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

spurv2 wrote:
There's a difference. When a topic gets out of the forums and into the mainstream media, it sends a different message - regardless of whether it brings any new info to the table or not.

Precisely. I couldn't have said it better myself. Apple should be concerned about this development. ComputerWorld.com isn't exactly small potatoes, and neither is the New York Times. This bad publicity can only hurt Apple's public image.

Since I have a 27=in iMac on order (I ordered it Dec. 8, it’s supposed to be delivered Dec. 28) I have been following this series of posts with great interest. I have two questions for those you who have described your display problems. 1.) You have complained about these problems after booting a cold machine. Has anybody considered simply never shutting it down? Has that helped? 2.) You have complained about these problems after waking from sleep. What exactly do you mean? Putting your entire Mac to sleep or just your display to sleep? If the former, has anybody tried just putting the display to sleep? If so, has that helped? Or, more generally, has anybody figured out a way to operate this Mac in a way that eliminates or at least mitigates these issues? The reason I ask is that, since I also purchased Apple Care protection, if I have these problems myself I don’t want to submit to the hassles of swapping my new Mac for a replacement until I’m absolutely sure the replacement will be problem-free, and I am wondering about the best way of living with a wonky display until that time.

camereo wrote:

I don't know MacPlanet I guess. the reason i wrote week 53 is because my order number is W9153*** it was the same as the iMac serial number when i ordered this flickering one. Maybe apple has different way of counting weeks or most probably i am wrong

The conspiracy theorist in me has come up with another novel idea...

Maybe week 53 is Apple's coded way of saying that the computer will be shipped in January of 2010. [evil grin and dark music follows].

Hi Dana,

Here's what I've been experiencing...

1.) You have complained about these problems after booting a cold machine. Has anybody considered simply never shutting it down? Has that helped?

Shutdown yes. Switched it on again after 4 hours BANG! Blackscreen followed by flickering.

2.) You have complained about these problems after waking from sleep. What exactly do you mean?

After long usage I let it go to sleep as in full sleep (display, HDD the whole 9) ... After waking and 2 to 3 hours into work that's when it happened to me the first time.

There's no reason you should be really concerned that it would happen to you. I'm just guessing odds are. You see, it happened to me a couple times on day 2... Today I did a Parallel RAM reset (as per instructions from Apple Center) and I haven't experienced it at all. My i7 has been on ever since and slept a few times (both display and full).

Of course after reading the posts here for a longer while, the thought of it suddenly happening to me again is always in the back of my head. So as for now, I'll just attribute these glitches(?) to first day jitters -- Weird stuff happened to my brand new MB Pro on it's first two days also, but it went away.

Hoping for the best,
s0l

"Today I did a Parallel RAM reset (as per instructions from Apple Center)" Whazzat??? Mind sharing this info with us all?

Sure, but I think it would be better if you'd follow an official Apple how-to than me explaining please do follow this link...

*http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379*

Mind you, I've been told not to do this often as it would lead to possible hardware malfunction. It's just a last resort if all else fails. If problems still persist after, you might be better off taking it to the Apple Store than trying another PRAM reset.

Again, I'm not suggesting to do this if it happens - instead call AppleCare or take it to the store! The flickering issue is almost unique to all users and no one can really explain how it happens...

cheers,
s0l

I used to work for Apple as a technician and still know people that work at the apple stores here in arizona. So I got the parts and did the repair myself.

exactly what parts and what repairs did you make?

I ordered my 27" i5 on 12/9 and initially received an estimated ship date of 12/23, with arrival on 12/29. I figured this was a function of the graphics-related shipment delay announced earlier that day.

An hour ago, however, I received a shipping notification...my machine will be here Wednesday, 12/14. I'm thrilled to get my new iMac that much sooner, of course, but with everything that I've read in this thread, I'm scratching my head and wondering what's going on over there in Shanghai...

Hmmm...Well, it could be that Apple is practicing a little shrewd reverse psychology here. In other words, maybe, just maybe, they are announcing later arrival dates, knowing full well that the units will arrive sooner than they are announcing to their customers. The obvious result of this practice is that grumbling, unhappy Mac users will be thrilled -- as you obviously are -- and that warm, fuzzy feeling towards all things Apple will return again...which is exactly what Apple wants to happen.

Or -- if you prefer the more simpler explanation -- then perhaps as you stated, things are just really screwed up over there in China; but then, we already knew that!

Click my name to be taken to a list of my posts with detailed info, but in short:

graphics card = did not fix, problem presented itself again almost immediately
display cable and lcd = so far so good

06awd, thanks for your follow-ups. Please keep us informed if your mac stays perfect, etc.!

Are there any signs of yellow tinge on your imac? Have you run the yellow test?

I mentioned earlier my Week 49 27" i7 machine first had a dead pixel and dust or minor, but visible, damage behind the glass. Apple Store agreed to replace the display. While waiting for parts, the flickering, blackout and vertical "wrapping" of the screen showed up. I mentioned these issues also to the Genius.

I had the LCD panel and glass replaced according to the original plan. I asked whether they saw, looked at or think they addressed the flickering, and I was vaguely assured they tested it after the LCD was replaced and it's all good.

Well, so far so good. No flickering, blackouts or wrapping since bringing it home three days ago. It's been on the entire time, and I've actively used it for probably 15 hours, 5 hours at a session. So in my case, knock on wood, replacing the LCD panel seems to have remedied the problem. No graphics card swap, and no software updates other than the normal automatic updates when the machine was first setup. Not sure if others have/will see the same improvement from an LCD swap, but I thought I'd post since most folks seem to be replacing the entire machines, and thus have a hard time nailing down a cause or a remedy.

Good luck, all!

Sonics99 wrote:
"LCD and display cable fix report - 73.5 hours now and no signs of any of the symptoms."

LCD replacement fixed mine, too (apparently... so far...). No cable replacement for me (unless it's part of the standard LCD replacement).

--Pete

I picked up my week 48 iMac 27 i5 (the standard config) from my reseller on saturday, it's been running non-stop since then.

So far so good: the screen is goregeous (not even the slightest yellowing, as opposed to the samsung flat panel I'm using at work, which fales the gray stripes test), the iSight is perfect, no dead pixels, the computer is very, very silent and I've been installing windows, transfering games and playing said games all sunday.

So far no flicker. Could I be lucky?...?