Q: Of all the iMac display problems here, has anyone seen this yet? (PHOTO)

So I am not as I though the only one with this problem, the Apple repair guys here in Malaysia say they have never seen such a thing before? Dark blotches and something that looks like fingerprints or grey smears on my display appearing within 6 months of purchase. First the Apple Care agent here took my Mac away returned it 3 days later with 'a new display'... but with the same marks in the same places, clearly someone was a little confused or being less than completely honest. The Apple Care local agent then made another visit to me, installed a new display, great, except it had dead pixels! My Mac has now gone off to the workshop for yet another new display, and I am relying as a pro photographer on my 5 year old Dell with a still perfect display. And as I read the comments from you guys with similar problems, I am thinking why didn't I just stick with Dell and PCs....Oh, yes and I also get condensation on the inside of the screen after powering up sometimes on the IMac.

So, anyone with any stance from Apple on this issue, yet?

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=9796653#9796653

I'm having the same problem. My imac is within a year old, airport is super slow compare to Ethernet, my logic board was replaced by apple last month and i'm starting to see three spots on top of my lcd. When i put the mouse over it, it looks as the lcd is fine cause the cursor is on top of the spot.

Look at the purple bar on top; 1. Spot on "History"; 2. top left of "iphoto"; 3. Big spot on right of "iphoto".

Zero, you don't have a display related problem. You only have activated an option called Translucent menu bar. You can turn it off by going into System Preferences, then Desktop & Screen Saver, and under Desktop the last option is Translucent Menu Bar... Uncheck it and all will be just fine...

I had the exact same problem with my iMac. The only solution Apple give you is to sell it and buy something else....
Not only it had this nasty yellow, brownish sweeps/spots/marks, but it also had serious image persistence! Near the bottom of the screen and at the right side. The hotter the imac gets, the more image persistence you will see, over time.
Apart from these two horrible flaws, dust got between the screen and the glass panel too! But this you could fix yourself by removing the panel and cleaning the inside.
Wait a few more months and you will see one half of the screen turn all yellow!
Wait some more and the far left side and far right side will turn gray. Yay.
We've got 5 colors now.
Everything related to the screen on the aluminium iMac has been designed VERY bad. It's a very fast and quiet computer, though.
Also, the Airport card on this thing gets really really hot. Once iStat measured a temperature of 80 degrees celcius!! And no, I don't live near the equator. Not even close. I'm closer to the North Pole

Mine looked very similar to the picture of the initial poster. I replaced the panel from Ebay but subsequently found that it is possible to get inside and clean behind the LCD too. http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2150293&tstart=0

I just wanted to register that I also have the same screen problem. I just noticed it yesterday and is currently only visible when the Mac is turned off So I searched and to my dismay, found that many others also have this problem.

I now realise I can expect it to continue to get much worse. So I guess I can just try and prevent more damage by turning off my iMac more often.

I can't see any point in replacing the screen as it will only happen again. So what about buying a good quality external monitor and using that instead? Is there a way of turning off the internal monitor so I can use an external one?

Same problem here and I have had the LCD, upper left blower fan, logic board and glass replaced via Applecare And this is a replacement computer for an iMac that had similar problems. Anyway it is back an it has been escalated to engineering via an email of some photos of the problem (the photos are variations of those already posted except largely on the upper left side. I am worried about having components replaced as thus far this has been ultimately futile and appears a design flaw of this particular early 2008 model. The Applecare telephonic people have been exceptionally polite and of course thought it might be environmental. It is more than 18 inches from the wall behind it in a cool apartment with good ventilation and quite distant from a window so I will be frustrated if my environment is scapegoated. My best. Dennis

Well I guess I am not losing it and seeing things. My imac 24" display is doing the SAME THING!! Big blotches at the middle top and sides. Looks like dirt is on the screen when viewing white pages. So annoying and I knew something was wrong. Luckily, I did purchase the 3 year warranty with BestBuy. Planning to drop it off to them for repair while away on vacation. What an inconvience. This imac was not cheap and there should not be problems like this. Will post back what Bestbuy does.

Hello all,

I bought my iMac in April, and recently noticed a lighter area on the lower left part of my screen. It's really noticable on dark backgrounds like films or working on black bg in photoshop. Im tempted to take it back to the Apple store!

Just wondering how the Apple UK customer service compares with others, guess I'll find out soon enough...

That's the result of the layers of the LCD being crushed together, either by warping of the layers themselves, or by improper mounting of the LCD in the case causing enough stress on the display to cause them to warp and crush together.

That sort of thing is a defect in manufacture and covered by your warranty.

Hi,

I have just looked up this discussion thread as my iMac 24" purchased in June, has just started to show symptoms similar to your own i.e. Light colouring at the bottom of the screen, I have it on both sides and it appears to be moisture as I can clear it by using a fan blower. It is worrying though as the moisture seems to show smears and finger prints on the inside of the screen.

I was wondering if you had any luck with Apple UK?

Well Apple did me right! They are replacing my 01/09 24'' (which was a replacement for a year plus old 20'' with similar screen issues addressed without resolution over time. i.e., the problem came back) iMac (which had the "stainy" problem come back each time they attempted reparation: LCD screen times 2, fan, logic board, and glass) with a brand new 27'' iMac with mucho improved characteristics. Everyone was polite but it has always been the Customer Service rep that offered the replacements. The 20'' was replaced under Applecare and this 24'' (even though I have Applecare) is within the year. Too bad about the screen stain (only evident on a white background). But the responsiveness (the repairs were offered in my apartment without argument and the new 27'' is being delivered in advance of my sending back the 24'' so I lose no computing time and have no migration problems) has been superlative. Credit given where due. d

So let me get this straight: Are you praising Apple because they replaced your iMac's faulty screen with another iMac with a faulty screen?

So what happens when your current iMac screen fails? You get another replacement and the cycle goes on?

My screen burns started showing up a few weeks after my warranty expired so I'm screwed. If this is a problem particular to the iMac, as it clearly is from all the threads on this discussion board alone, I think the onus is on Apple to recall that faulty model regardless of warranty.

This is very bad publiciy for Apple. I am seeing many complaints all over the web about this from disgruntled Apple users. I hate to say this but I am leaning towards wanting a refund and considering switching to PC because of this.

Re: zero44

If you can get this with a screenshot it's most likely not the panel. In fact it may be parts of your background picture showing through the partly transparent menu bar.