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

Well, hubby was ticked at Apple for telling me I needed to bring it in to an Apple store for repair (lugging a 27" iMac to the mall at Christmas is just asking for trouble) vs sending a tech to my house, so he called to chew them out and they are sending a new iMac! I just did the update (on my existing one) and so far no flicker, but from what I have read, that means nothing. I sure hope the one they land up sending is fully functional and has no ADDITIONAL problems like the cracked screen or pixel issue. sigh I am hoping I can postpone sending it back until January. They won't send me the new one until FedEx confirms they have picked up the old one. Understandable. But hopefully I can wait until holidays are over to initiate this process, giving me the best chance at getting a "fixed" model. And if not, thankfully I purchased AppleCare ;o)

Since you have purchased AppleCare, You could ask to get service onsite.

"Onsite service is available for many desktop computers if the location of the Covered Equipment is within 50 miles/80 kilometers radius of an Apple authorized onsite service provider located in the United States or Canada. Onsite service is not available for some parts."

That is an option IF they know how to fix it!
And judging from the firmware update, they don't really do yet

Eric

Same problems as everyone below, i was so exited to get my new iMac 27" but as soon as i plugged it in started to flicker and behave just as described, for the top of the line "quadcore duo" this should not have happened. Anyway i took it back and there were no problems returning it. I am just going to wait until they fix this problem and buy it back - but still disappointed with Apple.

Ran the firmware update last night and had no flickering. Today I have flickering galore. I have no idea what to do now. I guess maybe return the machine?

Well it took 11 days, but I finally got the flickering screen. Week 50 i7 here with 8 GB and 1 TB HD. Never noticed a flicker and any defect prior to today. Got the computer on Friday the 11th and have used it pretty regularly including heavy graphics stuff like XPlane. The i7 does a great job of running the sim at awesome frame rates, but today the screen would flicker constantly any time I paused the sim. That is the only time it would flicker and when I "un-Paused" it would operate normally. Here are the stats when it started to flicker:

GPU Diode 78 C
GPU Heatsink 77 C
CPU Fan 1721 RPM

These are off of the iStat widget.

I did get AppleCare so I guess it's time to give them a call. Haven't decided if I want to order another unit or just wait for the next "fix".

The story continues....nano

I called the Apple store today. They said they were waiting for parts (New screen, cable, etc.) I asked if they were aware of the firmware fix, yes they were. I asked if it would be installed too. They said yes! I told them I expected to get it back with none of the on-going problems (Yellow tinge, noisy HD, Flickering & Blackouts, etc.) They assured me the machine would be a solid 100%. (We'll see.)

It may be ready for P/U tomorrow.

Rick,

This is valid for anyone still having problems. After doing the firmware update, it isn't a bad idea to follow through with these steps to make sure anything that is still in the memory is not corrupted or effected. It is possible that is why some users are still have the issue. Obviously this is hard to prove without everyone doing it and then waiting and hoping the intermittent problem doesn't happen.

I have personally not had it since the firmware update, but I am not holding my breath.

I have also manually replaced the video card, lcd, and display port cable.

Just for reference the yellow tinge is lcd related, not glass related as I have seen reported on some sites. I know because I changed the lcd and didn't have the issue before I swapped it out. Same glass.

My insurance lady rang to tell me about the update, I got all excited for about 1 minuet, then realised that will not fix the yellow tinge, dead pixels and hard drive and fan noise.
so much for that, still have to wait until Jan 15

I have personally have seen this issue on ten Imacs after installing the firmware update!!!!!! It is a no go for the fix!

I'm with those with an engineering background who are wondering if it's a power source or environment issue of some sort.

I've had my 27" dual core (purchased at Best Buy) since the first week of November and it's been perfect (knock on wood).

But with so many reporting that even their replacement machines immediately fail, statistics would either indicate a) most every machine including replacements is broken or b) something in that environment will cause most any machine to fail.

Best test would be for someone to take 1 (or more) machines that are known to be functional and try them at a location where 1 (or more) has failed.

My guess would be the replacement machines were tested, before they were sent. If they weren't, bad on Apple. If they were (more likely IMO), then some sort of environment variable is the issue.

how can it be environmental?
a) most of us on this thread, have or had previous imacs 24"(myself), g5, macbooks, pc's even, etc...

->My guess would be the replacement machines were tested, before they were sent. If they weren't, bad on Apple. If they were (more likely IMO), then some sort of environment variable is the issue.

Let me just add if it is an environment variable it's obviously a common one, that Apple should have been prepared for, before they started shipping these machines.

But unless they're just shipping broken machines they haven't even tested to those who are having problems, it could be a local environment issue of some sort, which is the first thing that needs to be nailed down (Apple may already know).

Now, with the ATI firmware update installed, and the iMac running off and on for 24 hours, I have a little idea how the screen issues are faring.

So far, so good. Because we have become hyper-sensitized to flickering of any sort (even within webpage adds), I did notice a brief tear across the whole screen. So brief and fast, that if I blinked I would have missed it. But, what was interesting was that was the only issue. Prior to the firmware update, these first tears, and then the whole screen flickering, quickly got worse, eventually leading to the total blackouts. As far as surmising a pattern, this always happened until the machine or the display was put to sleep, and restarted.

So, this single brief tear, with no other issues following it, with the screen and machine operation uninterrupted, proves to me something is different. Another thing I have noticed is faster booting, waking and sleeping actions. I don't know how these operations would be affected by a GPU ROM update, but it seems to be a noticeable improvement.

Perhaps, others that are having a problem still need to completely eliminate the possibility that their machines are not starting off with this firmware update from a default position.

Fingers crossed. I will report back soon if the "issues" do return to iMac screen operation.

->how can it be environmental?

If it's not, then Apple is shipping machines they haven't even tested as replacements to those with broken machines. And, most machines still in the box must be broken, or something in the shipping process is breaking them, else there wouldn't be so many reporting that their replacements are just as bad.