Q: Intel Imac with bad logic board.

My mid-2008 iMac died a couple of days ago.  Apple says it's likely a logic board that will need to be replaced.  This is my first bad experience with an Apple product - but it does cause me some concern.

I also have n Imac 20 early 09

recently the screen went black but i can still tell the system is still operting s the dvd drive is running and loading.

I keep getting people tell me it is the caps on the logic board but i am not convinced, i still believe it could be the graphics card, all the same dont just take the first bit of information you receive is my honest opinion.

Sadly to say I think I am another vitcim of the poor quality of the iMac logic board.

It started to freeze now and then and late last year it got worse and finally it did not start at all but only showed a folder with a blinking question mark. Managed to start Disk Utility from disk, but it found no hard drive at all. Suspected a hard drive failure and thought of replacing it myself, but with two small kids there is not much spare time, so the hdd replacement was put on hold for a while.

Then one day I thought I would just try to start the iMac, and all of a sudden it started up as nothing had ever happened. I took a backup of my most important files and ran Disk Utility that said the disk was ok . A couple of minutes later it frooze again and when I tried to restart it the screen was just gray. I let it cool down until the next day and tried once more to start it with the same result as the day before.

Started to google and found this and a lot of other threads regarding broken logic boards, which leads me to the conclusion that my hard drive is just fine (as Disk Utility said) but the logic board suffers the same defect as so many others. I must say I am very disapointed, and even though I have been using macs since the early nineties I really don't know if I dare to buy another mac as a replacement (and replacing the logic board does not seem like an option). Considering the price of the 24" iMac I expected it to last longer than four to five years. I have loved my macs, but after this I don't know if I can still say it is worth it...

Add me to the list I had the video card replaced in 2010 and now it's failed again.

One more for the pile. 2010 27" iMac with a corrupted SMC that causes the video to randomly cut out. Apple store quoting a touch of $700 to replace the logic board which they "think" is the problem.

Worst part this was the replacement to an earlier white iMac (Core 2 Duo) which blew it's logic board (video scrambled).

My logic board slots fried after 20 months, took it to apple in india, they asked a fortune to repair, took it to us for repairs, first quoted around 190 usd to repair, i was thrilled, later came back said around 800, option offered was to use only 2 slots, since 2 slots were damaged. Got it back with 2 slots, worked fine for few days, now it refuses to start up, only get a white screen. Help please!

I am pretty upset with apple, they have a problem which they do not acknoledge..least they can offer is a reduced price to renew, not 800 bucks....this is not the service i expect..one of the reasons to change to mac was it never crashes, but i guess i was wrong..any suggestions

Here's another one.  My 2008 24" iMac started turning itself off two weeks ago and finally wouldn't start last week. A reputable independent repair shop says it's the logic board and will replace it for $680 with a 1 year warranty. I'm debating that, doing it myself with an eBay logic board over the course of the next year or throwing a hammer through it ala Apple's 1984 commercial. 

I love Apple stuff, but this *****. It is was a great machine.  ****, my apple IIc still starts and runs Oregon Trail just like in the day.  There is clearly an issue with these, or a planned obsolescense. 

Has anyone actually had any luck with Apple replacing their unit? I was seriously going to buy another iMac and a MacBook pro but have made a decision to go back to PC because of this. Never had issues with any PC to date. I did speak to a few reps and they were not very accomodating and called my 5 year old machine, "vintage."

I have had luck with a full refund and or credit. I have had far more worse luck with PCs especially on the software side. If I called Dell with this same problem I would be on the phone for weeks and talking to some guy from Mumbai! I would wait for the new machines with Mountain Lion or find a good used one with Leopard on it as that is a rock solid OS, one of the best to date IMHO.  PCs to me when it comes to video or audio are not as accomidating, although they sure are cheaper!

In terms of my old 5 year old iMac it was constantly referred to as 'vintage' by Apple store representitives. As for a replacement? I had repair attempts made on my iMac but to no avail. Eventually they replaced the unit in 2011 for a brand new iMac. I have documented the whole affair here in quite some detail: http://bit.ly/AazB2F

Gandalf The Grey - How did you manage to get a refund? Was it in 2012? I spoke to Customer Relations and they weren't helpful at all. What else can I do? I was thinking of purchasing a new iMac but I do not think I will go ahead with it. Doing a search these GPU failures are very common even on newer iMacs.

Garrod - I did read your blog. I spoke to Customer Relations, they were not willing to help. I could not find anything like the goods credit act UK has which is six years. Do you know if Canada has something like that? I searched everywhere.

My unit was a 2011 iMac i7 with 16gig memory, the most loaded one you could buy at the time. Snow Lepoard worked like a charm till I hit 10.6.8, had some video issues and it was suggested from Apple to upgrade to Lion. After that all **** broke loose and it had to be taken into the Apple Store 3 times for repairs.

1.) Memory replaced

2.) Hard drives replaced

3.) Logic board replaced twice...

So based on this they gave me $3500 in credit at the Apple Store and I bought:

Macbook Pro for wife

Mac Mini loaded for myself

Apple Thunderbolt Display

What I really miss is speed, as I need it for video and Final Cut Pro.  So I am playing the waiting game till Sept. and I will most likely buy another iMac and give Apple one last shot, as I been buying their products since 2001 with zero issues till now.

So this makes me think this is a software issue that is affecting hardware. So stay away from Lion, I would frankly buy an older machine with Lepoard or Snow Leapoard on it. Or a new iMac coming out in Sept. with Mountain Lion, so far Mountain Lion seems fine as I am running it now, only glich is the fricking hate doing installs from downloads.

Macbook Pros are excellent machines and I have never had any issues with any of them that I have had, I am currently using a Mac Mini which I really like, but it all depends on what you need.  If your doing heavy graphics intense programs or gaming the iMac or Mac Pro are the way to go and even the new Macbook Pro 15" which is even faster than the iMacs. I would buy the 15" Macbook Pro if you want ultra speed and portability, or wait till Sept. for the new refresh on the iMacs. Also buy the Apple Care.

Ohhh okay. Yours was a newer model. I think the thread was about the 2006 models which is why I was wondering how you got a refund.

I agree that it is unacceptable...we have a 21" Imac that we bought in Nov. of 2010 that we had to bring back that same day because the pixels??? on the screen.  They exchanged it..In March 2011 we supposedly had a virus (??) which I spent $200 at Best Buy to remove & later found out from the Apple Store that they would have taken care of it for nothing. July of 2012 Screen went black, can hear a little of the fan but will not open. Called Best Buy. They said take it to Apple. Apple Store said they would try the graphics & if that didn't work it was the logic board. Sure enough that's what it is $700 to replace it.  Talked to Apple Support. Nothing they can do...wrote a letter to Apple. No response. Called Best Buy to see if they could help & they offered $100 towards a new mac...Are you kidding? After spending all that $ for the Imac, Iworks, a virus????...I don't understand how such a big company could not offer something more to their customers...I feel that you get more advertisement by making your existing customers happy vs. always trying for new customers..that is why we decided to buy a Mac in the first place...I loved how the Mac worked..We have a  visually impaired child that loved his mac & wanted an Ipad..No way..once burned that's it..have no idea what to do with it now..it is an awful expensive paperweight.!

Very disappointed. Just found out that the logic board went out on our 27" iMac. It was working perfectly, we changed the RAM out and then it just refused to turn back on.  The timing seems very odd.  It is only 3 years old and the $800 repair price seems ridiculous. I love Mac products but our budget will need to come first. I am now looking at PCs. :(