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

Sad but more than likely true. Would be great to know how many computers involved etc but I suppose that also would be bad news, at least that could show how small ( oops or how large ) the problem really is,....
I will keep watching the I7 that arrived last Wed afternoon and 846 batch, wondering about ram for the display etc of course that would not effect bad pixels.

miscbeep wrote:
Hi Warren,

Well, I'm just sharing what I'm experiencing here with my computer, and as far as I've read on the local/and not only forums, everybody buys a cooler for it ( like I did ) because it gets very hot. It's just the way the graphic card is supposed to be working, sadly, high pressure on it makes artifacts and flickering problems appear, as I've mentioned in my last post.
You can verify my statements, if you just search around the net for problems with this GPU.

Hello again MiscBeep. Just so you know, I was not questioning your personal findings regarding the performance of the 4850 card that is in your machine. I was expressing my amazement that Apple would choose to use this card, if they are aware of its troublesome history.

However, as another poster pointed out, the iMacs do not use the same card as your machine. It is the same card number, but it is the "Mobile" version.

Concerning the Nvidia GeForce GT 120 card, I should have been more clear and stated that I had read that generally-speaking, the Nvidia cards are better than the ATI Radeon cards when it comes to gaming, and not specifically the GT 120. I don't know how true any of this is, because I know and understand very little regarding the various graphic cards, and I am not a gamer.

A game of Scrabble, Solitaire, Monopoly or similar non-action game is the limit for me. I am not into all of these modern shooter/arcade-style games that are so full of violence. I guess I just gave away my age.

I usually just play the aforementioned games when I am having a hard time sleeping, or when I am just too tired to do anything more constructive on my computer.

I live in the UK and I am outside of my 14 day return policy by 4 days with my iMac 27".

My iMac is flickering a lot and has now started to black out. Will Apple give me a new one free of charge? Will they charge me a restocking fee? Will they upgrade my iMac to a quad core for my troubles? (i think not) or will I have to give my iMac back to Apple to get it fixed and be without my compuetr for a few days.

This machine cost me a **** of a lot of money and it isn't good enough.

Any help will be greatly appreciated

Mike

Peace

mpat wrote:
That it isn't very common I take from the fact that it isn't being widely reported outside these forums, and the Mac web is usually quick to report any problems like these.

Mpat, I am very surprised to hear you say that. It was the very fact that last week I discovered this bad news plastered all over the web that I came to this forum in order to find out what is going on with the new iMacs.

There are many sites -- Mac-related and non-Mac-related sites alike, including secular news sources -- which have been reporting these events. For example, here is a very short list -- mainly of the Mac-related sites -- where it has been reported and discussed:

appleinsider.com
britishblogs.co.uk
cultofmac.com
edibleapple.com
maclife.com
macnn.com
macrumors.com
softpedia.com
theage.com.au
theappleblog.com
theregister.co.uk
tuaw.com

Again, that is just a small sample. There are many more sites that are reporting this, which again mystifies me why Apple is being so silent about this. Steve Jobs needs to undertake some serious verbal damage control. Yes, actions speak louder than words -- such as replacing damaged or defective units -- but sometimes words are necessary as well, if for no other reason than to lift the morale of the troops. And -- as I said before -- Microsoft and other competitors are sure to pounce on Apple as a result of this.

Hi all,

Ordered an iMac 27" i7 a couple of days ago just to read about this...

As some others have said it seems highly unlikely that 2 or 3 iMacs later they still see flickering displays as for this to be a minor issue...

On a German website I read a comment from a poster who states that a big distributor has returned all iMacs to Apple as the issues are too widespread to continue selling it (see under comments if you know German: http://www.mactechnews.de/news/index.html?id=145484).

This all brings me to the question if this is really just an issue with a small percentage of the users or if this isn't a bigger problem.

Cheers,
Rudy

Vernon_Fernando wrote:
I live in the UK and I am outside of my 14 day return policy by 4 days with my iMac 27".

My iMac is flickering a lot and has now started to black out. Will Apple give me a new one free of charge? Will they charge me a restocking fee? Will they upgrade my iMac to a quad core for my troubles? (i think not) or will I have to give my iMac back to Apple to get it fixed and be without my compuetr for a few days.

This machine cost me a **** of a lot of money and it isn't good enough.

Any help will be greatly appreciated

Mike, as mentioned in numerous posts here, the 14 day return policy is merely a cooling off period, it doesn't refer to faulty machines. You will not have to get yours fixed. You are entitled to a replacement or a refund. Remember, this is a fault that was present when you purchased the machine, even if you didn't notice it right away. Contact Apple and get it sorted. If you purchased online you'll have to wait until a new one is shipped out from China.

Which week was your iMac built in?

loofah wrote:
mine was running fine for about 2 weeks, then today I startup, and get a barrage of flickering and momentary black screens.

I find that very troubling. My concern is that some unscrupulous AAR's might possibly try to place a time limit or cut-off date regarding when they are no longer willing to exchange the unit or refund or credit the customer. Even if the unit doesn't show defects until well after two weeks, I hope that they are all still willing to abide by and honor the one-year or three-year Apple warranty, depending on whether the purchaser has the extended AppleCare plan.

I also noticed in the recent posts that someone has already received a week 48 unit, and it too is defective.

At this point, I am about ready to tell my AAR that they can hold on to my deposit as store credit, but I don't want them to order a replacement unit if the first one arrives defective in any way, no matter how small the defect.

In other words, I am thinking of telling them that I simply want to wait this out, and will place a new order once the dust settles.

Man, have I learned an important lesson about being an early adopter!

On a side note, another family member recently got the 24" iMac, and to my knowledge, it hasn't had a problem. But look at how much time Apple has had to work out the kinks with the 24". Not so with these new 27" models.

xxjackyxx9 wrote:
im having the same problem too... but i did a PRAM reset, it seems fine for now...

I wish I could tell you that after having zapped the Pram the problem was completely gone. Unfortunately, we've found that the symptoms always re-appear again at a later date. It's impossible to predict when or replicate. For me, I haven't seen a single flicker for 5 days now, but I don't assume the problem's gone away, no matter how much I'd like it to have. The only thing I know is that if you see indications of faulty behaviour then it usually indicates you have a faulty machine. Contact Apple and let them know what you're experiencing. At least doing so will register the problem.

Warren Beasley wrote:

My concern is that some unscrupulous AAR's might possibly try to place a time limit or cut-off date regarding when they are no longer willing to exchange the unit or refund or credit the customer. Even if the unit doesn't show defects until well after two weeks, I hope that they are all still willing to abide by and honor the one-year or three-year Apple warranty, depending on whether the purchaser has the extended AppleCare plan.

The AAR is only a middle-man here. Any defective machines they sell still go back to Apple at Apple's expense. The point is, that if these machines are all being delivered with a fault which is present from day one, even if that fault doesn't show itself for some time, under the law, the onus is on the SELLER TO PROVE that these faults weren't present when you made your purchase, which they simply will not be able to do. Therefore, under the law, you are entitled to obtain a refund/replacement. If the AAR tells you anything different, then contact Apple and get them involved directly.

Really? That's funny, because I follow several of those, and I haven't seen it. I searched for "iMac flicker" on most of those sites. The only one I found anything on was Cult of Mac, which reported it as solved by a software update - on a 2007 model. By contrast, several of the sites showed that story about iMacs arriving DOA or with cracked screens. Logically, then, that would be a much more common issue.

Please provide me with a direct links to news stories - forum discussions do not count - which mentions the specific flickering issue talked about here.

Mpat

Here's a few:
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/1311129.html
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/gadgets/3102465/Flickering-screens-plague-new- iMacs
http://news.softpedia.com/news/New-Model-iMacs-Have-Screen-Issues-128331.shtml

Actually, mpat, I was drawn here to the Apple forum by the widespread reports concerning the cracked screens, and NOT by the flickering screen issue. I didn't learn about that problem until I came here. The domains I listed all discuss the cracked screens, and some of them mention the other problems as well.

However, let's not get lost in verbal nitpicking. The point is, there is a range of serious problems with these new machines, and these problems are being reported across the Internet to varying degrees, some more than others.

Let's not forget that you and I are on the same team when it comes to supporting the Mac.

Happy now?

Hello again Simon. Thanks for the encouragement.

Do I sound a bit nervous in my posts?

I wonder why that is.

This waiting -- and I still have a lot longer to go -- is for the birds!

An update with my situation - sorry if it's a bit long-winded. My problem is only the flickering screen and I seem to have it to a much less degree than many who've posted on here. I've been reluctant to return the machine as it's perfect in all other respects. Nevertheless I started a case with AppleCare last week who emailed me some software do perform a 'capture' of my machine which I did while I chatted with the techie. He explained that he needed to escalate the problem and would be sending the capture to engineering. Well he's just phoned to say that engineering have concluded there is a suspect connection on the video card and that it needed to be fixed. As I live in the middle of nowhere and am not near any Apple service facility he is arranging for an engineer to come to me to do the fix, or take it away and bring it back fixed - presumably because I bought the 3 year AppleCare. Based on the fact so many seem to have this problem I'm not convinced they have found the solution, but if they have detected a fault I want it fixed. Worryingly the guy at Apple still seemed to think this was an unusual and rare problem.
I'll let you know of any future developments - positive or otherwise.