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

tatoo99

I too, have been on the fence as far as buying one of these new machines. I have the money set aside for a new 27" i7, and am so, so tempted, but the way things look, it's not going to happen for some time ....... for me anyway. I was reading at Mac Rumors that new imacs might be out at the end of March or at the latest in May. By then, I am hoping that all this screen flickering business will be out of the way and it will be safe to buy one of the new ones. They are also rumored to have connections for the eSATA external drives and there is even the possibility of them having a Blu Ray as part of the drive, and other upgrades.

So to answer your question, I will continue to watch this thread, but since it is getting closer and closer to March, I will probably just wait till then.

I am so sad to see this problem with Apple Macs as I have been a user of "only" macs since I started using computers with an LC II way back then. I could buy one now, and even if it has the flicker problem, get it repaired, but I don't want to take the chance of going through all that aggravation.

Lou

iCan see it now...

All of us marching back to Apple with our March 2010 release iMacs under our collective arms with Blu-Ray burner faults, or e-Sata connectivity issues...

Will it ever end?

As long as there are new releases, no.

I'm a Mac User only for 3 years. Can anyone out there compare this to some other Apple Mac defect problem in the past. I mean, has this ever happened before?

HiFiRobbie, Your Right! The more Features, the More Problems.

In December when the FW fix was issued I applied the FW right away. I then immediately followed this with an SMC and PRAM reset.

Date is now Jan 12th and as I was browsing this forum seeing what was up... THE FLICKER RETURNS!

Guess I'm not out of the woods just yet either, as I've noticed this yellowing of the screen. ARGH!

I'm going to give apple the benefit of the doubt and let them help me. I sure hope they can fix it for me. I want to buy Aperture, and my wife wants an iMac too. We'll see.

Message was edited by: Christopher986

Citrus. It's very easy to see that you are not an optimist.

When anyone purchases any new product of any kind, or any real value, they should be at least a little skeptical, but there has to be a limit somewhere.

Do you also worry that the power supply might be defective and go out in 32months? How about the optical drive? it could go out in 24 months as well. Hard drives go out all of the time, how do you know you are getting a good one?

It is possible that the current problems that so obviously afflict a very small percentage of machines could just be the beginning, and more problems could arise later. Yes, I have considered that, in fact, it is the main reason that I have waited so long with my second flickering machine before returning, or having it repaired.

Have you considered the possibility that this is all there is? A few dozen that still have this problem, and post the same insignificant details over and over and over and over again?

The more I research I do, and dig into the facts, I am getting more convinced of that by the minute.

In reality, the truth probably falls somewhere in the middle.

I do not need to worry that there may be more problems later, I have Applecare.

I've had three defective units sent out from Apple Store.

I am not a unicorn.

Thanks TUS Bob for posting, you are the first, and unluckiest to post so far that they have actually received three defective Macs, even though the third was not a flickering issue.

Your previous postings verify what you have stated.

You will still love the dual 3.06. It is nowhere near the machine as the i7, but for most, it will do anything you need. My last machine was the earlier model dual 3.06 with the "Nvida" card, and the ddr2 ram. The i7, even with the flickers is roughly 30 to 40% faster in video rendering than the 3.06, but if you do not need the speed, the 3.06 is a safe machine. In my case, the i7 saves me about 25 to 30 hrs per week, over the 3.06, in rendering time alone.

Good Luck

pazuita, I like you waited on returning mine. I could have received a refund. But I got I opened it on Christmas & it had issues from the beginning. Flicker & Yellow. I called Apple, reported it & said, I'm waiting. I'm a half the glass is full type of guy, but you have to admit, this thread has an abundance of unlucky & sad stories. I know it's just a small amount of the big picture. And I know all the people with good working iMacs don't post to troublesome forums. Like I said, it's my first exchange & I won't get it until the end of January. But I'm trying my best to have an optimistic attitude that I will get a good iMac. We are all a bit consumed with this very negative forum thread & I included need to give it a break. I will however be on here at 11 am tomorrow to see if ANYONE from Apple does show up. I think everyone will get their iMacs either repaired or replaced in the end. Let us try & keep a positive attitude.

Yes Dino....a lot of us are in the same boat.

We all came here looking for help, and answers, instead, we found this...........

And yes, this forum has become far too negative, but that's the way these forums operate. Those with a problem will be a thousand times more vocal than those who are content.

All I would ask is that future posters try and stick to the facts. I know that you are one of the worst at repeating the bad 3 to 5 machine numbers, but obviously, that is an impression you got from this thread.

You may be correct, but so far, I have not been able to find that poster, and no one else has found that information either, if they are even bothering to look.

It helps a lot if each of us stick to what we know, relate our personal experiences, first hand, what has worked, and not spend so much time on what hasn't worked, after nearly 200 pages, we all know what does not work. We want to know what does work.

If there is new information somewhere else on the web, then post it here, let us all know. Every bit of real information that is posted here not only helps the users, but the manufacturers as well.

Above all, if you are a poster on this forum, and you have previously posted that you received a defective machine, if and when you receive a good one, please let the rest of us know. Don't leave us hanging.

On just the last few pages, several have posted saying that they are watching this forum, waiting to purchase an i7 when the smoke clears. It is unfair to them to post information that is redundant, or inaccurate.
It looks to me as if the smoke has cleared. Machines are being repaired or replaced with good ones, old posters are no longer posting, old complainers are silent, and even the trolls seem to have gone away, although, I fully expect they will return with some of the questions I have posted.

I will probably be watching tomorrow as well, but do not expect Apple to respond. It's just not the way they do business, and watch out for trolls.

Call to Apple care .Ask me to bring my imac 27 to apple store on thursday night 7:30 ! Ok .i will even if the imac 27 is large and heavy !Get my imac 27 7core in November ,since flickering and yellow screen , Hope They can fix it ?

pazuita, I applaud your optimism on the issue but I also have sworn I have seen multiple posts of people reporting anywhere from 2-5 replacement machines, all of which have defects of some sort concerning the screen (and also the casing being hot but I suppose that's normal). I'd go back and comb through the threads here in this topic list and quote them but maybe Dino would rather give that a shot.

In any case, it's funny that you seem to have skipped right over the post right on this very page by dxgriffiths, stating that he has had 3 replacements so far. And as mentioned before, Mark Wilson from Gizmodo has made a few posts about this issue wherein he has had multiple replacements and the commentors in his blog post have said the same:

http://gizmodo.com/5436442/apple-has-thwarted-my-efforts-so-i-need-your-help

I sincerely hope I am wrong about this and that if I go out to buy a 27" iMac i7 that my chances of getting a bad machine is less than 1% but it just doesn't seem that way to me.

pazuita, I am following all 3 threads. This one, The Yellow Tinge & Screen Noise thread. The Yellow Tinge is definitely repeating itself with exchanges. Your right, I'm not counting. Just going by what Users say. Let's just say it's 3, not 3-5. Understand, I'm not arguing here. There is no real thread or attention being paid to the 21.5, I'm thinking because maybe there are less Problems or just that most people bought the 27". But from what I read, the 21.5 NVidia Model that I bought was the best seller. But I Hijacked this thread because I had no where to go. And I had Screen Flicker as well as Yellow Tinge. So maybe there are a lot more working 21.5" than there are the 27" model. That could very well be the case. I was just really unlucky. We'll see when my replacement comes. Hopefully I have some good news to post. See you guys tomorrow. I'll be her at !!am my time. Good Night!

...11 am, my time.

Tell them the Fix that works so far, is Screen replacement & Screen Cable. All who had their Video Cards replaced, still had the Problem. I'm going by what people have said on this thread.

Thanks Kevin.....I could use the help.

I have seen a lot of posts where people claim that they have heard of someone getting 3 to 5 bad machines, but can't find any evidence of that first hand.
I do vaguely recall several others claiming to have received a second, or third, but I've been scowering these pages, and find little first hand evidence of that.

You should be aware that my statements are an invitation to trolls, and it does take a little time to sort through them to try and find support for their claims.

So far, only TUS Bob has stepped forward as one who has received three defective machines, although not all three are for the flickering issue, they were defective non the less.


I did not skip over the post you mentioned, I am still researching it, and there are some "irregularities" in previous posts. There is also a third who posted making the same claim, although they have no posting history.

I will keep posting the totals as they appear, and please correct me if I miss one.

So far, only three posts claim to have receive three defective machines, one confirmed, one unconfirmed, and one suspicious.
No confirmed posts of four, or more so far.