markrut

Q: Intel Imac with bad logic board.

The logic board on my 20" Intel Imac failed(according to the diagnosis form the tech at the Apple Store) and will require a $900+ dollar repair....a tad bit high considering it's age, the cost of the machine in late 2006 and the going prices of the new Imacs! Anyone know of a lower priced repair option or a way to salvage the machine, or is it now a very large paperweight?

I know that I apparently should've gotten Apple Care, but I've never had such a catastrophic Mac failure in the 12 years I've been dealing with the machines. Judging by the lines/wait for service at the Apple store maybe it's a good idea next time...although with all the problems the new machines seem to be having it seems a bit like extortion and maybe they should just raise the prices and include it.

intel imac 20", core 2 duo

Posted on May 10, 2008 11:15 AM

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Q: Intel Imac with bad logic board.

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  • by ebuckley,

    ebuckley ebuckley Mar 13, 2009 1:50 PM in response to ebuckley
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 13, 2009 1:50 PM in response to ebuckley
    Update on my dead graphics card. Took it in to an Apple Store and learned that they would only have to replace the graphics card not the whole logic board. I have the 24" w/ NVIDIA GF 7600 GT, 256mb. Should take about a week and cost about $400 plus tax. I decided to have it repaired ($1k was my cut off point for a repair vs putting the money toward a new machine).

    I do worry that there could be some underlying problem that resulted in early failure. The repair/replacement card only has a 3 month warranty.
  • by easystitch25,

    easystitch25 easystitch25 Mar 23, 2009 2:42 AM in response to markrut
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 23, 2009 2:42 AM in response to markrut
    I've just received my mac back from repair. (same logic board hu-rah) Guess what? it still turns itself off all on its own. Same dillema here. Been a mac owner since 99 ie a clamshell, imac g4 and an ibook g4. No such issues. I'am so tempted to unbox my g4 imac und upgrade that or sell this one and get a PC. oooooohhh its coming.
  • by Daniel2008,

    Daniel2008 Daniel2008 Mar 23, 2009 1:40 PM in response to bobsled
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Mar 23, 2009 1:40 PM in response to bobsled
    I too got a bit of trouble (imac 24" early 2008 model, bought in May) got visual artifacts, lines, displaced elements/colours. And now it even spits out all disks, doesn't matter wheter it's a cd (both, audio/cd-rom & blank) or a dvd (movies as well as blank disks)!
  • by Uwe Loerch,

    Uwe Loerch Uwe Loerch Mar 24, 2009 10:52 AM in response to markrut
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 24, 2009 10:52 AM in response to markrut
    Same with my iMac Intel Core 2 Duo late 2006. Its a shame! Fortunately it still works sometimes for few hours But at minimum once a day it freezes or the display turns black.
  • by julius soter1,

    julius soter1 julius soter1 Mar 24, 2009 12:59 PM in response to Uwe Loerch
    Level 1 (84 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 24, 2009 12:59 PM in response to Uwe Loerch
    Did it ever occur to any of you who have had problems to purchase an AppleCare extended warranty for$169 for an additional 2 years of protection when you bought your iMac? I have owned several Macs since 1984 and have had a few problems over that time but I always bought an extended warranty and have never had to pay for a repair. Apple computers and support are, on average, better than any others. Computers generally have a failure rate of about 10%.
  • by Same old,

    Same old Same old Mar 24, 2009 4:38 PM in response to Duo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 24, 2009 4:38 PM in response to Duo
    I posted one but it doesn't show up. So, I'm posting again. (Is that censored by Apple?) My iMac 20" late 2006 also fried.

    I have an objection to your statistics, Duo. As you mentioned, not all the people complaints here. If you google, Petition iMac issue, you will see more than 33, I found one site that 2270 people signed. This makes 0.2%. Is it not enough?

    Then, how about those who replaced their iMac under warrenty. They won't complain. So if you consider them, the number will be a lot higher.

    What makes me feel bad is, Apple keeps pretending this issue as "NEVER HEARD OF" issue. The failure is so high and THAT is exactly why Apple turned their face away from the TRUTH.

    By the way, your number is wrong. It should be 0.0033% not 0.000033%.
  • by Uwe Loerch,

    Uwe Loerch Uwe Loerch Mar 26, 2009 3:05 AM in response to julius soter1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 26, 2009 3:05 AM in response to julius soter1
    I don't have apple care. Unfortunately!! For the next machine I will have!

    Maybe here is a solution for our graphic problem...
    I reduced the brightness of the screen to a midrange (on German keyboard press "F14" a few times). Since that, the iMac works. I am not shure whether it is a fix but maybe you want to give it a try...

    Another possible alternative to the expensive logic board:
    I contacted a guy who fixed my iBook G3 when there were some very similar complaints. He knows about the iMac issue and told me that in 50% of all engines he checked, there was a dry joint (solderless connection) to the video card - possible to fix. The other 50% were dead video chips, impossible to replace.

    Good luck, specially with the reduced brightness...
  • by particle_ac,

    particle_ac particle_ac Mar 27, 2009 6:16 PM in response to julius soter1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 27, 2009 6:16 PM in response to julius soter1
    I'm sorry, but with respect, how much of the above did you read before you raced to make that comment? Because had you read a bit more (a) you would have realized it had occurred to a great many, (b) you would have known that people were already stretching themselves on the initial purchase and (c) most importantly, that your comment is/was entirely beside the point.

    In my humble opinion, Apple has violated the expressed warranty of merchantability. That's not the written warranty, but rather the expectation that after spending two grand on a computer, it won't fizz out fifteen months later. A fair expectation for a consumer to have. In regard to the 2006 iMacs, the numbers here and across the web reporting these problems is telling of a significant flaw, a failure of Apple and not the stupidity or lack of foresight of its customers.

    Message was edited by: particle_ac (changed users to customers)
  • by Uwe Loerch,

    Uwe Loerch Uwe Loerch Mar 29, 2009 5:33 AM in response to particle_ac
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 29, 2009 5:33 AM in response to particle_ac
    I think your comment is beside my point. It was not the target to say "everything ist allright, no problem", but to find and communicate a little help. Sorry if you are not open enough to try.

    You are right! Apple has to react on all these complaints. I hope that something happens and they would do something for their customers. It's a shame!!!
  • by Mac Adict,

    Mac Adict Mac Adict Mar 31, 2009 12:47 PM in response to Bodomann
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Mar 31, 2009 12:47 PM in response to Bodomann
    I just called applecare, and they were not denying that their were official repairs for the HORIZONTAL lines issues, but totally denying that our horizontal lines, crashes, and graphics anomalies on the late 2006 imacs were even acknowledged as being related.

    He was very rude and totally condescending and unprofessional (senior technician).
  • by acuken,

    acuken acuken Mar 31, 2009 2:57 PM in response to Mac Adict
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mar 31, 2009 2:57 PM in response to Mac Adict
    I think people should be willing to tackle Apple over problems like these, especially when they occur shortly after the expiry of the standard warranty. In the UK at least, there's plenty of case law to support the view that manufacturers owe a duty of care to consumers that extends beyond the official warranty period. This certainly applies to goods like consumer electronics, which should have a working life well beyond 12 months. One person got Sony to agree to repair their 5 year old television FOC because the part that failed was designed to last at least 10 years.

    I personally have always found Apple tech support very helpful, so I'm sorry to hear that's not always the case. They replaced a 2 year old Mighty Mouse FOC for me because it certainly should have lasted longer than that. I think people should persist with their discussions with Apple, explaining firmly but politely that they can't use a 12 month warranty as a means of avoiding responsibility, especially when a major component like a logic board fails.
  • by youngman,

    youngman youngman Mar 31, 2009 11:03 PM in response to markrut
    Level 1 (100 points)
    Mar 31, 2009 11:03 PM in response to markrut
    i have the same problem with a late 2006 20" 2.16ghz imac.

    - imac randomly powers off, even when nothing cpu intensive is running.
    - sometimes when watching a video, the video picture freezes, but the sound continues playing. and while i can still move the mouse cursor around, mouse clicks and keyboard input are unresponsive. a hard reboot is necessary at this point.
    - extended apple hardware test reports no problems.
    - no issues with permissions or any other hard disk problems.

    it's most likely a logic board issue. i'm just waiting until apple announces an official recall before i take it in.
  • by losing_faith_in_apple,

    losing_faith_in_apple losing_faith_in_apple Apr 15, 2009 4:58 PM in response to Bodomann
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 15, 2009 4:58 PM in response to Bodomann
    I have an Imac 17" G5, and the logic board failed, and of course my apple care ran out! The sad thing is that apple wants almost $900.00 for a replacement part????? I can think of NO other reason to charge that much for a part, when I can get a whole new machine for a hundred bucks more, then APPLE is SCREWING me!
    Another sad thing thing is that despite the computer's age, it had very few hours on it (it was a spare office machine). I wish I had let it run more so that it would have failed while still under apple care. So I hit ebay to find a part and HALF the 17" Imacs are sold as broken/parts because of BAD LOGIC BOARDS! It seems that the logic board is the first/only thing to fail, and the most EXPENSIVE to fix. you would think apple would throw us a bone and at least give us access to an inexpensive part, but no!

    I have an old Apple Mac SE that STILL works, with 10 times the hours on it (keep in mind that machine is 20 years old). What happened to Apple?

    Hi My name is Eric and I'm a Mac, but seriously reconsidering PC (or maybe a hackintosh)!
  • by losing_faith_in_apple,

    losing_faith_in_apple losing_faith_in_apple Apr 15, 2009 5:43 PM in response to Duo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 15, 2009 5:43 PM in response to Duo
    I might agree, but if you look on ebay (not a real scientific study, I know), you will find a MUCH higher percent of Imacs are being sold as broken/repair because of "bad Logic Board" Compared to perfectly working units then the .000033% (I would guess-timate closer to 10.000000%) you have indicated here. The fact the EVEY non-working Imac listed on ebay is dead because of a bad logic board, would indicate the there is indeed a problem here.

    I would also submit that the fact that there is ANY support board regarding a common issue, no matter how small, would indicate a that there is a problem.

    And to add to that, charging $900 for ANY single part inside of a $1200 all in one computer is obscene!

    There was a time when companies would attempt to do the right thing, especial when customers paid a premium for QUALITY! I guess those days are gone, and apple is no better then ANY other company? If so, why would I still continue purchase Apple products??

    Logic board $900
    Power supply $110
    LCD screen $500
    Super drive $300
    Hard Drive $100
    Total $1910.00 FOR A $1200.00 machine? (Not to mention the shell, stand, memory, keyboard and mouse, etc.)

    Has apple become a "Poser" company???? What would happen if Vista (MS windows) ever got their act together???
  • by havercake,

    havercake havercake Apr 18, 2009 9:50 AM in response to timberford
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 18, 2009 9:50 AM in response to timberford
    My logic board has died out of warranty and the Mac Dealer quoted c£380 for repair however following a diagnosis it is partly 'repaired' by removing 1GB of memory out . This means that I have lost half of my memory with speed consequences, but my machine does work. It might be worth trying remove one, reboot and if it does not work take the other out. Good luck!
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