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

i7Mac (W89465)
arrived at 12:43 so far so good, nothing bad to report.

going to put it online and try to make it sleep etc .

Message was edited by: ellsmako

One odd thing which has nothing to do with the Product,....

BUT did anyone notice that the secondary cardboard ( outer box has no indicators on it,

No Fragile
no arrows,
temperature ranges
nothing.
Just wondering about the ( please excuse the remark ) monkeys that sometimes have access to these packages. I would think that a plain manilla carboard box without warning or orange stickers would be an open invitation for trouble.
Just my current thoughts

Message was edited by: ellsmako

pschaf:

If you haven't already been told, you should return it for a newer one or get your money back. It may only get worse.

Someone here mentioned to try and give us
delivery date
batch number
condition good or bad
configuration etc,.. maybe there is a pattern , related to production, handling configuration .

crikey, that screen to me looks really bad - surely the screen should be capable or maintaining consistent colour ranges throughout its adjustment range!!!.

Incidently, went to PC world in UK to have a look at the 27inch imac before considering buying and the one they had instore was perfect - no distortion and no yellowing.

Strange though was that I wasnt as impressed as I expected to be but maybe my expectations for £1600 were too high or unfair to judge in 15 minutes of playing!

I received my 27" core i7 today, and didn't have any problems until it had been on for about 8 hours. The screen went mad with blackouts, flickering and the menu bar jumping to the top 1/4th of the screen.
A simple restart of OSX made it all go away, and it haven't come back since! That indicates to me that it may not be a hardware issue, but probably a driver problem.
I find it hard to believe that so many iMacs ship with the exact same hardware issue. But I'll contact support tomorrow and see what they have to say...

GSears wrote:
...Funny thing, when you bring up the levels in a photo of the screen...

GSears, can you clarify that for me. I took it to mean you increased the levels of the photo you took of the screen, and not the levels (brightness) of the screen itself. Did I understand you correctly?

If your screen changed like you pics show just from adjusting the Macs brightness, then I'd agree that it looks pretty busted. Mine does not do that (with white or gray backgrounds) when I increase/decrease the Mac's brightness.

Message was edited by: mert

I am currently on my third iMac 27". It functioned perfectly for 15 days until I tried to wake it up from sleep yesterday. It took much longer than normal -- I wound up having to press the power button to get the screen on. The screen flickered once, and the general hue of the screen changed. After a few hours of use, the screen started flickering on and off a couple times every minute. Then the horizontal distortions started. Shut it off, unplugged the power cord for a couple minutes -- No more problems... Has this been an intermittent, reoccuring issue with any of you guys?

frotdob, what's the serial of your 3rd mac?

Hey Mert,

You were indeed correct on your first assumption. When I spoke about changing the levels, I did that in Photoshop to exaggerate the color issues since the photos weren't able to make the yellowing areas as noticeable as they are in person. I came across this great color testing link (the gray bars), it really shows how much warmer in tone the lower third of my iMac is compared to the top.

Here's the link if anyone else is experiencing the same issue: http://tapplox.com/imac-led.html

By the way, 2.5 days in with a 947, and still no flickering. That's something at least.

I dont know where this has been mentioned before ( i didnt have time to read through the 41 pages of posts) but...

I have the 27" iMac and have seen the flickering problem BUT its only when i use wireless. When using wired i am as of yet to see the problem. This could just be a coincidence though.

bluebermuda wrote:
I hate to burst your bubble but Windows 7 is a rock solid operating system. Without Windows the corporate world would cease to function. Snow Leopard is fine as a plaything for less sophisticated users, however without the option to install Windows 7 on a Mac, very few upper echelon individuals would consider the purchase of a Mac computer.

Obviously, the build quality of the new iMac is pathetic.

Haven't responded to any of your drivel as yet, here goes!

When you talk about the "corporate world" you are talking about the big banks, insurance companies, television networks, pharmaceuticals etc? Anybody else?

All the type of companies I have done consulting for over the last 12 years. My experience of these companies are that people use e-mail (Lotus, Outlook etc), Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, Visio, MS Project, Primavera, some Finance modules, Business Objects and the like. The majority of people using them are admin folk, staff managers etc (make up the largest portion of the pyramid in these huge companies with vast numbers of employees). Only about 5-10% of them even get as far as using VBA (usually techies and Finance)! The "upper echelon individuals" you speak of don't even come in to this 5-10% and some don't even have computers as they don't know how to turn them on. So all you are really left with are the techies. Again, in my experience (a lot more exposure to these guys than most Investment Bankers) these guys have used Windows in the past (maybe before you retired) but they have all been jumping to Unix where possible over the last 5 - 10 years. More would have jumped where possible. However, as MS have built such a monopoly on things that it is either very expensive or very complicated to unwind and move to Unix, they are kind of stuck. Obviously they need to keep upgrading and paying support to try and stay up with the competition, it is not through choice the majority of times.

So given that mostly Windows OS are not even pushed that hard, they still need a **** of a lot of TLC in the shape of very large technical support desks.

The message is: don't be a fool by being fooled by the stats until you can really analyse the stats properly and have a sense of the story they are really telling you.

Oh and the majority of the people making the decisions and holding the budget in these "corporates" could't tell the difference between Windows, Unix or Snow Leopard anyway. They want workflow processed quickly and cheaply, they couldn't give a stuff what does it.

Sorry for going off topic guys. But he is really getting up my nose. I work with folk like him every day (arrogant, full of their own self importance *****) and I usually have to prove them wrong most of the time as well, plus they pay me to do it!

Rant over.

pazuita wrote:
Apple is aware there may be a problem.

This condition affects a very small minority of the i7's, and Apple is trying to determine the cause.

I have traded emails with the corporate office, and am currently working with several of the techs in an attempt to recreate the problem, but no luck so far.

Apple takes any complaints very seriously, and even a minor issue will receive the appropriate attention, once it has been determined what the problem is.

Right now, no one knows whether this problem is hardware, or software related, and until that is established, there is no solution.
Apple is currently replacing these units as problems arise, however, I have chosen to keep mine a while longer in an effort to find the cause.
The supervisors I have spoken with are currently leaning toward the side of the issue being a hardware problem, but have not yet determined the nature of that problem. Until they are able to make that determination, there is no way to avoid repeating it.

Simply swapping one unit for another will not solve anything, until it is determined that it is a hardware problem that is not correctable with a firmware update, or a software issue, that is even easier to correct.

If any of you can find a way to recreate this problem, then pleases post it here, from my viewpoint, it is completely random, and so far, I have had no luck in repeating either the flicker, the black screen, or the menu shift, even though all three problems have ocurred, very briefly, once or twice a day.

Apple has suggested keeping a digital camera nearby so that if you suffer the split screen, or menu shift, to take a pic and use it as a reference when you do contact them about the problem.

I do not work for Apple, nor am I a spokesman for them, but I think we all agree (with the exception of the blue trolls) that we all want to see this problem resolved. By ignoring the trolls, and working together a little, we may find a quicker solution.

The best approach, rather than just complaining, is to list your problem, the first four digits of your serial # and machine model.

Beyond that, the most important thing is to find a way to consistently recreate the problem.

Have a little faith in Apple, the issue will be resolved soon, as they have always done in the past. Their warranties and service and support are still the industries best.

I managed to create it last weekend. I have photos and system files (I got a utility from one of the 2nd line support guys at Apple Care to run when it happened). Could you provide me with details for you contact and I will send these items on for analysis?

I sent them to my contact but I think Apple have been badly hit by the floods over the last week in the UK and Ireland (they have a centre in Cork in Ireland where my contact works) and he may not be able to get to work for the next week or so.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/silyld/sets/72157622717123505/

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-359856

I now exactly 7 days I have an iMac 27 ". The mine has a quad core i7 processor and now for my ******* disgrace while he finished writing a page of a book to last me the screen to flash a second and finished the twisted screen, ie the dock etab to 5 cm . upper and bears the cursor down the screen leaving the top. investigating and found several Viedos on YouTube which show identically the same mistake and talk about. The truth is that I am very upset with Apple since the imac **** near cost me a 2000 euros, for that price should talk and make the food ... but no, what it does is blink! and not contented with that spoiled me a project, since e had to restart e lost the information that had not been able to save. In short, I have been losing money for a junk and paid for which a paste. The truth is that all my life I have used PC and now that I had thrown the apple world I come with these! tomorrow morning I call and explain the case to see what solution they give me, xo will probably ask for a refund. I certainly do not think it's a software problem, is painted to be the graphics card that jumps to warm up with the processor, so same goes for the i7. I will keep you informed.

The iMac does not have an advanced screen. It uses the old White LED standard as opposed to the new RGB LED standard that both Dell and HP are offering.