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

Leisas4, if you have all these problems, why don't you get an exchange?

The new one can't be worse than what you have now.
You don't pay hard earned money and keep a faulty imac.

Call apple and get an axchange or even better.. an exchange with a free upgrade (with your problem of dead pixel, yellow tint, noisy hd AND flickering... it's only normal that they give you a new one).

Gille,
It is doa since day 4, apple and my insurance are aware and they wont pick it up until i get a new one, they told me 15th of Jan at the earliest, I am on day 70 without a proper working unit
ps, my 15 month old 24" graphics died and I got the i5 on the 27th nov, a week46

8 - The Intel i7 and i5 processors are new. I do not think we have seen it reported this occurs with the Core 2 Duo processors. A nice link here were the reports that it has been noted that i7 processors in Windows boxes with Radeon 4800 series cards are having similar issues.

I have a core 2 duo and have the problems, as I think I have seen others do as well. So the flickering etc is not limited to the quad core processors

I called Apple yesterday to report my problem, which doesn't seem quite as bad as many are experiencing, it takes about 4 to 5 hours of constant online gaming before the blackouts and flickering start. It's like a warning to stop waisting so much of my life, but that's not what I paid for . . . so I called, got my case number, and was given the option of replace or repair.

After reading these posts, and much careful consideration, I've decided repair is the best option for me (I don't want a new computer with the same problems), but I'm going to wait until Apple has discovered the cause and come up with a fix, a suggestion made by previous posters.

For those of you who have this problem but have yet to report it to Apple, call them, call them now. The more information they have the sooner they can solve the problem. And having a case number gives the piece of mind of knowing you will be taken care of.

My experience with the Apple support staff has been great and I have no doubt in my mind that the issue will be taken care of. I've had Macs for 23 years and this is the first problem I've had, and its more of an irritation than a problem. It soon will be fixed and forgotten. I just gotta say, I LOVE this machine. The best iMac ever, even with the flicker and blackout . . .

Finally did install the firmware update now - no problems, but then I haven't had them for weeks before the install anyway.

The update does NOT modify the clockspeed of the GPU. It remains 503 MHz core/850MHz memory on my 4850. What it DOES seem to do is modify the fan settings. The default fan speed on the GPU fan (called the optical fan in e.g. iStat) is 1000 rpm, and before the update the GPU had to get to 80C before it started revving beyond that. Put another way, when stressing the GPU hard, the temperature would stay at 80C. After the update, it seems to be aiming for 70C or just above. This means slightly increased noise, but obviously a cooler GPU. Since the iMac fans are controlled by the SMC rather than by the GPU directly, this might be a coincidence, but it doesn't feel like it. Possibly the old firmware misreported the temperature to the SMC, leading to the GPU overheating.

LONG UPDATE:
Ok so my first iMac i7 hit my doorstep December 14th. The machine shipped in less than 48 hours standard shipping. One dead pixel. Day 3 the flicker started, and then my machine froze and induced a restart. When it restarted, there was no audio. After support calls and genius visits, corporate called me from Steve Job's desk and set me on my way with a replacement machine. Originally I was promised a plethora of upgrades (16GB RAM, 2TB HDD, the works.) But they eventually called and apologized for any "miscommunication" and said I was receiving a "like" machine. After some complaining about the 2 week downtimes, the corporate rep rushed my replacement in to production "day-of" on Christmas Eve. It shipped Christmas Day. I received it 38 hours later. The machine is a W8952 machine. No dead pixels. No sounds. No glitches. All updates preinstalled. I have rendered the crap out of it and run it from hot to cold. Everything is perfect thus far. They even threw in a free wired-keyboard and apple remote? I will keep you all updated. I updated my stats on the Squeaked website as well. Happy holidays everyone,
-Cliff

CliffBell87 wrote:
The machine is a W8952 machine. No dead pixels. No sounds. No glitches. All updates preinstalled. I have rendered the crap out of it and run it from hot to cold. Everything is perfect thus far.

Good to hear! I hope the rest of us do as well.

Well I took a chance and returned my 27" i7 via Fed-Ex today. Hopefuly the new replacement unit ships sooner then 12 Jan estimated ship date. I live just two hours north of the address Apple is having the broken unit shipped to. Wish I knew that while I was talking to the customer service rep on the phone. Would have offered to drive the iMac to there facility today. I just hope I don't get a unit with worst problems. My first iMac had the flickering, blackouts and vertical displacement issues, but they rarely occured. I returned it even so because of the money invested. For what we paid it should have no problems! Plus you can't complain unless you try the offered solutions.
If this next one does not work properly I will get a refund and wait to purchase the Fabled/highly rumored Tablet. Though I've been waiting to do that for nearly two years now! Dam Rumored Products, never come out on time!

Hey Leisas4, that's strange. If it falls into the 14days turning-back period it must be no problem for apple to give you a new one or a refund "without even asking what the problem is".

You must pressure apple to give you an exchange because it's your right. Having a faulty imac like that + having problems to return it is crazy.

Apple must take their responsibility.

You better keep calling and ask for another person (supervisor or manager) if the person won't help you.

Good luck !

Just thought you guys might be interested in reading about Gizmodo's iMac Issues

Hi Gille,
I am sorry if you misunderstood me, they are going to replace it, but both apple and my insurance have said Jan 15 at earliest, I cannot see why, when others on this thread have been getting replacements straight away and sometimes several.

Hi Leisas, sorry for the misunderstanding

indeed strange it's so late. Maybe they are working on a fix.

Succes!

Hi Gille,
Fingers and toes crossed

I purchased two 27" Core i5 iMacs a few weeks ago. One of them started flickering today.

The firmware update was installed last week.

I do happen to be running Parallels with Windows Server 2008.

How long can I safely wait for another firmware fix without losing the ability to swap machines? Migrating to a new one would be a hassle that I'd rather avoid.

just sent my 27" i7 back for an exchange... if the turds send me another broken one (january 15th) its getting returned... fortunately theyre sending me a free ipod shuffle (I should be getting at least an Ipod touch) for my troubles... lets see what happens next....