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

Got my iMac back from repair. The service provider told me they exchanged the graphics card. After a couple of hours the FLICKERING started again!! I am very very disappointed!

I've used macs since the 80's, my first one was a Mac Plus, and I have never had any problems. This is extraordinary and I have never experienced anything like it with other home electronics from Panasonic, Sony... (hmm... well maybe with a Dell that sucked).

... and of course! GOOOD MORNING WORLD. We love Apple.

Hi toflyde,

we have seen in this thread, that it is to 100% not the graphics card.

Hello pazuita,

The problem is that no one knows really how many iMacs are affected. Your guess is that this thread represents a tiny minority -- but there might be thousands more people who are not plugged into this website and who are having problems. Only Apple can tell us, if they were more open and forthright, that "x" number of machine purchasers reported screen issues, that they did or will do "y" to fix it, and that these problems are "x" number of machines out of "z" sales. If they don't say a peep then how do we really know? I can't afford to roll the dice, spend a couple of days installing the new machine and switching everything over from my PC, and then have screen issues appear...before getting into the after-sales-service problems that so many people are reporting. No thanks, I'm not willing to take the risk. If Apple reassured me then I might, but I don't think they will.

citrus101 wrote:
Hi toflyde,

we have seen in this thread, that it is to 100% not the graphics card.

Every day it looks more and more like this is in fact an LCD/LCD-cable problem.

1) Since both the 21.5" and 27" panels are both sourced from LG and probably share a similar/same LCD connector, it makes sense from a seat of the pants perspective.

2) The other widespread problem (yellowing of the display) also seems to indicate that at the very least, LGs quality assurance is questionable (and Apple is complicit).

3) The only people on here who have had their existing machine successfully repaired (at least thus far) are those who had the LCD/cable replaced.

4) The flickering problem has been reported on machines with THREE different GPUs from TWO different manufacturers. This is more than enough evidence for me that it's NOT the GPU.

My guess is that eventually Apple will phase-out/sell-through the bad batch of LCDs, deal with the customer complaints via exchanges or LCD swaps and never publicly say anything. I think all we'll see is that the Genius' will handle the problem more uniformly because they will be pre-coached on how to handle it. Once there are enough "good" LCDs in stock, they will probably liberally replace anyones LCD who complains about it (yellowing included).

I wanted to make the purchase ever since it was released but reports about it being faulty suddenly appeared just a few days after released. Five of my friends here in Singapore also have the same flickering and yellow tinge problems, so I've waited and waited and waited and waited and waited...till now! still no reassurance from Apple. (84 days and counting)

But my old PC is dying on me and I really need to switch to a more powerful work station to do my job. What to do~ I think better not make the purchase. Not -yet- anyway...D=< Sigh...

PC, don't die on me yet! Then again, I may just risked purchasing it if my PC finally decides to stop functioning. =/

SlickRick, So far so Good! Good to hear. What Week is your New One? Any Yellow Tinge?

It's not the Graphics Card. 2 different Graphic Cards have same Problems. ATI & NVidia. It's the Screen & Screen Cable. Both need to be replaced.

Bonjour Paristournelle,

I agree with you.
We do not know how many machines are affected.
Most buyers do not go to forums to find a fix for there computer problems.
They usually turn to the place they bought the machine for help.

So what we see in this forum, is probably just a small part of the people that are having problems.
Also the fact that some people here have received 2,3 and even up to 4 defective units is a good sign that the problem is not restricted to such a small percentage of the machines sold.

Yea boys,

we found out so much now. It's time to hear, what Apple is saying ! You remember, we all see us tomorrow .

they want me to drag the 40 pound computer halfway across town to have the lcd and screen fixed... I spent over $3000 on this computer and having to get a brand new computer fixed would be just like buying a refurbished one.. dont you think they should offer us at least $500 back for having to put up with this? I didnt pay for a refurbished computer I wanted a new one...


<Edited by Host>

We're all here on
Jan 13 2010 ...
5:00 PM ... GMT
(= 11:00 AM ... US Central Time)

Dear Apple-Team,

here are our questions:

1) ... please write one question to Apple here (user-name)
2) ...

I also have this flickering problem, i have a iMac 27" 3.33ghz and sometimes it even has this black out screen, WHAT CAN I DO?

Hi Joozt,

maybe a Lcd and Lcd-cable replacement helps. Good Luck!

Kurt Hudson wrote:
they want me to drag the 40 pound computer halfway across town to have the lcd and screen fixed...

I was told that the Apple Store would just repair mine but when I showed up at the store, they decided to exchange it for a new one. Take some video of it flickering (with your face at the beginning of the video so they know it's your computer) and put it on the Desktop so that they can immediately see the problem. The St. Johns Town Center Apple Store isn't that far away from Ponte Vedra (I used to live in Southside... small world). Be sure to backup everything before you go, and de-authorize your iTunes account in case they end up taking that iMac back. Best of luck!