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

no solution or statement yet...

A little side question ;

Is the screen too bright ( 27 inch ) ? I know you can get it dimmed but then you have to be closer to it and look more carefully or just change the resolution ? My eyes are a bit more sensitive and I wonder.. cause I read on the internet one guy got a head ache from watching the default screen brightness and stuff.

Thanks. I hope Apple solves the issues in no time, I really want to buy this machine.

Mine does it also. iMac 27'' i7 w/ 8GB installed.

In my case, the machine is fine for 5-6 days and then it will start doing it randomly. A reboot seems to 'cure' it for another 5-6 days. Here's hoping its a firmware/software update fix!

Count me in with those who are waiting until this problem is resolved before ordering. I plan to order an i7/4GB/2TB with Applecare, but would like some acknowledgement on these issues from Apple before I part with $2400 or so. I can't wait to put my upgraded G4 out to pasture, but I've waited this long, so another few weeks/months won't make much difference.

Any info on this from Apple would be welcome at this point.

Considering this thread has 990 posts from 66 pages from people with the same problem, i really can't believe Apple have kept quiet so far over this on here... very poor show and not one mention from them.....

well, they are going to be severely hit in the pocket over this, not to mention the many hundreds or thousands in the future who haven't even seen this thread and who are new imac owners, who will no doubt a large percentage that will have this problem......

Phillip,

Thanks for your insight. I haven't lost faith in Apple. My frustrations probably stem more from the fact that my Windows PC is crashed (again!) and a working iMac is not immediately available. I'm one of those who once he decides on a purchase...I usually buy it. Postponing it is new to me.

Since I am not yet a Mac user, I just wondered how Apple communicated issues and resolutions in the past. I know every manufacturing company can run into problems. If Apple comes out and says "we fixed it", I'm pushing the order button. I just hope they let the public know when that is instead of pretending it didn't happen.

Someone else mentioned that the people inside their Apple Store denied every hearing about this. I think we all know better. When I was first in looking at the new iMac's I questioned them about a lot of things and they answered them openly and thoroughly. When I asked about the potential for heat problems the rep stuttered thru a non answer. That is still a concern and something I feel may be at the root of these problems as the ATI graphics card (that was first in short supply) are overheating. I'm not a hardware technical guy, but does the iMac version of the ATI Radeon 8500 series come with a processor fan of its own? Could this fan straining under excessive heat draw power from the board and cause the flickering/blackout problem, or am I way off base?

Anyway, I hope Apple makes that announcement of resolution soon.

Sorry, I meant the ATI 4850 Series GPU!

Hello RMH7069,
you can see the inside of imac 27" here:
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iMac-Intel-27-Inch/1236/1

Add me to the list. New imac i7 quad core, had it for a few days and then did the flicker thing a few times. It then went away for about a week and now is back again and worse.

I used to work for Apple doing repairs (a long time back before they opened the apple store here in arizona). So I called up some people I knew that are still doing that and put some calls in to the reseller help line. At the time they confessed that no one had heard of it, and I pointed them to this thread and the youtube videos.

They then insulted me by going through the same thing they always do, restart, pram, plug reset, etc... which I had all already done.

I decided not to swap my machine out and instead am going to try and order parts and see if I can fix the problem. I put in a request to get a replacement video card today. If that is the where the issue lies, I expect Apple may send me a notice that the part is on backorder. I haven't heard any word as of yet. They overnight the parts so I should have it on Monday. I will pick it up from my friend at the Apple store and do the repair then if it comes.

I'll let you all know if it corrects the problem. I have my doubts though that if it is the video card, that it is actually corrected and they would ship me the new version. I may just end up in the same place after a few more days.

We will see.

BTW I am week 47 for reference.

{quote:title=simon norris wrote:}Considering this thread has 990 posts from 66 pages from people with the same problem, i really can't believe Apple have kept quiet so far over this on here... very poor show and not one mention from them.....

well, they are going to be severely hit in the pocket over this, not to mention the many hundreds or thousands in the future who haven't even seen this thread and who are new imac owners, who will no doubt a large percentage that will have this problem......{quote}
Interesting. My responsive post about social networking to let your friends and family know about the problem was deleted by the moderators! Apparently Apple IS watching this thread, and you can draw your own conclusions about what they choose to delete - I'll sign off from the thread now before I get booted from the forums altogether for not swallowing the rainbow-pill.

I order an i7 on Black Friday. This thread almost made me cancel it but I decided to go ahead since some people do seem to get good machines...

Mine was originally scheduled to Ship Dec 11 but I called to make a change to the order (different keyboard) and that bumped shipping to Dec 16 with delivery on the 23rd...

Hopefully that will give me a better chance to get a good one! I am not 100% sure I made the right decision, but the later date gives me more time to change my mind.

When I called today to modify the order, I mentioned the problems described here and all over the net.. They guy on the phone said he had not heard of the problems ... which I have a hard time believing... I told him about the threads here and that it was even published in the NY Times.

It DOES sound like they have been told not to acknowledge there are problems, as it has to be common knowledge by now at Apple.

- Karen

Hi Sonics99:

Another desert dweller here. I haven't experienced the issue, but understood from an earlier post that the issue was detected on machines using different video card models?

http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=10685548#10685548

http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=10683193#10683193

Well I must have lost that in reading all million threads here Guess that was a useless order then. Hmmm, so logic board then, better get that order called in (past the deadline for today though unfortunately).

Thanks for the heads up. I'll decide on Monday if I go through with the process anyway.

I think Microsoft should make a new ad making fun of the iMac screen flickering issue and about how many users are experiencing this. And about how Apple is dead silent. That will teach the public that all this Mac stuff is Apple's propaganda. And it's not that easy to get a working iMac. I'm on my third replacement already. First one had a HD defect (bad sectors), second one the screen flickering, and so on.

My friend also ordered the 27in, and his came DOA. Wow.

And they say it's number one in customer satisfaction. Wow. Making their products bright and shiny, they fool people into buying their "hassle-free", simple-to-use iMac.

Returning the product won't help much, as they need to address the issue and SOLVE the problem. As I said before, many people are on their 3rd/4th replacement.

Yes I do believe the machine is very beautiful and the OS is also great, however don't go out and sell defective products until you have resolved the issue.

I specifically switched to a Mac b/c I am a graphic designer and I though I'd get rid of the extra hassle in Windows "viruses, errors, bugs etc" however it looks like it's my 3rd time driving to the Apple store to get a replacement.

Peace Apple, (oh and I hope my post doesn't get deleted, as this one guy said his did).

Ok so here is my story.

I had posted earlier on this thread about having the same issue (imac 27, dual core).

On the 14th day after purchase, I took my iMac back to the reseller and reported the issue. The guy at the store told me that they were familiar with the problem (I live in Brussels, Belgium) and that even though I could still ask for a replacement or my money back he suggested that I would allow them to send the imac for a repair because the problem could appear on the replacement unit as well.

Having read the thread here I accepted his proposal knowing that a replacement could still be faulty. After 2 weeks of waiting I received my repaired iMac back (I underline that it was repaired and not replaced). When I asked the guy what exactly they repaired, he told me that this was a problem with the display and they had to change it completely.

That somehow makes sense, since the problem has been manifested to machines with different graphic cards. Initially I thought it might have been a problem of a faulty connection inside the unit - connecting the card with the display or something like that.

Anyway, my iMac has now a new display. Of course, I cannot be sure 100% whether the problem has been resolved or not because I have the repaired unit for only a few hours now. I will keep reporting back on whether the flickering will come back or not. I really hope that it won't.