Q: New iMac 27inch screen flickering/tearing/shutoff

"My i7 will be shipping back as soon as I receive the replacement which should ship within the next week. Apple Support has been great all through the process.
Not only do I have the flickering problem, but also have a dead optical drive.

Even with those issues, this machine is incredible, and far superior to any windows box I have ever used, or owned."

And if that replacement I7 is defective? And you had a dead optical drive, too? Apparently Apple's managers in China are not checking the machines as they come off the line prior to being packed? End users are the QC'ers?

Sheesh.

Warren Beasley wrote:
Assuming that this is the case, why in the world would any Apple reseller leave a defective unit on display? It doesn't make sense.

Did you mention the defects to the store? If so, what was their reaction?

The store in question is a largeish "Superstore" selling PC hardware, games & consoles, TVs, cellphones etc. Even though Apple demo stand is at the prime spot in the store one would more likely see people selecting accessories for their Nanos rather than playing with iMacs and Macbooks... When I returned the Mighty Mouse to one of the reps I told the 27" has a problem.

How are you getting 1080p content to display?

I thought there is no way to connect a BlueRay player to this machine, and I thought that was the only source of 1080p content.

- Karen

You can use the 27" display as a monitor. All you need to do is get a HDMI or DVI or whatever to mini display port adapter.

Next, they'll have turn off all the Circuit Breakers in the House and go outside and run around your house counter clockwise 3 times. This will do equal to or better than resetting the PRAM and reinstalling OSX. What a bunch of crap.

dackattack wrote:
That's the thing. I don't think people that aren't specifically looking for these defects (at least the yellowing of the screen, the flickering I can understand) are going to see them. Probably another reason why Apple has not released anything official yet.

I haven't received my new i7 iMac yet -- and probably won't for many weeks -- so my experience is limited to what folks are saying on these forums. It sounds like you are saying that the yellow tinge may not be too apparent to the casual observer, but that the screen flickering is hard to miss. Is this correct?

Yet, it still seems strange to me that trained Apple Store employees -- or even AAR employees for that matter -- could not be aware of these problems, and must have surely observed them firsthand on the machines that have been on display in their own stores for weeks now.

I am beginning to question whether this phrase "Apple Genius" is a misnomer. Are they just hiring inexperienced, minimum wage kids off of the streets?

Lest someone take offense, I am not mocking minimum wage earners. It is a tough life, and I think that it is a crime how Big Business and Big Government purposely keep entry level wages oppressed, while CEO's give themselves hefty bonuses in the millions of dollars.

My point is, if they are going to call them "geniuses", then I hope that these employees have the knowledge and experience with Mac computers to merit such an honorific title. That some of them feign ignorance to these problems is troubling in my view.

Which I thought don't currently exist... The ones that do go in the other direction FROM MDP to whatever.

- Karen

Warren Beasley wrote:

dackattack wrote:

Yet, it still seems strange to me that trained Apple Store employees -- or even AAR employees for that matter -- could not be aware of these problems, and must have surely observed them firsthand on the machines that have been on display in their own stores for weeks now.

I thought the original poster said this wasn't at an Apple Store but rather at a superstore (don't know why the name was withheld, though)? In the Chicagoland area, the first superstore I think of that carries Apple is Abt. Abt has an Apple Store within its building and it is staffed by Apple employees. Even though there is a Sony store in Abt selling PCs, a different group of employees handles those sales.

I could understand the defect being ingnored if these iMacs were at Best Buy.

karen_forums wrote:
How are you getting 1080p content to display?

I thought there is no way to connect a BlueRay player to this machine, and I thought that was the only source of 1080p content.

- Karen

Ummmm do you have fast enough broadband and a big enough data cap for say a 20GB file?

Dennis Henley wrote:
I thought the original poster said this wasn't at an Apple Store but rather at a superstore (don't know why the name was withheld, though)? In the Chicagoland area, the first superstore I think of that carries Apple is Abt. Abt has an Apple Store within its building and it is staffed by Apple employees. Even though there is a Sony store in Abt selling PCs, a different group of employees handles those sales.

Hello Dennis,

Well, I would think that even an AAR -- Authorized Apple Reseller -- like the mentioned "superstore", must meet certain requirements set by Apple in order to sell and service Apple products. While money and profit are obviously motivating factors, Apple also has an image to uphold.

Returned from the Apple Store in Madison, Wi this morning with a new replacement for my week 46 flickering 27" i5 imac.

Using the downloadable free Temperature Monitor application:
Week 46 model ran at 49-53 degrees celsius
Week 49 model runs at 33-37 degrees celsius (fan is audibly blowing harder)

Week number is the 3rd and 4th digits of your serial number. In "About this Mac" click on your os version number until you arrive at your serial number.

More about week of manufacture and flickering online.

lol....its like calling comcast....

Did you reset the modem? Come'on!!

5 hrs after the re-install of OSX - no flickering yet.

Joe

Message was edited by: Joe Liu

Apple Store employees and managers are aware of the problem and will acknowledge the issue in many cases. That's about it though. They don't have access to the inner workings at Apple Corporate. All employees can do is swap out units or provide a refund until more information becomes available. They are sending defective units back to the engineers in many cases.

Apple Store will replace my i5 27" iMac

BUT - they are asking me to do a *clean install* of all apps when I setup the new one.
They say they suspect transferring apps/data/settings from my previous Mac via Firewire "might" be the cause of this problem.

I have not seen this advice elsewhere. I'd prefer not to have to do a clean install as I have lots of apps to install.

Has anyone else been told this? Does this sound like sound advice?

Thanks

It sounds like they are clueless.