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

simcakes wrote:
oops read that wrong! it's 41

Hello Simcakes,

I am very curious as to how you received a week 41 iMac approximately in the middle of January, according to your previous posts. This strikes me as being rather odd. I don't recall anyone here receiving such an early build so late in the manufacturing process. One would think that you would receive at least a week 50 -- or later -- build. My BTO was ordered in the middle of November 2009, and finally arrived at my home on January 21st. It is a week 51 build. So again I ask, how did you obtain such an early build in January?

Obviously, you probably can't answer the question, but I truly hope that Apple is above shipping out refurbs as "new" units. I warned about this possibility weeks ago, and I for one would be very disappointed -- and in fact, shocked -- to learn that Apple has stooped to such levels.

Hopefully, there is a plausible explanation, and my concern is unwarranted.

But it does beg the question: Where have the 100's/1000's of the returned, defective iMacs gone? They certainly haven't ended up on Apple's refurb page. Have they gone into the hands of other new iMac users?

I believe that a clarification from Apple is warranted here . . . not that we will ever get one.

I was also concerned when I received my replacement computer. My first computer was delivered right before christmas and it was a week 50 model. When I received my replacement on Feb. 1, it was a week 48 model.

Is there a way to find out if your "new" iMac is indeed "old"? In other words, can you investigate to see if the new model you received is a refurbished iMac being sold, accidentally or purposefully, as a new one?

Yea Week 41 at this stage of the game, needs some questioning for sure. I ordered my first iMac on Black Friday (November) & it was a Week 45. My new one that I ordered 2 1/2 weeks ago is a Week 51. And I ordered from a Reseller, not Apple, so their Warehouse Stock stays around longer. Interesting.

Well, here is my latest report...
I think the 2nd firmware update definitely fixed the screen flicker on my 27" Core i7 iMac...the one I just sent back anyway. Not even one little flicker or anything like it since the update! However, even tho' it appeared to be fixed, I went ahead and decided to pick up the replacement machine since it had arrived anyway and would be a brand new one, and I would take a chance. I finished setting it up a short while ago by restoring via Time Machine.
Well, the new one seems flicker free so far....WAY too soon to tell of course. But now this one seems to have some color variation across the screen...looks like a slight pink tinge in the middle of the screen and some really strong backlight showing thru on the lower right portion of the screen. No dead pixels tho'. It is very slight tho' and, at this point - knowing how EXTREMELY WARY I have become of these issues we are suffering from - I may just be overly obsessive. Had I not come across this thread and reports of yellow tinging/dead pixels I may not have worried about it.
Other than that, the machine seems great so far. So maybe I will just live with this. Or relax for a few days and see if it's my OCD that's starting to go full steam...;)
Juuuuuust letting you know:)

TuffGong wrote:
Is there a way to find out if your "new" iMac is indeed "old"? In other words, can you investigate to see if the new model you received is a refurbished iMac being sold, accidentally or purposefully, as a new one?

If there is, I certainly don't know what it is. Perhaps someone here with more technical knowledge can offer us a clue.

Well, come to think of it, I do recall reading some time ago -- possibly in this same thread -- that Apple can even change serial numbers on a unit -- at least internally. But, I wonder. I also seem to recall reading that the serial number is also allegedly imprinted on the underside of the iMac's aluminum foot. Now, if the internal serial number, and the number on the foot don't match, well . . .

I should note, however, that I haven't taken the time to verify this information. That is, I don't know for certain that the serial number is in fact found on the underside of the base of the unit, and I'm not about to turn off my machine, disconnect all of the cables, and turn it upside down in order to find out.

Of course, if the serial number is located on the underside of the aluminum foot, I imagine that Apple could somehow change that as well before the "new" unit leaves the factory.

Gee . . . talk about conspiracy theory!

Where's my magnifying glass, anyway???

Oh, and btw this new iMac is a week 05.

Not good news for a Week 05. Did you do the actual Grey Bar Test? Horizontal & Vertical.

Here is the Test:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=824940

Also here:
http://imac.squeaked.com/test.php

No offence taken ..... that's why I'm getting it replaced again. The Yellow tint is not that bad, and the small mark IS small, but i've paid a lot of money, and I want the best.

Dino, yes, I did the grey bar test.
This is just so frustrating:( From what you know, have read & from your own experiences, how is Apple responding to these calls about the color variations anyway? I am so worried it is going to involve another trip allllll the way to the Apple store, which is pretty far away, for them to take a look (tell me if I am crazy or not/deny everything) and then alllllllll the way back after that to pick up the replacement...

Guys, one thing I did notice after applying the second update is that the image quality seemed to be different.

In particular, when dragging a window around (say, Safari or Finder) the thick grey title bar would noticeably change to almost a meshy look, as if there were thousands of tiny crosshatching lines on it. When the window stopped moving, it'd go back to being smooth grey again.

I tested this several times and knew that it was a fresh development. In general the screen just also seemed less responsive as if the screen was being painted less often.

Can anyone with the second update confirm whether or not you see these slight artefacts with the grey areas moving around onscreen? It'd be interested to see whether it was just on my iMac or if others can see it too.

I realise that no rush technology fix is likely to be magic and that Apple conceivably "turned down the awesome" on their display firmware to stop it from flickering... But given that the screen also now doesn't look or feel as good that makes me feel a bit bad.

What I'm trying to say is, in the rush to celebrate not having flickers have you actually looked closely to see ifthe screen really looks as good as it did? I do believe mine lost a certain degree of smoothness and the meshy greys were very noticeable, since I rearrange my windows a lot and they basically turned etchasketchy in a way I've never seen before.

FWIW After returning my first 27" i7 Apple said it would be the 18h until my replacement shipped. Email then informed me it shipped on the 5th and today FedEx says it is on the truck for delivery. Should be a wk 5 (I hope) and as soon as it warms up and I get stuff installed I'll report back. Fingers are crossed.

Does anyone know how accurate the site http://www.appleserialnumberinfo.com is with determining specs on an iMac? With the discussions of recent deliveries of week 4x models, I punched in my serial number to this site. It came back with the system having an i7 processor. But it is an i5.

Again, Michael, mine is to Ship on the 18th & it stayed that way. Strange has some people's shipping times have changed.

Jan Sampermans (the person who started this thread) -- did we answer your question yet?