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

What your doing will work for a while but then stop working. I tried the PRAM, worked a couple of times then it didn't. Then I ran Onyx, that worked for days at a time. Finally the last 2X I ran it, Flicker still was there. These temp fixes don't last. It's too bad they don't. Waiting for my Exchange next week.

sparkie1984 wrote:
i think this whole ordeal is going ot damage their reputation amongst loyal followers.

It already has. Today I asked Applecare why they sent my replacement using FedEx "International Economy" instead of "International Priority" like the order status said. The reply I received was as follows: "there is no priority shipping from China to the United States". That's interesting, because my original iMac shipment was shipped using priority. I asked about this and she said this is how all replacement units are shipped from China. That doesn't explain why she originally said it would only take 3-4 days to get to me -- clearly a time quote for priority shipping.

Has anyone else here had their replacement unit shipped using FedEx international priority?

So Jon, when do you expect to get it? Let Us Know when you do. A couple of people have not reported back after their replacement. SlickRick comes to mind because He & I got our machines at the same store. Guess all is good with his & he's having fun with it. Would love to know what week he got being I'm getting my replacement from the same store.

Regarding temporary "fixes" for the screen flickering/blackout problems, I am not convinced that all the effort of zapping PRAM, etc., is all that necessary.

Right now, I have been doing NOTHING, not even stopping the activity which appeared to have "caused" the flickering/blackout screen problem, and yet it subsides all on its own, without reoccurring for over 24 hours now, and nary a restart or running any troubleshooting process. This leads me to believe that the problem is quite random, both in terms of starting the flickering behaviour, and ceasing. You may believe you have 'cured' the flickering for a time, but perhaps it most likely would have subsided with a restart, or simply doing nothing at all 'cept waiting it out.

Jon Abbott wrote:

sparkie1984 wrote:
i think this whole ordeal is going ot damage their reputation amongst loyal followers.

It already has. Today I asked Applecare why they sent my replacement using FedEx "International Economy" instead of "International Priority" like the order status said. The reply I received was as follows: "there is no priority shipping from China to the United States". That's interesting, because my original iMac shipment was shipped using priority. I asked about this and she said this is how all replacement units are shipped from China. That doesn't explain why she originally said it would only take 3-4 days to get to me -- clearly a time quote for priority shipping.

Has anyone else here had their replacement unit shipped using FedEx international priority?

Heck yeah, both of my replacements were shipped via priority shipping from Shanghai to my home in Ohio. I actually received both of them overnight. I think your AppleCare rep is blowing smoke. Or maybe smoking blow.

skullcat, I agree.It was always random & then just stopped after like 10 minutes or so. Other times it would last longer but not come back for days. I then thought different settings on brightness stopped & started it. And it seemed that way for a while, but then it flickered on all the settings. When I returned my iMac, the guy asked me whats defective about it. I told him Yellow Tint & Intermittent Flickers. And then I said, it could take days to Flicker or hours.

A french netzine has the story:
http://www.hardmac.com/news/2010/01/12/imac-27-flickering-issue-not-completely-s olved-yet

Theres an interesting comment:

"The issue is definitely hardware related but because of a lack of proper software thermal monitoring. I had gotten glitches, flickering, and image corruption with this iMac. I also had the same problem with an ATI card in my Mac Pro. The cards get to hot and start corrupting the image. My iMacs temperature on the graphics card when glitching was over 150 degrees F. I manually turned up the fans to drop it to below 130 degrees and have not had the problem since. The quick fix is to download smcFanControl and use it to turn up your fans."

Anyone tried this?

Dino1956 wrote:
So Jon, when do you expect to get it? Let Us Know when you do. A couple of people have not reported back after their replacement.

I should be getting my first replacement unit by next Tuesday the 19th. Unless there are obvious issues at unboxing, I'll wait a couple days to post my impressions of it. Schwa72, thanks for the info. I'm starting to lose track of how many times Apple has lied to me during the exchange process. For those who haven't followed my previous posts, here is the synopsis:

Lie #1: The Applecare rep said I would have my replacement iMac within 3-4 days. From all indications, it is going to take 16 days to get it.

Lie #2: My iMac order status said "prepared for shipment" for multiple days, despite the Applecare rep saying the computer hadn't been built yet during that time.

Lie #3: My iMac shipped "international economy" despite the order status saying "priority". The Applecare rep said there is "no priority shipping from China to the United States", despite the fact that my original iMac was shipped priority, and others on this forum have had their replacements shipped priority.

Does anyone have any recommendations for how to elevate my complaint about these issues to Apple?

To top it all off, my replacement iMac package just received a "FedEx clearance delay", meaning it will be held up at the border for an indefinite amount of time. For those who want to watch my situation in real-time, plug "435245474076" into Google.

First, it was a flickering iMac. Second, it was dishonesty from Apple. Now this. I'm not used to this amount of drama. Am I dreaming?

Wow! That does Suck! You have some legitimate complaints there.

Just an update, I spoke to my insurance lady today, they have one to send me and take the week 46 flicker box, It wont get swapped until Tuesday, with a week 51.
I noticed that you pazuita had flickers with a 51?
Anyone else had experience with a week 51?

I just got a 27" iMac i7 (Late 2009) ATI 4850 8gb ram a week ago and it does not have any of the flickering or blackouts or menu bar problems or the yellowing at the screen bottom. Maybe they have the video problems corrected. It is the most beautiful display I've ever seen. I also had no problem color calibrating it with my eye1 colorimeter.

Send an email to steve jobs department mate, their taking the mickey with how their treating people!! Let's all return our iMacs and leave them with a pile of ilemons!!

Maybe steve could sell them as strobe lights to a disco or there's always door stops I suppose.....

tattoo99 wrote:
The i7, as a BTO machine, is not strictly speaking eligible for a refund. I think that were it, I would be more inclined to pull the trigger and order. But the flip side is, because I don't really need the machine, it's not THAT painful to go through an exchange process.

I do not know what consumer laws are like in the USA but here in the UK whether or not a machine is BTO is irrelevant.
A new item has to be 'fit for purpose' and if it is faulty out of the box it's not.
Legally you are entitled to a refund if you request it.

I'm curious if anyone has had the experience of the yellow tint appearing after they had received their screen in good condition. There are many reports of the screen flickering after it had been working without problems for various lengths of time. Does this later change also happen with the yellow tint?

Or to put it another way, is there any evidence to contradict the claim that if your screen doesn't have the tint when you get it, you can feel assured it will stay that way?