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

i agree, we all need to ring up and flood their lines with info as if 2 people are ringing up theyll think its isolated.

if 1000 people ring up then they'll know its more widespread

loofah wrote:
well let's see here, when I first got my imac, I had no screen problems for a solid 2 weeks. After those first weeks, I started experiencing screen blackouts and flickers sporadically. Reason I'm commenting now is the flickers had stopped for the last two weeks, I hadn't once seen anything wrong. Just today, It started right back up again, completely randomly. HD movies have no affect or trigger the problem for me. I just watched a movie in HD last night with 0 flickers. Today, I start up, cpu was @ about 86 F, and it starts flickering, with barely anything running at all. I really think that any success anybody's had with a trigger to the flickering is unique to the machine. Has anyone else had luck with the "Stranger Than Fiction method" ?

Prior to the firmware update, I was able to play numerous movies (720p/1080p HD and non-HD) without causing flickering/blackouts... After applying the firmware update (which I just did on the 30th of Dec) I haven't had a chance to watch very many movies. "Stranger than Fiction" has caused flickering/blackouts 3 out of 3 times, and after watching nearly 2 hours of "Inglourious Basterds" it hasn't flickered at all. I'll keep trying "Stranger than Fiction" as well as other movies to see what happens.

Lets keep all the politics out of this thread.... PLEASE

I didn't consider that a statement on politics but rather a statement (rather well known around the world) that China has had long standing issues with quality control. The issues with car tires, dog food, toys, etc are all rather well documented.

Apple really doesn't seem to have earned it's reputation for quality. When I got my Powerbook, the screen had spots. They ultimately fixed it but it shouldn't have happened to begin with as it was a design/manufacturing issue. Thanks to this thread, I found out about the Powerbook issues. And the breaking iMac Screen issues, and the LCD flickering issues.

I just wish Apple would not maintain their silence until a fix is ready to go. They need to acknowledge the problem and keep their customer base informed. After all, according to Business Week magazine several months ago, Apple is the largest corporation to not have a sales force. Their sales force is their vast satisfied customer base that constantly works to bring Apple into businesses and homes. I am just glad this has not made the mainstream media news but it is making the rounds in the IT world as my daughter who works at one of the larger network/computer companies said their Apple contact feels it is a hardware issue.

I will be honest, somebody asked a while back why not just go to Win 7? I don't want to be a troll as I have loved my Powerbook and have promoted Apple to everybody (I am known as the Machead) but I cannot in all honesty recommend and Apple iMac to anybody right now for fear they will either get a defective one or hear about these issues (plural). I found myself thinking on the way home today how committed I am to Apple software? I.E. what would I loose if I went back to Windows? All my ICal data, Address book??, Mail vs Outlook?, Notebook (application - Mac only). The iCal, Address book, and Mail can be resolved I think.

Like I said, I hate to sound like a troll as I am most assuredly not but a hard honest look at my dollars and the reality of the situation makes one pause and wonder and that is something Apple cannot afford, a doubting customer base.

Yes, Apple is to blame. Without question. Not the Chinese workers. I have absolutely no bias towards the Chinese people nor any others. They have endured under repression for centuries. The problem imho is that we in the US and no doubt throughout the world lost our way of life in many respects as companies sold out moving production to the cheapest labor forces. I guess that's life. A tiger can't change it's stripes.

China will in the next few decades become the dominant superpower on this planet. Our government saw this coming back in the 1970's. No worries I suppose. We live on a dynamic planet. Rome fell. The US will fall. China will fall. Someday our planet will boil as the sun expands. We are so insignificant in the big picture. The survival of our species is really what we are all about, hence we better find a way to get off this rock before it's too late.

ok, no more of Suba's ideas. Let's all not worry....... and be happy.

Message was edited by: Suba

christ on that happy "were all gonna die note" happy new year everyone

. . . so, when the world ends will my computer finally work right? Will I still be able to get hold of my Apple support rep?

No my friend I'm afraid not : ) When the world ends Steve Jobs will actually be alive.....much like Walt Disney : ) Steve and Walt will be over four billion years old ( man will they be rich ) but your great great and I mean great descendants will still be having trouble with their macs, and Apple support will still be apologizing for the problems that they can't seem to figure out ( or admit : )

Listen guys and girls......it's New Years Day. I'm sitting here with a glass of wine ( ok a bottle ) and just got tired of reading the same flickering stuff over and over ( yes I have no life : ) I thought I might expound a little about life according to Suba ( you don't want to know trust me : ) I, like everyone here love their macs even when they don't work quite right ( which is quite often : ) The mac community is by far imho the greatest collection of talent that exists, and never forget that.

Let's get back to the flickering thingy and start complaining again like every good mac user knows how to do soooooo well : )

Happy New Year to you all......now where did I put my glass of wine...

I have a 27 I5 week 52 all updated bought at a Apple Store with 8 GIG or Ram 1TB disk, I had just a slight Flickering usually within the first hour after waking the computer in the morning or turning it on
I tried the no Wi-Fi, and most of other things for the past week .. still flickered, always in the morning, and after that no more flickering.

Yesterday I disabled the wallpaper change of pictures, just chose one of the images that came with the mac.

Since then no Flickering, it might be a coincidence, and I am not convinced that it's the solution, I just wanted to pass it along.

maybe apple will have made an iplanet to save us all?

bottle of wine....... now theres an idea!!

how did you get an imac with more ram than standard from a store?

Just went in, asked for the Imac 27 with 8 GIG, they said OK, installed the memory for me, off I went.

oh cool!! dont think we can do that in the uk!

Ordered an i7 on Dec 29. it's going to be sent off on Jan 15. might be a week 02 then. let's hope it's going to be a good one.

happy new year to everyone!

Update on mine: new LCD and cable connector ordered. Both on back order. These are the parts that Apple noted in the ticket and stated needed to be changed to fix the issue. Once they come in I can drop the machine off at the local repair center and get it fixed hopefully. No ETA on the parts but at least I can keep and use the machine while they are on order.

Simon (UK) wrote:

Schwa72 wrote:
sparkie-

a screenshot of the iStat widget running on my i7. As you can see my power supply temperature is at 46˚C. FWIW, the hottest thing in my computer always seems to be my hard drive.

Your fans are working hard. Mine show CPU 938, HD 1100, Optical 999 under normal use.

I'm not at all worried about it. The speeds on my previous 27" i7 were virtually identical. Besides, they seem to be keeping things cool and no flickering yet (touch wood)!

Honestly, I'm not sure why your fan speeds are that low. If you install the iMac Fan Control preference pane, the lowest possible CPU/HD/DVD fan speeds (as determined by firmware, at least in my case) are 1200/1200/1000.