New iMac 27inch screen flickering/tearing/shutoff

I've applied both firmware updates to 3 MACs. The latest patch was run Jan 29th - so far so good - no flickering or blackouts.

Hello, all -

Been lurking up until now, have just installed latest display update and will report back after week or 2. My machine was a week 44, purchased from local store here on Big Island of Hawaii just after Christmas. Flicker/blackout started three days in, first (12/21) update no help. Applecare helpful but did not commit to anything other than advising to wait for "fix". Problem was very intermittent, would go away for a week or more at a time, but always reappeared. Fingers crossed re latest update.
Aloha,
Gregory

SO FAR no more flickering since I applied the second firmware update BUT I haven't been able to give it a really intensive workout yet. Normally tho', it is usually flickering by now...it would start flickering after an hour into working usually, but not always. So, so far so good!
BUT, here is my dilemma...my replacement iMac has finally arrived at the Apple store and I am supposed to go collect it this weekend and make the swap. Well...now I am in two minds about doing so (if this firmware DID indeed do the trick) bcos the Mac has been performing so incredibly flawlessly otherwise. The flicker - being as bad as it was - did indeed make me 100% sure that I needed to replace it, but now that all is working perfectly....??
What would you do?? With all the talk about noisy fans, dead pixels, etc. I am a little wary now...

Mebbe I am just worrying too much:)
I am VERY happy to know that this fix is working for so many of you!

Christine

Just a thought: if there is absolutely nothing wrong with your system after applying the second firmware update (no flickering; no dead pixels; no yellow screen) by the weekend, why replace it? So far, the consensus is that the second firmware update has worked for nearly everyone. I would take the next two or three days and see if the computer is still stable. If it is, I would probably take out Apple Care and stop worrying. As you mentioned there is always the risk of a problem with the new system. On the other hand, if the second machine does not work properly, you can have that replaced at more time and energy expended. The bottom line here: If it is no longer broke, why fix it?

Christine Holzmann wrote:
SO FAR no more flickering since I applied the second firmware update BUT I haven't been able to give it a really intensive workout yet.
BUT, here is my dilemma...my replacement iMac has finally arrived at the Apple store and I am supposed to go collect it this weekend and make the swap. but now that all is working perfectly....??
What would you do?

I can assure you the flickering was not caused by intense usage of the iMac. I threw everything I could think of at my first iMac and everything ran just fine without any flicker. The flicker would appear doing some of the most trivial things such as opening a window or clicking on a different window, etc. Nothing at all taxing about that.

I too hesitated to return my first iMac because the flicker had not appeared for the few days I was tidying up the backups and preparing the machine for shipment. In the end I stayed with the plan and although it can be a lot of extra work to get everything back the way you want it, this second machine delivered January 15th looks even better than the first. I think you will be fine if you go through with the exchange (wish I could guarantee it for you but...). If you decide to keep the machine you have, you are probably also a winner. To be safe please buy the AppleCare. May save some tears a couple of years from now and brings peace of mind about this leading-edge piece of equipment.

Message was edited by: Rick Lang

Hmmm...seems like this thread is slowing down, especially after the 2nd firmware update.

People sick of the topic, or have the problems been taken care of on these 27" iMacs.

I've been waiting to purchase one since January.

I have been on the fence to purchasing a 27inch iMac since November. I have always been a relatively happy Windows user. I have owned many machines, none of which has shown problems to the extent I read here. I must say that I am not at all impressed at how Apple handles these types of situation...very "quarterly results" as opposed to "customer" focused indeed.

Having said that, I also trust the reports of so many that swear by the overall "Apple experience", and I must say that the 27inch iMac is a beautiful machine. So I am waiting for all problems to be resolved before I dive in.

My understanding is that the flickering problem seems resolved with the latest fix. But can anyone confirm that the yellowing problem is also off the table, or is this more related to the LCD panel itself? Also, does anyone know whether Apple has an exchange policy for dead pixels on the panel? Note that I live in Europe where policies may be different than in the US.

Bonjour,

I haven't experienced flickering on my iMac 27" C2D 3.33 since the second patch.

But I consider the period to be too short to draw a relevant conclusion. some "stress test", as watching a movie, are needed.

To be continued...

Yellowing is still on the table. Patches don't do anything for those. Apple is apparently planning on doing some sort of LCD swap program in a week or two for those, but it doesn't seem like details for that - or experiences from folks who have used the program - have leaked out yet.

Glad to see the second patch seems to be helping the flickering issue for most (though not all) customers - but I'm still waiting for Apple to return my call re: my new, replacement iMac's yellowing woes. Would love to love my iMac someday.

Well I'm another one thats been sitting on the sidelines waiting for the problem to be resolved. From the reports so far I think its time to order an i7. Fingers crossed I dont have any problems.

The guy I know that works and sells apple products said the 6 customers that was hunting him with problems have all been resolved with the fireware fix.

I asked him about the other issues regarding yellow tint, cd scratching and noisy HD/fans etc....

He said he has only come across the yellow tint but this never made it to a customer as they test the computers before delivering it to a client. As this business deals 99% with corporate clients, mainly with video editing, sound engineering, graphic arts and the printing industry and also education sector they dont like to leave room for error. Though the flickering issues made it to the customer as this was something that was so random.

Wish me luck guys. Will report back if this is still open to give some feed back. But I think everything will be okay. Getting a macbook as well at the same time.

Even though issue is resolved (fingers crossed) still disappointing in the way apple dealt with the issue.

Hi,
Yet again, I still have no word of my next replacement.
Though this one was not as bad as the first, I still experience dimming, then lightening since the second patch!!(add backlight bleed, dead pixels,yellowing and hard drive noise)
I have written an email to steve@mac.com advising of my experience.
I advise everyone thinking, YAY it's fixed!!!!! To wait a week at least. Sometimes, on the first, I didn't get it for four days at a time.
I understand this thread is slowing down, however,we all purchased these machines for allot of money, they should have been perfect from day one.
Those able to except newer machines, SHOULD except them, (if it was not perfect to start with, don't except it!!!!!!!!!) either it be a patch or what ever to fix them! This is wrong and not tolerated.
I am still waiting to hear news of when I will receive a new machine and I am not happy!

Seems like your not the only one with a dilemma.
A few days ago I received my replacement iMac (with a 5 day overlap, so I'm able to transfer files from iMac 1 to iMac 2). It did not have flicker/blackouts, which is really nice. However, it has dead pixels/dust. So now my situation is this:

iMac 1: Flicker/blackouts
iMac 2: No flicker/blackouts, BUT dead pixels.

This is a difficult choice. Do I want flicker/blackouts or dead pixels? I'll maybe opt for dead pixels, and get a 3rd iMac, hoping this is going to be perfect.

But ... hear this: Installed the 2nd update on iMac 1, and now it seems the blackouts/flicker is gone.
So now my situation is this:

iMac 1: No flicker/blackouts
iMac 2: No flicker/blackout, BUT dead pixels.

This seems like an easy choice, right? You'd keep iMac 1, right? WRONG!

Spoke to Apple yesterday, and guess what? They recommended getting a 3rd iMac. Yes, +even though iMac 1 is now working correctly+. The exact wording was "You already have had flicker/blackouts with your first iMac, so - even though the 2nd update seems to have cured the problem - I'd recommend you'd get a 3rd iMac, just to be sure". Can you believe it?

Since it dont cost me a dime (apart from the trouble involved transferring apps, settings etc), I told her to go ahead and send me a 3rd iMac. But I'm not really sure if its worth it.... Crazy story.

spurv2,

I agree, this is really a crazy story!

Just a suggestion to reduce the "+trouble involved transferring apps, settings etc+".
To streamline the configuration of a new machine, you might proceed as follows:
. make a bootable backup of your old iMac on an external drive
. verify it works by booting from it
. move external drive from old iMac to the new one
. boot new iMac from OS X DVD
. start Disk Utility and use "Restore" to copy external HD contents onto new iMac HD

This way you have "carbon copied" your old iMac onto the new one.
A bit time consuming, but it's just machine time, you can do something else in the meantime.

If you have a Firewire-800 cable you should also be able to copy directly from iMac HD to iMac HD, but I've never done that (no cable).

Last but not least: if you have personal info on your iMac, don't forget to clean up the hard disk from your personal data before shipping it back.
To do so, after deleting all files and directories (and/or entire users) containing sensitive info, use Disk Utility to _physically Erase free space_ (for ordinary people with ordinary secrets, one-pass erasing is sufficient; if you are paranoid or a 007 you may even select multiple-pass erasing, but that will require a lot of time).

Wish you a flawless iMac!

spurv2 wrote:
Spoke to Apple yesterday, and guess what? They recommended getting a 3rd iMac. Yes, +even though iMac 1 is now working correctly+. The exact wording was "You already have had flicker/blackouts with your first iMac, so - even though the 2nd update seems to have cured the problem - I'd recommend you'd get a 3rd iMac, just to be sure". Can you believe it?

Hello Spurv2,

The fact that they would even say that at this late date, suggests to me that even Apple isn't certain that the display update will be the cure-all to this situation. I mean, why even offer a third iMac "just to be sure", unless they have doubts about the patch? It just doesn't make sense. Rather than convey confidence in the display update, the person you spoke with did the exact opposite. It sounds to me like Apple may still be employing its subtle recall campaign to get the defective iMacs returned to them, but without seeming too obvious.

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