Q: Design fault? 27" 2013 iMac stand just gave up!

Same thing just happened to me. Didn't touch the (late 2013) iMac. Heard loud cracking noise. Screen tilted down. Wouldn't tilt back up. Just scheduled Genius Bar appointment for tomorrow night.

Our iMac just did the same thing. Loud crack and then tilted forward. I guess we will have to take it in.

call Apple they will fix it for you.

just happened to me too today....not working on it, heard a loud snap...and the screen is now droopy...ugh!

Adrian has to order the part.  They'll call me back.  She was not surprised.  It's covered under Apple are.

I Got mine fixed today, I told them it happened to both of my Mac that I bought at the same time, the Genius Bar said they never heard of this is an issue, it's really rare.  I said to him he should go read their apple communities!

call Apple, they will fix it for you!

can confirm, this is an issue apple will take care of.

i have a 27" iMac (2013) that I purchased refurbished 14 months ago. hinge broke out of warranty, i called tech support who bumped me up to a supervisor. initially, he said this would be an out of pocket repair, but when i asked for a quote he went to check and came back to let me know this is an issue with my specific model, and that apple will repair it.

YMMV, but worth calling to check before heading to genius bar.

Thanks everyone for your replies! I have an appt to have this repaired..the part is preordered..and it will be no charge! Yay!

Hey It just happened to me, same thing , loud crack slump, late 2014 IMAC 27 inch

off to the genius bar.

The part came in. It took me a week to bring the iMac to the Genius Bar, since I rely on the beast for my work. They said the repair would take 3-5 days. They got it late Saturday morning. They called me to say it was done late the next day. All is well, and Apple has again exceeded expectations.

Happened to me too (iMac 27 inch late 2013). Repaired under warranty.

It is fine when I tested the hinge on pick up at the store. I was told the machine was diagnostically tested after the repair.

However, when I switch on at home, the display is now somehow pixellated, and the display preference only has 1280x720 (i.e. 720p) as the only "Scaled" option.  It was previously 2560x1440 (default). 

I phoned the apple store, and the advisor asked me to re-install OS X which i have done but still the same. He said phone again tomorrow if doesn't work.

As the store is quite a distance away, I am hoping to get this sorted without doing another 2 hour trip.

Any suggestions?

Same exact thing happened to me.  Watching TV, heard a "crack" sound, and discovered my iMac screen hanging as limp as Bernie Sanders' elderly junk. I'm not taking mine in for repair... ain't nobody got time for that.  I propped the screen back up in the desired position with a pencil, cut to the desired length.

Two days ago, Tuesday, I noticed my iMac 27" late 2013 (bought last year as a reconditioned unit with AppleCare)  sagging, when I entered my office. I immediately propped it up, then went looking through the Internet to see if there was a simple solution. After reading many discussions, I called the North American AppleCare line. Spoke to the first respondent. He listened, then passed me on to a second. He listened then passed me on to Mischa, some higher-level of customer support. The initial reaction was to have me bring the iMac into a local store, but when I explained that as a quadriplegic it would be difficult for me to do this, Mischa decided that he would find someone local to come and pick it up, re[air it and deliver it back to me. The local store came that afternoon, they ordered the replacement hinge mechanism (already pre-approved by Mischa). The part arrived the next day on Wednesday. It was installed that day, and delivered back to me today. All, at no charge to me.

Now, that's what I call service. Thank you, Apple.

My advice is to ignore the local Apple store, and go directly to Apple Corporate. Although they claim that this is a rare occurrence, they also know that it happens, and are prepared to deal with it. Once they approve everything, the local store (or a certified retailer) can get the repair done fairly quickly.

Very happy that you had such a good experience. The key to getting high quality service is that you got AppleCare, otherwise  you would not have qualified for in-home service. Apple will provide this in the USA and UK if you are a) have AppleCare coverage and are within 50 miles of an Apple Authorized Service Provider and b) have demonstrated a need.