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

Again my Seagate is as quiet as a mouse. Something is wrong. The Seagate is not a loud hard drive & you should not notice it.

It's the Lottery but I'd like to think the ones they are currently making are going to be better. Even though there are reports of Week 01 iMacs still having issues. I hope I was given correct info from retail store I bought it. They said I just need to be approved for an exchange by Jan. 18th. That would give time for some new batches to come in. Maybe even the Feb. or late Jan. batch. ****, I don't even know if that matters. If Apple has not found a fix, it doesn't.

thats the thing, if apple dont know whats causing this then its not going to be fixed is it???

as you say were playing the apple lottery, but im getting fed up of it. they can come and get my imac form my car from now on anyway, im sick of lugging it through shopping centres the first one i bought they trolleyed to my car for me

Hey folks,

I'm noticing a slight yellow tinge now on my replacement Mac (week 53). Not as severe as in other posts seen around the web. But noticeable especially when reading black on white text full screen (expanded browser window) or simply viewing my song list on iTunes.

I also did the "gray-bar" test on an older Apple Cinema Display at work and my heart just sank when I saw the bars were exactly equal in depth and warmth compared to my brand new i7 display at home.

It's getting crazy as this is my second replacement already and I know that there are some out there who have had theirs replaced multiple times already and still had some issues.

I'm just wondering what the ratio of machines there are past week 54 without any serious display/hardware issues? I'm trying to see if sending it back and having it replaced would be a viable solution (edit) versus to having it scoped out at the Apple Store...


/s0l

Message was edited by: s0lar

It all comes down to simple corporate maths really.

They do that a lot in the car business.

For example:

*Service department to big boss:*
Sir, we seem to have a problem with our latest model.
More and more client are complaining about it.
What should we do?

*Big boss:*
Does every buyer complain about the problem?

*Service dept.:*
No sir, a good amount do, but not all of them.

*Big boss:*
Simple maths son!
Issuing a recall would cost us a fortune and give us bad press.
Replacing or repairing faulty units only for those who do complain, is much cheaper and it does not stop others from buying our stuff.

Option A: We do a recall, and we have to replace or repair ALL defective units sold. That would mean 100% of the defective units would need to be taken care of.
That's a lot of $$ that we would lose.

Option B: We do nothing and only fix those that are returned or brought in for repair by clients. That's only a small percentage of the defective units that we would need to fix or replace. Much cheaper for us!



*Service dept.:*
What about those who have the problem but have not noticed it yet or do not know what to do about it?

*Big boss:*
That's there problem son!
As long as they don't see the problem, let's not acknowledge it.If we are lucky, they will reach the end of there warranty before they wake up and decide to do something about it.

Service dept.:
Ok sir, your the Boss!

Mines still showing no issues going on 4 days now after the LCD and cable connector replacement. My guess at this point would be a faulty LCD/connection which may have been introduced during abnormal shipping abuse. At this point for all those with the issue, I'd recommend simply getting the LCD and cable connection replaced.

Another LCD & Cable replacement & all is well. So basically it's the Screen &/or the Cable. NOT THE ATI &NVIDIA VIDEO CARD.

how long is it gone for?

any yellowing either??

some have also mention is it an inverter? what do they do?

And this little Scenario you posted Nexus600, We are The Guinea Pigs Testing through all their Products for them. It saves them a lot of time & money, from testing them out themselves. So basically we're all working for Apple but getting No Paycheck.

Not to take sides or defend Apple on this, but remember that the units are quality controlled and burned in at the factory before being shipped out. Its logical to assume that Apple isn't knowing shipping bad units out - which means it may be that the LCD/Cable which seems to be fixing the issue is in fact becoming loose or damage in shipment. I can tell you that my box when I received it was damaged (the outside, brown box) while the actual iMac box seemed to be OK. But to cause the damage to the brown box means it was mishandled at some point. Also keep in mind that the glass on the iMac is magnetically in place which means it can shift somewhat during shipment. If the connections of the LCD/Cable are indeed sensitive enough, it may be possible that the cable or LCD is being damaged in that shift.

Message was edited by: thxdude

That makes perfect sense. As soon as I purchased mine Online, I was getting Paranoid about how they were going to ship it & how it would be handled, because of that Fragile looking Screen. I mean the Screen is the entire Computer, literally. Maybe more packing support is needed. Four pieces of styrofoam maybe is not enough. Bubble Wrap tightly inserted on both sides of screen, for more support. These things are thrown from Planes, Truck, Warehouses, Hot & Cold, etc.. Of course the extra packaging would cause Apple to be less Green, but maybe they would have a lot less disappointed & irate Customers.

This kind of fits with Apple's reaction when I first reported my flickering problems. They got me to do a 'capture' with some software they sent me and then sent it to engineering who's first response was that there was a problem with the connection of the LCD cable and it needed to be reseated. I took it in and had it reseated but it didn't fix the problem. I reported back to Apple who then came back and authorised the LCD cable and screen to be changed. So they still suspected the LCD cable was implicated. Perhaps it did get damaged in transit. The delay has been waiting a month for new screen to arrive. I'm due to have the offending parts changed on Monday with the only snag being we're now under about a foot of snow and I can't see it clearing anytime soon allowing me to make the 100+ mile journey to Pau. On the upside maybe the delay in getting a new screen means they have had time to iron out the problems. We shall see and I'll report back on the results.

Message was edited by: Paul_31

Well after 2 days of error free operation, just 5 minutes ago my new replacement imac 27' i5 received on January 7th just exhibited the ******* split screen issue!!! Just out of nowhere the dock appeared at the top with an ugly gray/white stripped thick bar just below and then the rest of the screen below that!

This is really beyond incredible!! Considering how many people have not had problems, how likely is it that I have received 2 defective units in a row?? I mean if this is happening with the same frequency to other customers apple's profit margins must be taking a huge hit. I mean in my case alone they are now out over 5000 bucks since this will be my THIRD unit.

In my opinion they really NEED to come out with some kind of statement about this!! I'm giving them one more shot. You know 3 strikes and your out......if the 3rd unit is defective I'm getting my money back!!

Welp, after flickering/blacking-out/shifting of my screen on the 2nd and 4th day of ownership, I finally called Apple to report the problem. I tried to probe the guy as much as I could for information. He was nice and seemed to be aware of the problem. He said that he had recently been briefed that Apple has identified one of their suppliers that was providing substandard components, but he didn't know if this was related to my issue. Kinda vague, but new information none the less.

He had me do the standard stuff PRAM and SMC reset, but I told him I already did these and the problem returned. He suggested I make an appointment at the Apple store, which I now have for 4:20 today. So this is my last post before I pack up and go there. I'm still torn as to what I should do, as otherwise this machine is perfect. I'll have to hear what they suggest and go from there. I'm willing to do one replacement, but if that one is the same or worse, I may just do a return and wait it out. I'm definitely going to mention the LCD/cable replacements on here and see what they say.

thxdude wrote:
Not to take sides or defend Apple on this, but remember that the units are quality controlled and burned in at the factory before being shipped out. Its logical to assume that Apple isn't knowing shipping bad units out - which means it may be that the LCD/Cable which seems to be fixing the issue is in fact becoming loose or damage in shipment.

The factory and it's quality controls are Apple's responsibility!
Same thing for all the components that go into the computers.
Made by Apple or not, what's in the machine as been approved by Apple at some point as being of a high enough quality for there standards.

Same thing for packaging.

Who cares if the problem is caused by faulty parts or bad unit protection in shipping.

Apple is not a new company, they have been shipping computers all over for years.
They should know how to pack them properly by now!

I don't mind paying a little more for a better product, and I still think Apple is making better computers than most other PC makers.
They are better designed,easier to use, and they just work!
That's what I have been telling PC friends for nearly 20 years now.

But Apple as to keep up to it's reputation.
Or else, they will only be an other PC maker like all the rest.