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

Had my replacement unit for 5 days now and not even a hint of problems. Fingers crossed. The unit was replaced with a model from the same batch: 946.

Odds are it will happen with most machines within the original production run. Seems like they are retooling based on the 5-7 and 7-10 windows on Core Duo and Core i5 units respectively. They have to make a production fix to keep cranking out units while crafting a retroactive one for current owners. I'll bet most of us are prone...

Nick Szasz wrote:
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

I have to agree with hkrause on this one. I am not an Apple technician, so you should take my opinion with a grain of salt; but it likewise sounds to me like they are clueless and are just reaching for straws. This sounds just as flaky as some of the other suggestions which have been made by certain Apple Store employees over the past several weeks.

If the screen flickering issue is related to software and the Migration Assistant -- as they apparently seem to think -- then this would imply that the hundreds of users who have reported this very same problem are making the very same mistake as you.

I don't think so. I still suspect that it is a hardware issue, and NOT a software issue.

No offense, but there's not even an acknowledgment yet from Apple that there are problems. All Apple is doing is taking back machines with faults and replacing them with machine that may also have faults. In other words, those who have been buying the machines are guinea pigs, as are those who buy before there is official documentation of the problems and solutions that actually resolve the problems.

I guess anything is possible, but Migration Assistant causing display anomalies? It will be interesting to see what comes out of all of this, that's for sure.

Thanks for the report robgb: you don't have any yellow tinge at the bottom of the screen?

Thanks!

Message was edited by: nicolasj

I received my i5 yesterday. I set it up straight out of the box with no migration and no installs. Within one hour of browsing and checking things out it started to flicker. A couple pretty good ones at first and then the screen went black for a second. This morning I turned it on and within 30 minutes it started. I purchased it from MacConnection and I called and the person was very nice and set everything up for a return. She told me they test everything and if it cannot be verified then I get hit with a restocking fee which stinks since it is not consistent at this point. I thought I would capture it on video and since that time it has not flickered once. I feel like it is a time bomb at this point. This just stinks. I read reviews and all were glowing and no mention of the flicker problem.

Well I received my iMac i7 this morning. I let it warm up to room temperature, booted it and ran the install without transferring anything over. I have setup my email, etc and played around with it waiting to see it I should install my apps etc. At this point all appears fine (but it has only been 7 hours). I personally can't see transferring even your monitor configuration from another computer doing anything to the new machine. What I can see is that it's the video card or a component on the card or a connection on or to the card. That would be my bet because not everyone has the problem. I have model 8949 and will keep everyone posted. It would be interesting to know the percentage of bad computers to good system that have been sold. Is it 1%, 3%, 5% or 20%? You know this forum has the squeaky wheels. Regardless Apple should at least acknowledge that there is a problem. One point for Apple is I called before it arrived and told them that I wanted to return it and they sent me a RMA within 5 minutes but being the adventurer that I am.... I OPENED THE PACKAGE AND PLUGGED IT IN!! Living dangerously with Apple. Of course we all know that after posting this my system will then act up....

No yellow tinge, no flickering, no problems at all so far. The machine is a beauty, runs like a charm. And it's mostly silent except when I'm using Handbrake, when the fan sometimes kicks on.

As for the advice above regarding firewire, etc., I don't think that has anything to do with anything. My first unit went bad within a day and I hadn't used firewire or put any apps on it other than Logic 9.

Is anyone else experiencing uneven coloration as well? For example, when using a solid medium gray background I see darker smudges all over the place. Seems to change over time. I did not notice this a few days ago when I first got the machine and loaded a gray background. Hmmm...

Almost three weeks with my 27" C2D, thought I saw very, very slight flicker the first couple days. Almost nothing maybe even just an anomaly. Its been running great ever since. W8940 build so mine is older than most of what I have been reading about.

This is my first Mac, I have owned at least 30 PC's over the years. Still run my Quad-core Win7 box for AutoCad and some specialized engineering software and another one in my recording studio.. But I must say truly love my Mac. If I had the money I'd buy 4 more.

I've been on countless forums over the years and if you could change only the subject matter syntax, the rants and raves all look and read mysteriously the same. They [the corporation} better do something about this, they owe it to us customers, demand this and demand that. I'm not disagreeing,, but its amusing that they all read so similar; if you didn't know the particulars you might not know what forum you are on.

We're dealing with Corporate America or should I say the World Corporations here folks. There is no someone or somebody, that's the whole idea of a corporation. All I can say is good luck to us all. Just because mine is good, you never know; this could end up right there with the Kennedy assignation. I hope I'm wrong. I left the corporate world years ago and went on my own, what a relief having not to work for these shareholder junkies. I know, I know that's why we have these great machines, but there is no Corporation, you can't see it or talk to it, or hit it. This is the whole point.

My son and I were both very excited by the 27in i7 when it was announced. After they seemed to be officially available, he ordered one and then a few days later I decided I should too. My son's arrived last Friday. Within an hour it started to flicker, which brought us to this thread. Sadly, it's on its way back to Apple. So I cancelled my order.
I'm waiting until activity in this thread dies down or Apple acknowledges the problem and indicates what they are doing to fix it. Shipping faulty computers can't be good for anyone except Fedex.
If someone from Apple reads this post, could you please let me know when it's "safe" to place my order again? I want one desperately, I know you'll stand behind it 100% if it fails, but I just don't need the hassle.

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

Use a PC to rip a Blu-ray Disc to an MP4 file using RipBot264 and AnyDVD HD. Seriously. I've done this numerous times and it works like a champ/

When I first recvd my 1st IMAC 27, the trainer noticed that the screen was flickering. So I had to wait another 2 days for a replacement. On Nov. 18 I recvd my replacement and everything was fine. Then on Dec. 6 I noticed that my screen was flickering. The following it stop. Today I noticed the flickering again!!! This is my 1st Apple computer. I'm very sad that this is happening again. I love this computer. Tomorrow I will go to Apple to report it and see what they will tell me.
I hope they can resolve the problem. This will be my 2nd replacement. It's sad to get a defective computer when you pay a lot of money. Also it took me a while to figure how to use the HP Photosmart printer C4780. Had to refer to HP and they inform me that I should have downloaded the setup from their website instead of using the disk that was supplied to me. It's the Snow Lepoard that's causing the prob. Didn't anyone have this problem at the Apple Store??? It's working now but now I have flickering problem. You can't win......

Just an update on my 27", I returned my original that flickered to Worstbuy with whom I'm still arguing with about a restocking fee and bought an i5 from the Apple store. So far no problems, both have serial numbers that start with W8947. This is a beautiful machine, I hope I got a keeper now. Its replacing a 2005 model whose logic board fried. Seems as though the QC is slipping somewhat. I've got both an iMac DVSE and a a "Lamp" model that still work fine. But now why is my mouse freaking out?