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

Slickrick, Glad to hear the great news. It looks like you got a winner for sure. My forst replacement was sent from B&H & will be here on Tuesday. I can only hope to have the same luck as you. Enjoy! Dino

Hi SlickRick,

Good for you!

Thanks for keeping us posted!

Apple tech told me the problem is the graphics card cable. I don't know if it's loose or not seated right or just bad cables. The firmware update will obviously not fix that. I returned 2 machines and have a ship date of 2/2/2010. He said it's a simple fix & under control now. Just a matter of getting everyone squared away. They updated my RAM to 8GB on both machines no charge. I suppose in order to compete price wise, unfortunately, they need to be built in China. Maybe one of the workers had some bad Peking Duck and plugged a bunch of cables in wrong.

Update: 12 days since having the screen and v-sync cable replaced and everything's working as it should - no flickers. Another couple of weeks and I might start to relax and check out of this thread.
I really hope some of the more recent posts are right and Apple really has got to grips with the problem and finally fixed things - and also resolves the yellow tinge problem.

Paul, I'm glad to hear it's working out for you. So many different Apple Techs saying completely different fixes, you don't know what to believe. The screen/cable replacement always seemed a practical solution, IMO. I'm sure you'll be fine. Tuesday I get my 21.5 NVidia replacement. I'm hoping it's a good one. My first had Yellow tinge & developed Flicker after 5 days of use. Good Luck!

Apple tech told me the problem is ...

Thank you ferris666, but please read the last posts and you will see, that we need an official statement from Apple.
As long as they're telling us so different things, we can't hope they have a solution.

so this may seem as though it has an obvious answer - but why isn't apple responding to this issue officially!?!? kind of ticks us off!

I agree! Every Tech seems to be giving a different line of bull. You don't know what to believe. So you get psyched when you hear a Tech that may be making sense, only to hear a completely different solution or fix from another Tech. I wish  would at least instruct all it's Techs to tell us the same thing. And if they don't know the fix, be honest & say that. It makes us confused & gives us false hope.

Totally agree... part of the issue here is the inconsistency on Apple's part and an unwillingness to come clean about the problem.
It's hard to blame these techs assuming they aren't getting a straight story themselves from the powers that be. To Apple's credit, my particular experience at the local Apple store was a good one and everyone I worked with was as helpful as possible given the circumstance.

Thanks Dino, fingers crossed you get a good'un - I'm sure you'll let us know if you don't .

...and I will let you know If I do get a good one as well. I think I may have posted over a hundred Posts in this Thread. I'm sure everyone is hoping for me, just to get rid of me. L.O.L.

We're gonna all miss each other when this saga is over. We'll have to have an annual reunion

That is very true. An iMac Flicker reunion. It has a ring to it! I guess we'll be enjoying our perfect iMacs instead of whining about them.

hello to all of you,

been reading the whole thing now, and although i had to return my imac yesterday...it was a week 46 modell and had the flickering, it makes me happy to finally find a forum which gives me all the news i need about this little **** /&%(/&$% problem.

Puuh..what to do? Next week there are new imacs arriving and i can get me one, in my local store, but can I be sure that there is no flicker even if its a week 1 or 2 model? NO! I cant! And that *****...

It wouldnt suck that bad if i at least would know that it was a software problem so that I could get the machine NOW and fix it with the next update...but if... in maybe 3 weeks,it s clear, that it is the cabel i m screwed, because i really do not want to be without my maschine while it is beeing repaired again!

So should just not pick up the imac next week but wait until they say the problem is solved?

We all feel your Pain! Welcome! If it were me I would wait until February. Week 05 - Week 08. But if your in a rush & can't wait, go to Apple Store & have them open it before you leave the store. Spend a half an hour running Yellow test & Pixel Tests. Unfortunately, it might start the flicker for days or weeks, so you are still taking a chance. Either way, which ever you choose to do. Good Luck! I'm afraid you'll need it.

iMac 21.5 NVidia Yellow & Flicker Week 45