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

my first 27inch imac start to flicker exactly a week after a bought it. They replaced it without a problem to my luck the one they replaced it with had a cracked screen so i took that one back and got another one. My third one started to get a yellow tiny at the bottom of the screen so i took it back for another replacement yesterday. this lady at the store asked me if i just wanted my money back even thought i had already passed my 14 day period (i had it for 3 weeks) they gave me my money back without a problem. Apple customer service is the best..she reminded me that you can return any product till January i forgot the exact date, if it was bought after October.

pazuita wrote:
Warren B.....What if Apple chooses to swap out the ATI HD Radeon 4850 card for something slower and less powerful?"

That is not the way Apple operates, at least, not in my experience as a Mac user for more than a couple of decades.

When my last iMac went up in flames, a 24" dual 3.06 which was purchased as a refurbished unit, Apple chose to replace it with a new, not refurbished, but brand spanking new 27" dual 3.06 at no additional cost to me. A more than fair trade, I think, since I got the larger screen, larger HD, ddr3 in place of ddr2 memory. The only downgrade was to the video card itself, since I had the much superior nvida card in the older 24". They also allowed me to upgrade to the i7 by just paying the difference between the 27" dual 3.06 and the i7.

If Apple does replace the graphics cards, I have no doubt that they will be replaced with an improved version of the same card, or even a superior card, which, no doubt will come with the next revision anyway, hopefully to the newest nvida cards.

That is, if the problem is even in the graphics cards. I'm still betting on the monitors, or drivers, or possibly connectors between the card, and monitor.

Just a point of order here -- since you say you upgraded to the i7, you got the Radeon HD 4850 in your new iMac. Contrary to what you claim, this is a vastly superior card to the NVIDIA GT130 that was in your old iMac. Benchmarks aside, the HD 4850 was actually available as a BTO upgrade from the GT130 in the 24" iMacs...this alone proves my point, but the benchies actually bear it out. Besides, history has shown that NVIDIA cards are just as trouble prone as ATI cards.

pazuita wrote:
Richard..........no need to worry.

I hate to keep repeating myself, but Apple does have the best warranties, and customer service in the industry, hands down.

I love my Apple products too, but let's get real. If you think 90 days of phone support is "the best warranty in the industry," then I want some of what you're smoking.

My 24" was the previous version, prior to the GT cards, in my model 24", the nvida card 8800GS with 512mb ram, was an upgrade from the lower end models with the ATI cards, I believe they were the 2600 pro.

In those models, the nvida cards were superior.

A year later, different cards, different benchmarks.

Any Nvida card that works is vastly superior to any ATI that doesn't.

As for whether or not the Nvida's are as trouble prone as the ATI's, a lot of us are still waiting the final answer on that one.

90 days of phone support for a Mac has always been more than adequate.

In 25 years as a Mac user, I've never been charged once for phone support, even when those calls were made well beyond the initial 90 days, without Applecare. With Applecare, you get even more support.

You don't have to take my word for their unequalled customer support, just google Apple Customer Support ratings, here's one, there's plenty more.....

http://www.laptopmag.com/mobile-life/tech-support-showdown-2009.aspx

Apple tops the list, the distant second is a far distant second.

This topic is becoming to look like a joke...
1000 of quadrupled replies without solution.
It is obvious by now that the problem is hardware related and Apple is just replacing the affected units.
I can't see the point of going on about it.
If you have a "flickering" iMac issue, just contact Apple and they will fix it for you - usually by replacing it.
My (now 1 month old i7) is perfect out of the box...
So what is the problem again..?

pazuita wrote:
The only downgrade was to the video card itself, since I had the much superior nvida card in the older 24". They also allowed me to upgrade to the i7 by just paying the difference between the 27" dual 3.06 and the i7.

If Apple does replace the graphics cards, I have no doubt that they will be replaced with an improved version of the same card, or even a superior card, which, no doubt will come with the next revision anyway, hopefully to the newest nvida cards.

Hello Pazuita. Thanks for your response.

I am far from an expert when it comes to graphics cards. I have been doing some online reading lately, particularly concerning the ATI Radeon HD cards, since they appear to be at the center of a lot of the discussions here.

From the reading I have done, it seems that there are widely-varying opinions when it comes to comparing the Nvidia cards and the ATI Radeon HD cards.

Considering that the i5's and the i7's are the high-end 27" iMacs -- particularly the i7 -- I assumed -- perhaps erroneously so -- that the ATI Radeon HD 4850 card is a better, faster, more powerful card, which is why Apple reserved it for the Quad Cores, while using the ATI Radeon HD 4670 and the Nvidia card in the lower end models. In other words, they wanted to make a clear distinction between the power and capabilities of the various models so that folks would feel that they were getting their money's worth if they chose the high-end unit.

You seem to be suggesting that this is not necessarily true. In other words, your preference for Nvidia cards seems to suggest that you view them as superior cards to the ATI Radeon HD cards. If that is true -- and I don't know that it is -- then that would suggest that Apple doesn't necessarily put a better card in a more expensive unit.

To make this even more confusing for me, the Mac Pros have a NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 card. Isn't that an even older, less powerful card? Is it better than the ATI Radeon HD 4850 card?

I am just really having a hard time understanding all of this card business, and how Apple decides which card goes in which machine. I am starting to form the opinion that perhaps a more expensive machine doesn't necessarily equate to a better, faster graphics card in it.

Can you -- or someone -- help me out here?

Thanks!

As far as using a better card, well, there is the 4870, and even the newer 5800 series cards, but I bet that Apple is reserving those for the next line of Macs...but what do I know?

The problem, atlatnesiti, is that my replacement machine was also faulty, thus demonstrating that Apple did not "fix it for me" as you suggest. Replacement machines being faulty is the reason people are not satisfied that Apple are fixing the problem, which is leading to people getting refunds or not making a purchase in the first place.

Day 3:

So far so good... Early days yet but my i7 (Week 50 build) is flicker free and no evidence of yellowing or any other screen anomaly. I haven't stressed the system yet and I doubt that I ever will apart from using Photoshop. I copied over my Documents folder from my 24" last night and tonight I will start reinstalling the software that I use. I have yet to install the six or so updates from Apple. The only issue that I encountered so far was that I kept dropping my internet connection and that was solved by unplugging and replugging the power cord to my Time Capsule.

Steph - An iMac Girl

It would be interesting to know where the replacement machines are coming from i.e Direct from Apple or from store shelves. It would be logical to assume that those coming direct from Apple would be "Fixed" before a replacement was shipped where as one from store shelves/existing stock may also be defective.

Steph - An iMac Girl

Stephanie Craxford wrote:

It would be interesting to know where the replacement machines are coming from i.e Direct from Apple or from store shelves. It would be logical to assume that those coming direct from Apple would be "Fixed" before a replacement was shipped where as one from store shelves/existing stock may also be defective.

It depends where you placed your original order. Online, they come from the factory. In store or through a reseller, from stock, which of course gets replenished from the factory.

Simon (UK) wrote:

Stephanie Craxford wrote:

It would be interesting to know where the replacement machines are coming from i.e Direct from Apple or from store shelves. It would be logical to assume that those coming direct from Apple would be "Fixed" before a replacement was shipped where as one from store shelves/existing stock may also be defective.

It depends where you placed your original order. Online, they come from the factory. In store or through a reseller, from stock, which of course gets replenished from the factory.

Quite true Simon. My point was that those who are returning defective machines to a retailer run more risk of getting another defective machine from their existing stock.

Steph - An iMac Girl

I bought my machine from the Apple Store online, returned it to them, got a replacement (arrived Monday 14th Dec - also faulty), returned it to them, got a refund.

Hello together!
I've bought an 27" i7 iMac in the beginning of November from a local reseller (McShark in Vienna). It was the first time that I chose an Apple computer, after several friends repeatedly told me how satisfied they are and how workflow friendly the whole system is designed. But now it seems, that I chose the worst moment to switch to Apple! I already paid my iMac in cash when I bought it and accepted when they told me, that it will be delivered by end of november!! Now it's almost year's end, and my iMac is still not here...
Then I read about this problems and I wonder if I will have to wait now, until Apple decides to come up with a solution. I really would appreciate if Apple would tell us more about these problems and how & when they think they will have solved it. If I do not hear anything from them until christmas I will cancel my order and demand my cash back plus I will charge them interest, because I am no private credit institute with 0% interests!! I mean, this is just a fraud! No customer friendly behaviour whatsoever! I even know more about this topic, than the guys in the reseller shop, they do not have the slightest idea, when the delivery will take place or why exactly it is so much delayed!! Most probably I will never ever again buy an iMac, unless if I receive this one in the next days and it does not come with any of the mentioned problems here... or at least a satisfying explanation and excuse alongside with bonus credits for apple stuff.
For years Mac users smiled at me and said: "you know this is why we have a Mac! We do not have these problems with hardware and Windows, our system is so perfectly aligned, blabla!" - Yeah, right guys, I guess Apple lost this advantage, when they changed to Intel systems!?
However most likely I will then turn to buy an EFI-X (http://www.efi-x.com) module with a gigabyte motherboard and a better graphic card, than the ones Apple currently builds in their machines (I also do not understand, why the Mac Pro has older and weaker hardware than the iMac, and why in general they do not offer better graphic cards, wasn't Apple always THE company for graphic pros?). To be honest I only chose Apple this time, because they have the image of reliability, good service, excellent design & usability and because of the 27"inch display. If you look at it from hardware side, you can find a lot of faster, newer and most probably not less reliable hardware on which you can run Mac OS X as well... and the best thing about it: it's by way cheaper! I just thought, that this time I do not want to tinker my machine together, I just want it straight out of the box working perfectly! How naive! Shame on me, I should know by now, that this dream will never come true!
Not with a Mac, nor with a standard PC! But at least now I know what I answer the next Apple siblings who want to convince me how great Macs are...
If any Apple employe is going to read this: WE WANT ANSWERS! What's going on here? Don't act like ostrichs and plug your heads in the sand! We are your customers and the customers are your kings! And do not let your resellers pay for your ****!
Unhappy greetings,

Daniel

Yeah..... Apple has done a great stonewall on this one.The Apple Stores and retailers all act dumb when you bring up these issues. I canceled my order as I want to see what the shake down looks like. I feel your pain but I'm not about to be anybody's guinea pig. I suggest the same for you. Good luck.