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

Ask them to fix your LCD screen and v-sync cable right away. Don't let them replace the video card. I am taking mine back this week for the screen/cable replacement.

Just flickered again, so i'm taking this one back as well and getting my money back. Shame really, as i really want an iMac 27 but definitely wont be getting another one until they've 100% identified and fixed the screen flickering issue

Come on Apple, sort it out please

Message was edited by: BeefyBeck

anna:

Donkeys's is correct, if they do suggest a repair, you should mention the display/cable replacement.

They commonly suggest replacing the video card, which has worked for some, but not all. The display/cable seems to have worked more often, even though it has not solved the issue in several cases.

The way Apple works in the US, they will email you a prepaid shipping label, which you affix to the packaging, then take it to the designated delivery service.

Hope you paid attention to the way it was unpacked. It can be a little frustrating getting it back into the box if you got a little too excited during the unboxing, like most of us.

Thanks for the additional bits of advice everyone. They're all much appreciated.

I'm near the Apple Store in Glasgow, Scotland so will call the UK Apple Care number in the morning, mentioning the screen/cable replacement you've suggested.

How come the software patch has worked for some people?

That's a very good Question. But no one has the answer, not even Apple.

"How come the software patch has worked for some people?"

Good question. I doubt that even Apple has an answer for this.

Replacing the videocard has worked for a lot of people, but not all.
Replacing the display, and connecting cable has worked for some, but not all.

There may be several issues at play here that may contribute to the flickering. It seems to have stumped even Apple's engineers. That is pretty obvious since you have received a refurb that still has the issue. I do not recall anyone else posting here that has reported the issue continuing in the refurbs.

The Apple rep I spoke with this morning did state that they are receiving fewer calls on the issue, so it is obvious that Apple's repairs, and replacements are working, maybe not the first time, but they will keep at it until they get everyone taken care of.

The main thing you should be aware of, Apple is making every effort to replace or repair defective units, and their warranties, and service are the best.

Long time lurker, first time poster...

I have an iMac tale of woe of classic proportions.

I ordered an I7 in late November. This was just before the public outcry of the "yellow screen." Luckily mine arrived in one piece without a yellow screen, with a working firewire port, quiet as a bell, etc...

After about 2 week I saw my first flicker. Day by day it got a little worse, happening maybe 3-4 a day.
The software patch temporarily solved it.

Flash forward to a week ago, it got much worse. It started happening every 5-10 minutes. I called Apple and they wanted me to take it into my local Apple store for repair.
The Apple store of course said they have never heard of the screen flicker, or yellow screen issue.

After the genius bar staff had a discussion about the issue, they said it was the video card. I of course mentioned this thread, and the experience of those who had the video card replaced. They assured me I was was wrong, it wasn't the cable, but the video card.

Flash forward to today, they called my stating my system was all fixed, and was currently being bench tested.

I got the computer back just fine, except when I got home I realized I couldn't hook anything up to it except the power cable.

The internal ports were out of position by about 1/4 of MM. Needless to say my words at that moment were not family friendly.

After a call to Apple (who BTW were nothing but apologetic) they wanted me to visit the Apple store again, I declined letting those chimps a chance to foul up again. So I have a new system on its way.
Too bad by the time I return this one, and have the new one shipped it will be several weeks.

Apple really needs to get a handle on their QC.

Update on my replacement.

I received my i5 replacement 12 days ago and here are the results so far.

Unit 264
Week 53
Firmware patch pre-installed
No flickering
No blackouts
No tearing
No dead or stuck screen pixels
5 dead iSight pixels
No noise, runs very quite
Warms up pretty good but not hot

The only problem I have at this point is there is a piece of lint or dust between the glass and the screen or there is a flaw in the glass. I will take it in for that at some point. Other than that so far so good and I love this machine! It is truly sad that Apple has not publicly said anything on this and hopefully soon they will have a fix identified and everyone will be enjoying their new iMac's. I will still be watching this thread for any updates and post back if I end up with a problem.

Almost there....it seems that week 53 and 02 are pretty much ok as far as flickering/blackout .....

corporatemonkey, That is just Incredible. I see Apple is now hiring the same Technicians from HP. I'm sorry but that is totally unacceptable to me, apology or no apology. You'd think they'd take the 2 minutes to make sure everything looks good before saying it's repaired. And their still saying it's the Video Card. I don't know! All I hear on here is how good Apple is at taking care of any problems. I'm not very confident in anyone taking apart & fixing my computer. But I figured if anyone was going to do it correctly, Apple would. I'm currently waiting for a replacement, not a repair. Again, I have little faith in Technicians fixing my computer. It seems the people companies hire take no care & integrity in their work. People that do lousy work like that, should be fired. There are plenty of concientous people looking for jobs today. I know your story is Legit but most of what I'm hearing is almost unreal & unbelievable, but it's probably true. Come on pazuita! I'm waiting for your rebuttal.

I'm on my 3rd imac 27inch I5 week 53 I had this drunken tech guy from apple unbox me an check my baby out!! he then replied after unboxing and hooking her up (THE IMAC) that he wanted me to check it out!! like i was the specialist if i would have known i would have just done this my self at home i just told him to put it back in the box!!! angerly
alot of the guys that work at the apple store really dont know anything!! So i get my imac back home an, hook all her glory up and bam i have a dead pixel in the middle of my screen it's so annoying after all i have been through with my first 2 imac's. Setting up to machines installing software ect... then having the flicker affect i think i will return this pile of junk in for a full refund. I really do like the design of the new imac but they need to fixed and address problems reported on this message board.

don1958, nothing wrong but 5 dead iSight Pixels. That *****! In plain English! Once again, Quality Control in building these Units in Shanghai is going way below Standards. Maybe they need to check the people who are building these iMacs Eyes! It's apparent they don't have very good eyesight.

Dino, what got me was when the apple store tech called me about the repair being completed, he stated my machine was currently running performing a "bench test"

After seeing the port alignment issue I doubt they did anything more then turn it on. Without access to the USB ports for a keyboard/mouse there is little they could have done. If they did attempt to plug in anything usb related they would have instantly seen their error.

But once again I have to state the 800# customer service reps were top notch throughout this. They seem honestly embarrassed about this.

Ok, this is under the category of 'go figure'.

I had some random flickering but could make my 27" i5 flicker and black out consistently and even periodically 'roll the image down' (I don't know what else to call it) by doing the following: running an HD video file, running 3 virtual PCs in Parallels (with various tasks running in them), running mail, firefox (with lots of tabs open), iTunes streaming radio, Skype and Activity Monitor just to get a picture of what was going on with the processor.

Every time.

I called AppleCare, talked to a rep and arranged to have a tech call to arrange for a repair (as I reported on this forum the other day).

That was Monday.

Tuesday my Mini Display Port to DVI adapter arrived and I hooked up my old 22" Samsung to the iMac. Wonderful to have so much real estate!

So I thought I would run my test again but with the video playing on the Samsung. No problem what so ever.

Hmm, let's try moving it back to the iMac (you can see where this is leading). Still no problem. No problem anymore at all.

I'm home Friday and will try running my test all day to see if I can make it happen.

SO. What possible difference could the Mini Display Port to DVI adapter have made?

I'm stalling the tech right now but feel that I will probably end up telling him not to bother coming.

If this has 'fixed' it I'd be happy. There is nothing wrong with my iMac except the flickering/blackout/roll thingy.

In any case, I have Applecare and a case number so if anything happens further down the line, I'm covered.

Or MAYBE it's behaving because it KNOWS the technician is coming. ;0)

In any case, it weird.

Russel

I started my computer with CMD-OPT-P-R (read previous post), the advice I got from Apple Care.
I have used the computer for about 5hrs tonight without any flickering or blackouts, mine occurs very random so I wouldn´t say that it solved my problem just yet...

Anyone that has completely got rid of the flicker problem this way?