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

My experience in situations like this is that you need to let them know how they've "inconvenienced" you and ask them how they plan to "compensate" you for the inconvenience. It's not always possible depending on how you go about things. In my case I ordered a whole new machine on my credit card and plan on eating the interest for the few weeks that I wait for my refund on the old machine. However, technically, I believe the credit they gave me was on the old order...

hope that helps some of you.

I Have the same problem!

Bought a new 27" iMac and the display began to flicker around an became black many times for about 2 seconds. Called the customer support and now get a new one. Hope that apple will fix the problem!

Best regards
fisi2000

I went through this forum and visited a topic about the delivery of new imacs. Read this comment which one user wrote:

"Everyone,

You wouldn't believe this. I just received a phone call from the reseller today where I ordered my i7 iMac and was advised that there are further delays due to the current issues experienced with the screen and graphics card.

The estimated delivery time is now end of January 2010. Can you believe this??? I paid for it in FULL on 23 October and I'm now having to wait 3 whole months to get an iMac, where everyone else ordering online gets theirs within days.

The reseller is offering gift cards for the store to compensate for the delay. I have asked for more than what there are prepared to give me and I'll see what they come back with.

This whole thing is a joke. I have been an Apple customer since late 1990s and this is the type of treatment I am getting!!!!

Not sure if it's worth cancelling and ordering online as the reseller mentioned it will take a lot longer than the estimated 7-10 working days Apple has on their website.

Good luck to everyone else still waiting for their iMacs through a reseller in Australia."

This problem is maybe more serious, and Apple must stop the production. However there is still one strange thing, I checked my online order of my i7, and there is still 16th Dec. (ordered on Black Friday) I am pretty curious if they will change my delivery.

Tibor

I just returned my i5 back to applestore they are migrating over night and i pick up the new one in the morning. I asked if they have had a lot come back. "I have not been here long i have not heard of many coming back" It did make me laugh! Hope my new one is of a new batch and fixes the problem. If not i have another 14 days before retuning it for another one. Hope i dont have to return too many before they fix the problem that they dont have. Ha ha!!

TRujder wrote:

You wouldn't believe this. I just received a phone call from the reseller today where I ordered my i7 iMac and was advised that there are further delays due to the current issues experienced with the screen and graphics card. The estimated delivery time is now end of January 2010. Can you believe this??? I paid for it in FULL on 23 October and I'm now having to wait 3 whole months to get an iMac, where everyone else ordering online gets theirs within days.

If that were true, when you look on both the UK and US Apple stores, the order shipping times wouldn't still be 24 hours for the C2D and 7-10 days for the Quad.

Just an update...
My iMac (quad core i7, ("47" series) is still working beautifully, although I have noticed that the left right top corner gets really HOT.
Running it 24/7 since the delivery (23/11/2009)
Is that normal?

Having used Migration Assistant from my 24" Intel iMac, smcFanControl was imported to my i7. It just happened due to MA. It was not a conscious move. I had been running smc for ages on the other Mac. I then turned down the settings and this i7 is certainly not overheating and I do not hear the fans in my good ear.

atlatnesiti wrote:

My iMac (quad core i7, ("47" series) is still working beautifully, although I have noticed that the left right top corner gets really HOT. Is that normal?

Perfectly normal for the top right corner area to get hot.

Top left corner is the outflow from the CPU heatsink, but the heatsink itself is slightly lower along the left side. Top right corner is the GPU heatsink and airflow. Because the GPU has a much higher operating temperature (I think it can works safely up to 90C, and it's often over 80C, while the CPU starts throttling around 65C) the top right corner is generally the hottest.

The yellowing is likely panel-related. The flickering can have many causes - a loose connection sounds likely. The complete blackout is either a very loose connection or a GPU reset. We know that the GPU can crash and reset for software reasons and for heat reasons, but it can be for other reasons as well.

My iMac remains flawless since the blacking out that first weekend. Good thing I didn't panic and send it back then, because this truly is an awesome machine. I will be buying Applecare for it, though.

The first iMac G5s had big problems with the power supply dying, as well as with the cooling system working overdrive because of misapplied cooling paste. The "Kihei" slotloading iMacs had three firmware updates in the first 6 months, one of which killed the onboard battery. The first PowerPC Performas crashed when you pushed the hardware volume buttons. Guess what? Those are the last three Macs I bought. If you buy a brand-new Rev. A Mac, that sort of thing happens - unfortunately. Caveat emptor, I'm afraid. If you want peace of mind, wait three months. Too bad that I seem to forget that over the course of an upgrade cycle...

I have to agree mpat. I'm not going to cancel my order for the 27" i7. Apple seems to be providing those who have defective machines with great sevice with no question replacements.

I think it's unfair to think that Apple doesn't watch these forums. We don't know that they do and we don't know if they don't. I know if I was in Apple I would be watching this place. I can imagin a techi reading over the posts and calling out to a colleage "Oh ho, Huston we have a problem". I can also see where Apple would not publicly admit problems as that would cost them a chunk of change. Obviously the problem is not serious enough to warrant a recall as that would be a huge cost as well. We don't know what percentages of units are defective but Apple probably does and seem to be able to handle the issue with replacement units.

Hi, everybody.
I've just bought new iMac 21.5" and it will arrive to me over 2-3 days. But I have a question bout' it. Have 21.5 screens the same problem as 27 have? I called applecare but their "specialists" could't say me anything about it...

Can anyone make a summary of how many iMac having flickering issue, week by week (production week)? Just to see, with time goes by, if the problem has disappeared in W48 or further on.
Apple should have this information (for sure), but it's not going to tell us (i think). Shall recover this information from this forum, it could be an interesting statistic (not complete, but realistic).
Thanks to everyone!

Many issues with the i5?

Well, I took my iMac to an Apple Service Centre to have the cable reseated as was suggested by AppleCare as a result of the 'capture' they did and sad to say it's made no difference. Ho hum.

Hi, nickboard.

I've only heard about one problem with 21'5" imac, which is discussed in other topic from this foro, and is related with an acute noise like a whistle dog, that comes from the screen, and is a hassle...

By the moment, I got my money back, and I'll wait to apple solving this issue with flickering screens...

My ex-iMac, began with flickering issue in one hour from the purchase...

Good Luck!