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

paristournelle wrote:
Has anyone seen an update on the issue on any of the major review websites or print media? They all seem to have gone quiet on the issue since around December 21, even though there are reports that Apple's fix does not necessarily correct the screen problems. Maybe it is that the forthcoming iSlate is absorbing everyone's attention...?

Hello Paris,

I have been wondering the exact same thing for some time now. The majority of Apple-related news sites are usually very quick to jump on any new news regarding Apple and Apple products. Considering how many of those sites initially reported the issues which are currently confronting new iMac users, it seems strange indeed that they have all now gone silent, as if there is a total news blackout.

Well, I will be the bold one and ask the forbidden question:

Has Apple paid for their silence?

Hi Warren Beasley,

I wrote an Email to MacGadget (German Website for Mac users) that I can't understand why they never report in a critical way about the new iMacs. They did never answer me.

Tom1631 wrote:
Any way, I chose to not send my flickering 27 iMac back to Apple and instead to deal with with both the Tech at Apple and the local Apple store. The Tech called the local Apple store and made all the appointments, etc. I'm not going to repeat all the details again; however, after two visits my iMac had the firmware applied and the screen and cable replaced. This apparently cured my flickering problem. (The Firmware didn't.)

Hello Tom,

Like a few other reports similar to your own, this just seems to confirm the fact that if Apple were as noble a company as it should be, it would simply do the right thing, bite the bullet, swallow the pill no matter how bitter, and announce a recall.

Sadly, we all know that this will never happen, because Apple is just another secular company which places profit margins above everything else.

Apple's reputation is already damaged by these events. Other than being humbled and losing a great deal of money -- which it can probably afford to do -- I honestly don't see how much more damage can be done than what has already been accomplished by their own hands, through their gross silence.

Without a recall, these problems can go on for months, and may very well have a deep affect on any new line of Mac products that they may release later this year.

Once confidence is shaken, it is shaken.

From citrus101

"I wrote an Email to MacGadget (German Website for Mac users) that I can't understand why they never report in a critical way about the new iMacs. They did never answer me."

Fanzines and fansites rarely bite the hands that feed them.

anyone notice how its always macs in movies too? just with the apple logo blanked out!! im sure apple slip these people money as some sort of subliminal advertising lol!!!

maybe apple fund these websites well so they dont feel obliged to report bad news?

citrus101 wrote:
Hi Apple-Techs,

here comes what never happens before:

We all meet here in this thread
Jan 13, 2010
11:00 AM
to hear what you can tell us. We don't expect a wonder. All we want to know is what you can say until now to all these problems. It would be fantastic for us. Please show us, that you're the great company we believe in.

Hello Citrus,

I visit this forum everyday, throughout the day, because I have my forum options set to send me email notifications of all new messages in this thread; so I will obviously be reading whatever comes in.

However, as a few others here have already noted, I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you, because Apple does not normally bow to end user pressure. It is not a part of their high and mighty style.

One small suggestion: In announcing dates and times, to avoid confusion, you should always use GMT/UTC in your comments. Any skilled Mac user should know how to make the proper conversion to their specific time zone accordingly.

Paris:

It is unfortunate that you allowed this forum to sway your decision. You, like many others have received a lot of false impressions, and information from the postings here.

This forum is simply a gathering place for people with a problem to discuss, and should not be taken as indicative of the scope of a problem. People who originally had a problem, and had that problem corrected by Apple, no longer post here, so all that you will see is negative, and very little positive.

A few in these latter pages have returned to state that they are now free of the problem, and hopefully more will continue.

The increasingly undeniable fact is that this flickering problem affects a very small percentage of all of the 27" models produced. Very small. Despite what some here want to believe.

You will also see that even the media no longer considers it an issue, even though there are a lot of media sources that love to rip Apple, even they no longer consider this an issue because Apple is doing what Apple has always done, and taken care of it's customers, at least, those who have reported their issue, and taken the recommended action to cure that problem.

What you have here is a collection of a few dozen users who are mostly awaiting that corrective action, and hoping for a statement from Apple that is not likely to come.

There are probably more than a few of us, like myself, who was initially swayed by all of the negative information here, who have delayed corrective action, in order to give Apple more time to correct the problem.

That was a mistake, since Apple is obviously already correcting the problem, those of us who chose to wait have only cost ourselves a little time, and once we take the corrective action, all will be resolved.

Not one single poster from the initial dozen or so pages of this forum is still posting here and reporting that they still have the problem. There might be one or two of them out there, but that alone is a clear indication that Apple is resolving the issue.

With at least several hundred thousand units produced and sold, and most likely, millions, there have only been 588 defective units reported at a website that compiles information from this, and other forums around the web, and at least attempts to put the problem into perspective.

Any way you do the math, it is a problem that affects a very insignificant percentage of units produced and sold, and even though it is a small number, Apple is exchanging, or repairing those units with very little question.

If you reconsider purchasing an iMac, the odds are really in your favor that you will get a perfect one the first time, and even if you are one of the unlucky minority that receives a defective machine, you still have Apple's warranty, and customer service to fall back on. Still the best in the industry.

Thank you Warren Beasley,

so we will meet Jan 13 ... 5:00 PM GMT

(= 11:00 AM ... US Central Time)

Could somebody from this thread send an E-mail to Apple, my English is not perfect.

And it's not pressure to Apple, just the hope they give us some answers. I feel, they will be here.

pazuita:

I would think if Apple thought there might be a bad batch but didn't know which, then Apple should chuck all of them and wait for a new shipment that is known to be good.

Warren:

The answer is obvious to me, but I do not deny that I am more than slightly biased in Apple's favor.

The issue is not limited to Apple alone. As you yourself have pointed out, the flickering issue is also affecting a number of Windows box users, in a wide variety of configurations, particularly with the i7, and ATI cards.

Those issues may be even harder to resolve for Windows users since there are so many different configurations available, and in use.

There are plenty of websites, and forums out there that exist for no other reason than to rip Apple, yet they are silent on the issue. I guess you could suggest that Apple could be paying them for their silence, but that would amount to an admission by Apple that there really was a problem.

Apple will not likely ever admit there is a problem, they will quietly, and effectively solve the problem without any statements one way or the other.

No news is good news. If this problem was ongoing, and on a large scale, it would be news.

Yes Ed, that would be an effective solution.......if Apple were a small company, and the bad batch was only a few hundred units.

Personally, I do not like the way that Apple has handled this, but I can understand it. They have approached this problem in the most rational, and cost effective way possible.

If only one unit in a hundred is bad, and you have no way of knowing which one is bad, do you scrap all 100?
You could hire a hundred people to sit and watch all of those screens for several weeks to see if they were defective, and probably, possibly, find the one that was bad. But think about the additional costs, and delays.

Apple has chosen to ship out all of those units, knowing that one in a hundred may be bad, allow the customers to be their "guinea pigs", and allow us to find the bad units for them. They then return, or replace the defective units, quickly, and quietly, and without this forum, no one would ever know there was a problem.

In return, we get the units a little faster, and cheaper, since they do not have to pass along the additional costs of monitoring each and every unit they produce in order to find such a random problem.

As one of the few that has received a second defective machine, I don't like the way they have handled it, but I do understand. I would gladly pay the extra couple of hundred per machine it would have cost to hire someone to monitor those machines for a month or so, but I am sure the other 99 that received the good machines are happy with the extra cash they get to keep.

pazuita wrote:
Warren:

The answer is obvious to me, but I do not deny that I am more than slightly biased in Apple's favor.

Oh really? I hadn't noticed.

Oh...wait...let me take off these three pairs of rose-tinted glasses.

Would you care to enlighten us regarding why you are "more than slightly biased in Apple's favor"?

Whoah, folks! Here it comes...the big revelation!

Just joking my friend.

Well I am a newer poster in this forum, and that is only because my screen flickering issues only just occurred on Jan 10th. I am sure there are others finding this forum for the first time as well, for the same reason.

My most frustrating problem NOW is due to the lack of care that I have encountered with Apple's customer support. I was irked with the screen flickering but felt assured that it would all get sorted out; instead, after speaking with apple support, I was actually ANGRY and very upset. If I didn't put in all those hours transferring files, installing software, or need this computer to do my job, I would have returned this computer for a refund immediately after that last phone call.

I was previously always able to count on Apple helping me out in the past, and I have been an loyal mac user for over 2 decades. But after several calls to Apple, I am MORE frustrated than I was when I initially encountered the problem with the screen flickering.

I do not appreciate the attitude I received from apple customer support; if I were not an already loyal mac enthusiast, this experience may certainly swayed my choice of product/brand.

I simply expect the truth about the problems, and assurance that Apple is going to take care of me in due time. None of us want to go through MORE time and trouble unless we can be absolutely certain that we are going to receive a replacement/repair that is going to be trouble-free. I am regretting my purchase! This is the real, lasting damage. There is a problem, please fix it and take care of US - we've paid our money!!!

All I can do at this point is to advise my colleagues and friends to definitely WAIT and put off their purchase of an imac.

Yea Warren,

I love your comments!

Thanks Warren:

Unlike many posters on here..........I never try and deny the obvious. Yes, I am biased, and freely admit that.

If you notice my signature line, it shows a list of Apple products I still own, and are in 100% working condition.
The space was limited, so I could not list them all, or the multiple systems of some of those models I own. I am especially proud of the Apple IIc which is complete with it's original case, books, cables, monitor, and disks, the first truly portable personal computer.

Out of all of these machines, only the 24" dual 3.06, my first intel, ever gave me a real problem. That is why it alone is listed as "deceased" I did have to replace an optical drive on the 1Ghz g4, but that was after burning an estimated 5000 dvd's. Never spent a nickel in needed repairs on all of the others, just a few dollars spent here and there on upgrades.

I also have a fairly large collection of windows boxes, all in various states of disrepair, and used primarily as door stops.

So you can see, I have my reasons.