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

I sent my flickering / yellow screened iMac back & got a refund. It’s not worth the hassle of sitting with a £1800 lemon in the vain hope that Apple will figure out a fix any time soon. I think I will wait until they perform a hardware upgrade & replace the screen and/or GPU.

My previous iMac (early 2009 model) had the ATI 4850 and when I first got that I had to endure 2 months of random crashes – where the iMac froze completely and all data since the last save was lost. (It was later fixed with a firmware update).

To think I switched over to iMacs because I was fed up of PCs being so unreliable. At least with a PC I was able to diagnose the problem myself & take necessary action! It’s a real shame because when they work the iMacs are a pleasure to use, and I much prefer Snow Leopard to Windows (although surprisingly there are a few fundamental windows features that are lacking in Snow Leopard).

For the amount I have just been refunded I could purchase a 2008 iMac (one that works!) and a fairly decent spec core i7 PC and have the best of both worlds!

I bought my 27 inch iMac from Best Buy because I had heard of the screen flickering before my purchase. I wanted to be able to return it in-hand and get an automatic refund -- if I was so unlucky. My iMac had no flickering for 2-3 days, then all of a sudden it would start in tiny flickers, and then longer across-the-screen-line flickers, and then the screen would go black for spilt seconds at a time. The firmware update did nothing.

I took it back to Best Buy, got my full refund without any hassle.

I am now left wondering whether to buy the 21 inch or, perhaps a refurb 24 inch? I am not going to touch the 27 inch with a 10 foot pole. One of my reasons is that everyone at Apple says: "There is a fix for that problem." (The firmware update) The fact that Apple employees seem not to understand the nature of the problem gives me NO confidence in the future of that product.

I know folks are upset that Apple has not communicated with this forum. I am more troubled that Apple has not engaged in straight talk with its employees about it. The Apple guy at Best Buy was SHOCKED when I told him the firmware update did not fix it. The Apple guy at the local MacEdge store had the same reaction. Apple needs to send out a press release like this:

"We have issued a defective product. We tried a firmware update but that did not fix it. It appears to be a hardware issue, but we are working on it. Anyone who has purchased a 27inch iMac will get a working computer, or a full refund. Please accept our apologies and extend us your patience."

My iMac i5 finally arrived today.
It's a week 53.

At this stage all seems to be in perfect working order, but I've been paranoid enough to have a video camera running as I set things up, anticipating a case of the flickers!

Gotta say - this iMac and the others I saw in their boxes in the store seem to have been delivered with the best of care - no signs of rough handling whatsoever. Yes, I'm referring to the outer plain cardboard boxes.

I'm suspicious that this has been the cause of most the problems.

Anyway, I've been reading this thread since the beginning and will post an update once every week to keep you informed of my iMacs' ongoing health.

All the best to you in your quest to gain healthy machines, minus the "flickers" and "jaundice"

Slowly but securely the story is going out through various channels. Here's another German Mac-related news service constantly picking up the flicker-and-tint story:

www.macnews.de

Website sammelt Informationen zu iMac-Problemen

Ein Käufer eines iMacs der jüngsten Generation hat eine Website als Anlaufstelle für alle >eingerichtet, die Probleme mit dem Gerät haben. Ein Firmware-Update konnte das Phänomen des >flackernden Displays des 27-Zoll-Modells bei manchen, aber nicht bei allen Betroffenen beheben. >Die Website bietet iMac-Besitzern die Möglichkeit, ihr Problem in eine Liste einzutragen. Außerdem >lässt sich der iMac auf Display-Probleme wie dem Flackern oder einem Gelbstich mit einigen Tools >testen. Apple tauscht fehlerhafte Geräte aus, allerdings müssen Benutzer oft auf den Ersatz warten. >Der Website-Betreiber hat auch mit seinem dritten Gerät Probleme.

Externe Sites

imac.squeaked.com
macnews.de: Flackernde 27 Zoll-iMac-Bildschirme: Apple veröffentlicht Firmware-Update
macnews.de: Flackernde Displays beim iMac 27 Zoll
macnews.de: Trotz Firmware-Update: 27-Zoll-iMac-Besitzer klagen weiterhin über Grafikfehler

It' basically stating the problem is far from over and more and more websites around the world are specifically dealing with the subject. -

I am absolutely sure that Apple does not ignore the subject - they are just not prepared and able to present a foolproof solution which may be embarrassing but from their point of view much better than coming out weekly with an idea that does not work out in the end. In this respect they might have learnt a lesson from the mostly useless firmware update in December.

I'd really like to listen to some of the not-so-quiet discussions that must be going on between Apple and LG these days in some conference rooms somewhere...

According to Apple my exchange iMac 27" will go into delivery today, to be received around January 20.

Hope for the best but I sure will have my sunglasses ready when powering it up.

same here: if timemachine mounts the time capsule, the screen is flickering.

I have screen problems on Win Xp under boot camp: blue drops appear randomly. I have formated two times.

Apple please fix this!!!!

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I got the 2nd iMac 27" i7. this one have a 8 pixel stuck/dead on isight camera, i'm thinking to a replacement;

Is there a number limit for iMac replacement? only 3 replacement?

Thanks and sorry for my english...

Fcked up and took my imac in to be repaired to the mac store only because the guy on the phone told me I had no other choice... this instantly makes my computer a refurb... Im sending it back for a refund the day I get it... im waiting til feb, mar, or may when they update... sorry mac...

MarieBoyer, It is not just the 27". The 21.5" has the same issues. I know because, I just sent a 21.5" NVidia Week 45, back for an exchange. Yellow Tinge Screen & Flicker started after 5 days.

DeeJay SchmeeJay wrote:
Gotta say - this iMac and the others I saw in their boxes in the store seem to have been delivered with the best of care - no signs of rough handling whatsoever. Yes, I'm referring to the outer plain cardboard boxes.

Good luck with your new iMac DeeJey.
Previously in this thread, a long long time ago, it was mentioned that the outer boxes had no "This Side Up" or "Handle with Care" labels. Can you describe how yours looked? Thnaks.

5 minutes ago I was very surprised to get a call from Apple. They told me the shipping date of my replacement iMac is now 21st of january, not the 14th as promised. When I asked why the delay, she told me it was due to the iMacs being "very popular".
I tried telling her, the last time I spoke to Apple they told me my replacement iMac had high priority and was going to be shipped within a couple of days. This was december 30th!

I'm suprised to get a call from Apple, instead of an email, like usual. In fact, I have no written info about this replacement iMac whatsoever. I mean ... my first order was confirmed, and I could see the order in my Apple account, and also see what the status was.
Call me paranoid, but I kinda get the feeling that they might try to avoid written confirmation about these iLemons...

So..the iMacs are "very popular"? Seems to me, with some people being on their 3rd and some even their 4th iMac, that with all these replacement machines floating around and not available for the general public to buy, I'm being put on hold cause they ran out...
The nice thing about all of this is that maybe, just maybe, when I finally get the replacement, I'll get an Apple computer that is actually working as advertised.

Does anyone know if these new, "fixed" LCDs and cables are being used in the current iMacs? (Week 2, 3, etc). I haven't heard many reports of problems with the latest crop, but I could be wrong. We need some answers here!

I've already decided to wait for the update in April/May. One defective i5 is one too many.

Good Luck. Maybe your getting the "New Improved" iMac. The one that works! And maybe the old say "Good Things Come To Those Who Wait", is true in this case. It seems Apple is changing a lot of their shipping dates last minute. I of course bought from a retailer & I get a replacement from their stockpile in the warehouse. It's just a matter of which box the man in the warehouse selects to ship to me.So I really don't know what my odds are of getting a good one.

epaul wrote:
Got my iMac 27" at Christmas. Have had two problems with flickering and blacking out:

1) when I use the trial version of iWorks I've installed. It's fine when I shut down and reboot.

2) when I plugged in an external card reader. Again I had to reboot to stop the flickering.

Hope this helps someone put the pieces together. Was interested in buying iWorks, but not now.

Adding to my previous post (above). Now experiencing problems with Skype - flickering begins when other user send me their video feed.

Anyone at Apple read these forums?

Marie,

For what it is worth to you, I ordered an i7 iMac on Nov 28 and cancelled my order a few days later after I read about the problems they were having. I then order a refurbed 24" iMac and have been delighted with my decision(s) thus far. My 24" iMac has performed flawlessly.

I feel badly for those who purchased the new iMac's, but the screen issues were, for the most part, common knowledge and available to those who took the time to do a little research.

Refurbed iMac's are still available, if you are interested. See here:

http://tinyurl.com/ydjpf9x

Best of luck to you.