Plug in your USB devices afterwards. This has me to believe buying replacement video cards are NOT the solution. Basically, need to buy an entirely new computer. Probably won't experience this problem with a new machine. 4 years ago I didn't think I'd have this computer, so whatever, can't expect them to run well after 3 years. And if you ever look at how Apple markets their products, most of their offerings operate on a 2 year cycle. I consider it a miracle my 2010 iMac is running--albeit, on life-support--in 2014.

  • by BillyHoush,

    BillyHoush BillyHoush Dec 28, 2013 3:08 PM in response to SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 28, 2013 3:08 PM in response to SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE

    Just an update:

     

    The Apple Store replaced my logic board, video card and did a clean full install of Mavericks. iMac has been running fine for the last 2.5 weeks. (knock on wood)

     

    Before I even left the Apple Store I stayed there for an hour and did whatever I can to get the iMac to heat up. Since I brought it home I haven't shut it down and have been using it thoroughly watching movies and using Final Cut.

     

    I have the 2010 27".

  • by SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE,

    SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE Dec 28, 2013 3:29 PM in response to BillyHoush
    Level 1 (135 points)
    Dec 28, 2013 3:29 PM in response to BillyHoush

    Billy, was this under Apple Care or did they throw you a bone? ...or, how much did this repair cost you?

  • by jack fox,

    jack fox jack fox Dec 28, 2013 6:25 PM in response to jack fox
    Level 1 (50 points)
    Dec 28, 2013 6:25 PM in response to jack fox

    Changing display resolution didn't work either, and now I'm replying to my own posts. Apple will need to do something soon. For now lets keep lighting up these forum threads with posts about the "iMac display defect," checkboard screen anomally or random colored square issue/problem. I guess I'm a optimist but I bet if you talk to Apple Care today (warranty or not) there may be an unofficial fix in effect.

     

    jmf

  • by SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE,

    SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE Dec 28, 2013 6:36 PM in response to jack fox
    Level 1 (135 points)
    Dec 28, 2013 6:36 PM in response to jack fox

    I live 100 miles from a Genuis Bar and would like someone whose had their iMac serviced with success to come forward and shed some light on the price tag to get a 27"  2010 i7 2.93 iMac up to fail-safe specs where Apple is on the hook for making this repair run flawless without a single glitch for 90 days...

  • by SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE,

    SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE Dec 28, 2013 6:40 PM in response to SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE
    Level 1 (135 points)
    Dec 28, 2013 6:40 PM in response to SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE

    ...curious if people are getting newer gen iMacs if they pin it on Apple's repair responsibility. This would obviously motivate some of us and also clear the air if we truly have lemons on our hands.

  • by jack fox,

    jack fox jack fox Dec 29, 2013 7:54 AM in response to SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE
    Level 1 (50 points)
    Dec 29, 2013 7:54 AM in response to SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE

    It's not  a witches spell, it's a defect. The reason we purchased an Apple was reliability, Apple knows this . We should be making appointments with an Apple Genius to get what we paid for.   jmf

  • by SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE,

    SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE Dec 29, 2013 8:39 AM in response to jack fox
    Level 1 (135 points)
    Dec 29, 2013 8:39 AM in response to jack fox

    Yep, totally, we'd all like Apple to bend, but their warranty terms state otherwise. On paper, Apple Care doesn't help anyone with a 2010 iMac right now.

     

    And no one yet on this topic has disclosed what exactly it's costing them to get this defect corrected to Apple's 90-day guarantee repair specs.

     

    Speak up people, what's it costing you to have Apple bring your glitch to a like-new perfomance? Are they doing it complimentary free-of-charge? Replacing your 2010 with a newer gen iMac? Telling you, "Sorry, buy a new system"?

  • by Frudah,

    Frudah Frudah Dec 29, 2013 11:42 AM in response to TerrellPDX
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 29, 2013 11:42 AM in response to TerrellPDX

    More proof that this is software/driver based.

     

    I just made my system a triple boot.

     

    In the process I observed a few interesting things.

     

    First I'll repeat, that I recently downgraded from 10.8.5 to 10.6.7 and that has made the issue far less of an issue. Light dotting on the dock and sometimes a bit about it, but never more than that (I am not going to update my system any further until Apple says the update will specifically be clean of this issue). Running 10.8.5 the computer was almost unusable and crashed if I let it go to screensaver or sleep. 25% of the time, when starting VMWare the entire screen would become dotted and unresponsive and I'd have to do a hard reset. Starting some other programs would seemingly cause the dots to cover more area of the screen, until reboot.

     

    I installed in bootcamp, windows 8.1. Was using bootcamp drivers 5.0.33. Did not notice any dots, however, I didn't like 8.1 so I only had it running for 45 minutes or so before I wiped it and installed Windows7. I installed the bootcamp drivers v 4.0.x. Ran like that for several days. No dots. I decided to give the 5.0.33 driver a try. Dots appeared within the day and have been reoccuring since. I've never seen the checkerboard effect like you guys are talking about in OSX, however, I got to see it in Windows after installing the 5.0.33 driver. Just like OSX, it is particularly bad when waking from sleep, hibernation or the screen saver. Sometimes, opening certain programs seems to trigger it. Another interesting point, is that I installed windows so I could play games on my laptop. Even if there are dots on the desktop or application windows, they all disappear when I go fullscreen into a game. I've never seen one dot EVER in a full screen game.

     

    For OS number 3, I went with Kali Linux (Debian). I have installed no Apple drivers whatsoever (although I'm pretty sure there aren't any genuine Apple drivers made for Linux anyway). It was a pain in the *** to make it all work with rEFIt and bounce around entries with the MBR, but it boots clean. During my quest to make these 3 OS's work together, I had heard reports of the trackpad not working, missing drivers and other issues that made me think it wasn't going to be functional. However, upon boot in to Kali Linux, EVERYTHING worked. The kicker... no dots. None, I can't go a day without them on OSX 10.6 or Windows7x64(With Bootcamp drivers). It has been almost a week and no dots in Linux. I guarantee if Apple made a Linux display driver and I was dumb enough to install it, I'd have dots there too.

     

    This is NOT a hardware issue. Purely software and drivers. Too bad we all don't live in the same area (at least I assume). I'm Self/Un -Employed. I would totally be down to go protest outside an Apple Store and call the news... Apple would hate that kind of publicity. We could all bring our Macs with screens full of dots. I'd even be up to go back to 10.8.5 just for the protest. I'm very serious. I'm in Escondido / San Diego, CA.

  • by SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE,

    SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE SOULNATIONAL ARCHIVE Dec 29, 2013 2:33 PM in response to Frudah
    Level 1 (135 points)
    Dec 29, 2013 2:33 PM in response to Frudah

    ...then I'm really curious what Apple's doing to fix this issue when customers have them serviced through the Genius Bar. You think they're installing new motherboards with a different BIOS driver chipset and just replacing the video cards anyway while under the hood?

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