New iMac 27inch screen flickering/tearing/shutoff

I have been experiencing some problems with the all new iMac 27inch display.
At non-fixed intervals i will get one of the following:

Screen distortion/flicker somewhere random in the screen (feels like it is more in the lower part) that looks like a horizontal bar of about 2-3inches just popping in and out of the screen.

Screen will go completely black for a second and then come back on. Sometimes 2-3 times in a row.

Somebody else already made some video-clips about these problems, I am experiencing exactly the same behaviour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjOxlxVz5Os
http://gallery.me.com/larzy#100025

Just to not that in the course of writing this post my screen has flickered 13 times and has gone black 2 times.

iMac 27inch 3Ghz 4GB 1TB ATI 4670, Mac OS X (10.6.1)

Posted on Oct 27, 2009 3:56 AM

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4,486 replies

Feb 3, 2010 11:53 AM in response to Jan Sampermans

I have not yet had a return of flickering after applying second firmware update. There is normally about a 4/5 chance that my machine will begin the flickering (blacking out, horizontal flashing bands, vertical displacement) after about an hour of use in the morning. It did not happen today. I intend to report back to this forum in two weeks if it does not flicker before then.

I note that the 4 (?) people reporting that the second firmware update did not fix the flickering are either very terse or not describing the problem I believe most of us are experiencing (as seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB7otChkYNk ), e.g. one said the screen was randomly getting brighter.

Feb 3, 2010 11:56 AM in response to Jan Sampermans

Hi,

I've been following this thread since 22th January (i.e.: when i bought my new iMac 27" - week 02). I've had flickering problems almost from the beginning although not as bad as those of other fellow posters.



I just wanted to let you know that since applying the latest firmware the problem seems to have disappeared.



Hopefully this patch has solved the problem permanently although, as many of you has already pointed out, i'll say it definitely only after a couple of weeks of usage.



Hope all of us will have a glitches-free experience with our new iMacs.

Feb 3, 2010 3:42 PM in response to Ettore dn

Ettore dn wrote:
Phreakii wrote:
This doesnt prove its a software problem.. If all is using the same software, OSX, and it still doesnt stop flickering, thats proving its a hardware problem..


As reported by some users, under Windows XP the flicker disappears. This leaves it as a software/firmware problem.

Firmware updates 1+2 FIX this problem!!!
BTW; PLEASE close this useless topic...

Feb 3, 2010 4:20 PM in response to atlatnesiti

What exactly is the rush? If you do not want to read the posts then do not! 1) problem has been with us for a few months, 2) the first firmware update did not work, 3) the second firmware update has just been issued, and 4) the problem generally took a few days to a couple of weeks to become apparent, in some cases. Logic says we should wait until at least the middle of February before victory can be declared. I own several Macs and I am planning to purchase the iMac 27inch model but only after I am sure that there is a proven solution. I would like to continue to hear about results from applying the next firmware update over the next couple of weeks. So would many others.

Feb 3, 2010 4:33 PM in response to Zistan

Just wanted to check in with my experience with the updates.

Since I received my new iMac late December, I have been having the intermittent problems described on this forum. Since I installed this latest update I have had no more flickering or any of the other graphics glitches I had before. I tried all of the things which brought on the problems in the past. Watching full screen flash, playing DVD's etc. In other words, really beating on the graphics card.

So far so good!

Feb 3, 2010 4:39 PM in response to wessew

I will have to second that, do not close this thread yet, there have been too many problems and some are waiting to make sure it works. If you have nothing constructive, have no problems, don't have an imac, don't read this thread. I can't understand why when one person doesn't have an issue they say we who have (3 times over) should just be happy that we have an imac at all and ignore the issue and not be gun shy when apple says it's 'fixed'. In fact apple should be happy that we have stuck it out as long as we have, even from those of us that have driven 100 plus miles (4 times) to get it fixed, which I might add is time and money out of our pockets to get a problem fixed that should not have been there in the first place.

Feb 3, 2010 5:19 PM in response to Jan Sampermans

Well, my third replacement has arrived at the Apple Store, so it's time to go pick it up.

Can't say I'll miss this flickering piece of rubbish.

To pazuita et al who repeatedly question posters' "motives", you have to understand that this not very polite. You're effectively calling me a liar.

I reiterate, the second patch did NOT fix my flicker problem on this week 1 machine.

And I want you to know, I haven't even used this computer for weeks because it's so frigging annoying. Here's a picture: me crouching over my 15" MBP day after day while the iMac sits idle.

Very idle, since the ambient fan noise is like fingernails down a chalkboard. I used to love the iMac line for its silent operation. Now I have to manually sleep it whenever it decides to wake up.

For any potential buyers reading, the quad is not worth it if you value silence. The quad-core iMac, for all the other problems, is not silent. And that's not even a glitch.

Feb 3, 2010 5:20 PM in response to spineytoad

Hello spineytoad,

for you and everyone here, don't worry about the closing of this thread.
atlatnesiti kicked in saying "close the thread" and "this thread only contains useless information". Leave he alone on his thoughts.
I followed this thread for 1 month or so to have a clear (ok, not really clear atm) idea on what's going on the new iMac, then i decided to join for post my thoughts on these issues and, perhaps, help someone.
After me, i saw a lot of people join and still join. This simply means there are plenty of (potential) customers who wants to know if they can safely buy an iMac or if a final solution is found to fix these issues. Add also a lot of people that doesn't know enough english to write his experience or post in this forum (but just read from using google translate).
Since this post is addressed to who replies (in a way or another) to atlatnesiti or any other that would this thread closed, so it's useless, i would add something that could be useful also if it was already said:
who is experiencing/experienced flickers/yellow tinge on iMac 21.5", or wants to be updated about that, should move to the new separated thread: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2321490&tstart=0

Cheers,
Ettore

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New iMac 27inch screen flickering/tearing/shutoff

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