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

Dino1956 wrote:
don, Here you Go. I copy & pasted the bottom bar to the middle in preview, so you can compare the difference side by side.

Select "Large" Up Top

http://www.mediafire.com/i/?nhif4gnm1mz

Thank you Dino, I went to http://tapplox.com/imac-led.html where it looks like the same test as you ran and did a similar test. While it is not nearly as bad as yours, I do seem to have a yellow tinge on the bottom third of my screen.

Yea that machine is on it's way back to the Retailer whom I bought it from. I'm Getting a replacement sometime next week. Wish Me Luck!

Kevin.......I have tried to keep this as simple as possible.

When someone states that they have received more than two defective iMacs, I simply review their previous postings on this thread, and others.

You have to realize that anyone can come on here at any time, under any name, and make any kind of claim they want. The troll factor is extremely high when it comes to dealing with Apple products, Gizmodo's site is a great example of that. The entire site has become little more than a pc fanboy site, with more trolls per sq inch than just about any site around, and while it is good for a chuckle every now and then, there is very little of use on that site. I do visit there regularly.

With Bob, it was easy to verify his claims that he had indeed received three defective machines because his posts were consistent, on this, and other threads.

dxgriffiths is also included, but his previous postings do not clearly support or indicate that he has received three defective machines, he may very well have, but it cannot be entirely verified. I will not easily dismiss his claims, so I include his name in a second tier, that is a high probability of being accurate.

Sparkie will also probably go into that category since, while he was posting regularly on several topics, apparently never made mention of returning his second iMac until now.

There was one more poster included initially that should not have been. Katie24 stated that she is on her third machine, after receiving two defective machines. Apparently, her third machine is ok, but if she reposts that the problem returns, then she will be added to the list in a third category. She has no posting history on the first two, and there is no way to verify those claims, but again, I will not dismiss her statements, or even question them. Hopefully, she will have no problems with her third machine.

I have avoided listing the names, until now, simply because I never want to make it appear than anyone's integrity, or honesty is being questioned, because that is not the case. I do not for a second doubt the claims of dx or sparkie, it's simply a matter of verification.

If and when bluehamama or whatever his username is posts here that he has received 25 defective iMacs, then I will start a new Troll category.

So, for now, the count is 1 verified, and two probables that have received 3 defective machines.

None that have received more than that, and in all of these cases, the defects varied between tinting, and flickering. All of these were replacements, nothing dealing with repairs is being considered here.

I have a very strong suspicion that some retailers, particularly in sparkies' case may be placing defective units back on the shelves, most likely because they don't witness the fllicker, and don't believe there is anything wrong with them.
If retailers are doing this, they should be hung, and exposed, and then figure out some appropriate form of punishment.

So I've had my i5 since Nov 19th. I did notice eight dead pixel in the isight but everything else seemed fine. My wife uses the computer mostly but the last couple of nights while she was at work I've been playing with it. I've never had a mac before so working my way around it I was. No flicker but noticed any time I'm on a website when the backround is white I noticed the bottom left corner is off white or yellowish. Called apple and was transfer right to a senior rep which said apple engineers are working on the problem. She told me I had to bring it into the store where I bought it and have them verify the yellow. But was not sure if they would fix it. And would go from there after. What a pain to have to lug that thing 40 miles and then back to my house to wait to see what is next.

pazuita wrote:
Apple has backed itself into a corner with the MacPro's.

I would fully expect them to add multi i7's to the next revision.......

Right now, the iMac i7 is matching and even exceeding benchmarks for the entry level MacPro's. It still has a ways to go to reach the high end models, but they have to do something to beef up performance, not just periphery.

Don't want to stray off-topic too much, so my last comment on this:

Apple is in a corner in some respects, but as you point out, CPU performance is easily addressed with the next bump to the MacPro.

I think that there's a percentage of the pro market who will find the iMac a value proposition too good to resist regardless of raw CPU power. For creative types, each iteration of the iMac further exemplifies its main design accomplishment, which is making "the computer" disappear in favor of it being "just a display". I think the 27" expresses that vision with more impact than any iMac before it. Indeed, what designer doesn't want that beautiful expression of minimalist industrial design sitting on their desk...with a wireless keyboard and magic mouse sitting in front of it?

It's no wonder that in spite of all the reasons for me to wait, I'm having to take a 12-step approach to resist ordering a new iMac today: one day at a time.

press in Germany broke big silence today:

http://www.macerkopf.de/

pazuita:

My point is valid only if Apple knows what is wrong and has fixed it. Obviously, the problem is not fixed, therefore, Apple doesn't know what to do to solve the problem. But the problem is out there by that I mean it has been mentioned in other publications. Fortunately for Apple I have not seen it in any of the widely circulated newspapers-yet.

Unfortunately I don't speak or read German. But there are some articles I stumbled upon regarding the 24" iMac. The Model before this. Which also had some screen issues. I would look for them again, but that is old news.

Translated from Google:
Apple iMac 27 ": Display flicker is still present to some extent

Wednesday, 13
January 2010, at 22:20 Clock

Shortly after delivery, it became apparent that the new Apple iMac 27 "is flawed. Many users reported problems of image and a display flicker. In Apple's discussion forum multiplied the points of criticism to the display of the iMac 27 ".

A common problem seemed to be present, so that Apple could not just see over it. On 21 December 2009, we (reported), Apple releases the iMac Graphics Firmware Update 1.0 for iMac 27 ".

This update was dedicated to the problem of Dislpay-flaring, and should fix this. The update will, in fact, significant improvements. All order aberrations can not be removed. Still about 30 percent of users reported about flickering display.

Apple recommends that exist in a support document contact the Apple support if problems after following the firmware update as before.

On a daily basis I always check http://arstechnica.com/ for news which may be significant or not about Apple (and other technology news/advances/rumors/etc). The one piece they did do on the iMac (http://tinyurl.com/y9te2de) on 13 December had no mention at all about the iMac's inherent problems. So you may be correct in that it will take mention in several large publications for Apple to come forth with a statement. Or when the stock takes a hit. And judging from today's results,

http://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NASDAQ:AAPL

that will not happen anytime soon.

All I can say is:

1) Gizmodo is still a popular gadget blog site and obviously a lot more visible with many more hits than an Apple discussion forum so any mention of these iMac problems there is a good thing.

2) I'm not so sure listing names is calling their integrity into question, it just serves as a better reference point and substantiates the list. Besides, any verifying of consistency of posts that you've explained about Katie24 or dxgriffiths is basically doing so in some fashion anyway. I'd just take their word for it since nothing is proven either way and they do have a history of posts and an articulate explanation of their experiences.

In any case, we're all in it together.

They don't have it figured out. Not for the yellow tinge anyway. The "senior rep" that I spoke with earlier called me back and said again that engineers are working the problem and advised me to NOT take in for repairs and that they would NOT replace my imac because she could NOT guarantee that a repair or a replacement would not have the same problem. Instead she told me that if a fix came out she would contact me for repair and if I did not hear back in a MONTH to call her and get an update. Come on man!

Hi guys. New 27" Imac quad-core i5 owner here. Got mine monday 11. january. Just want to tell you about my experience. No yellow tint and no flickering yet. I know sometimes it happens after a few weeks. I'll keep you posted. Cheers.

Good News! Yay!!!! What Week Number is it IvarKr? It's the 4th & 5th Number of your Serial Number. Please let us know! Thanks!

I did the PRAM/NVRAM reset yesterday (already did firmware update a month ago) after flickering reappeared and so far so good. My i7 is week 45. I'm wondering if occasional PRAM resets would keep the problem at bay.