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

Hi all... After day one with my 27" C2D stock it hasn't faltered yet. I had it on all day yesterday running iTunes visualiser, last night I used it for about 8 hours installing XP and apps etc... During the XP install it did have a very slight fast flicker but that was during driver installation - I've seen it do much worse during installation on a PC!

Tried the dimming things last night and didn't make any difference during normal usage. Although while adjusting the backlight it's not a smooth transition from full brightness to dim, it kinda goes in stages which could look like extremely fast flickering to some, but doesn't seem out of place to me.

I have just purchased a 27" and I get EXACTLY the same problem. It only happens for a few seconds but it is irritating.

After a long time without a working mac, it looks like its going to be even longer. The insurance lady is very nice, she told me they said 15th Jan at earliest for my DOA. On apples web site they say 7-10 business days? apple is stuffing her around as much as they are me.

Glenn Farrell wrote:
Received my 27" iMac 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7 (Serial W8948...) yesterday, ordered Online Apple Store 27-Nov-2009, shipped Shanghai 01-Dec-2009, arrived 07-Dec-2009. About 10 to 15 minutes after startup the screen began to flicker during Software Update and progressed to 1-2 second screen blackouts.

This mirrors my situation almost exactly. Same model 27" iMac 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7, same serial/batch W8948... and same ship/arrival dates (also from China to Australia).

On day 1 I had no problems whatsoever, used it all day & night, then put it to sleep.

On day 2 I woke it from sleep and the screen started flickering with the 1-2 second blackouts. After 30 minutes or so I rebooted and the screen has been flicker free since then.

I wonder if the flickering is due to the machine being cold and may go away when it warms up? I had a Sony Bravia LCD HDTV that had exactly this type of problem. Required a replacement LCD panel.

Anyway I'm going to give the iMac a few more days before calling Apple for a replacement. Gives a better chance for catching the next build batch.

My week 45 i5 27" that I got from the Apple store Dec 4 has the same symptoms. For those of you that returned the computer for a full refund, did Apple charge you a restocking fee (did they also refund the AppleCare charge)? I am not sure if I want to refund/replace. If you did the replace option, does it reset the 14 day return period? Thanks.

steve987654 wrote:
My week 45 i5 27" that I got from the Apple store Dec 4 has the same symptoms. For those of you that returned the computer for a full refund, did Apple charge you a restocking fee (did they also refund the AppleCare charge)? I am not sure if I want to refund/replace. If you did the replace option, does it reset the 14 day return period? Thanks.

No, I wasn't charged a restocking fee. Haven't got AppleCare yet so can't say there.

I was within my 14 days and I was not charged a restocking fee. Every cent was returned. I did not purchase the extended AppleCare, but I suspect this would be refunded as well. They were very quick about the whole transaction, making me think they were well aware of this unfortunate production defect.

Count me among those waiting for a real fix rather than bother with flawed replacement after flawed replacement.

I almost purchased another i5 today in hopes that these issues have been resolved, but seeing that the week 48's still have issues I'm rather frustrated. I really need a new computer at home for work and have been waiting since October for these new machines to arrive. I keep thinking about purchasing a refurbished 24" but the quad is leagues better and after having one at home for a couple weeks I don't think I could settle for less, I've considered a Mac Pro but I just can't justify the price at the moment, plus a refresh of the Mac Pro line is seemingly on the horizon. After going through 3 i5's already I have definitely lost confidence. Come on Apple, give us something and fix these issues. If this was something as simple as software I would think it would have been addressed by now, and the fact that Apple is taking back machines no questions asked and without even turning on some leads me to believe their are bigger issues here. Even if this problem is only affecting %10-%15 of all machines this is still a huge defect. Especially since you would think they would have experienced this in the factory during the first round of quality control. The worst part is what if you have a machine for 6 months before it starts flickering, I guess that's the gamble we are going to have to take now. Just to add I also find it strange that it seems many of the resellers haven't received their orders yet. Futureshop(similar to Best Buy) here in Canada have i5/i7's in the online store and I've checked almost daily and the stock is still zero, yet the release was supposed to be Nov.30. Just to ask anyone pick up a week 49 problem free yet?

Message was edited by: Thrice06

Hello again Thrice06,

After sitting here for weeks now reading all of these negative reports from dedicated Mac users and new Mac users alike, I can certainly understand your frustration. Even the most dedicated Mac user can't help but feel disappointed and discouraged by these developments, particularly Apple's silence regarding these issues.

As many of us here have now said, we all deserve better treatment from Apple than this. In my view, as a Macintosh user of twenty years, Apple's continued silence remains inexcusable. How many of us now have asked for a hint of what is going on behind the scenes, and a hint that solutions are being found, and yet, we get nothing but dead silence from Apple.

Actually, considering that some of the latest releases, as of week 48, are STILL defective, one is inclined to believe that Apple has STILL not resolved the problems, whatever they happen to be. As has been stated by a number of folks here, this suggests that the problems are considerably larger, and can't be resolved simply by rebooting the machine, or zapping the PRAM, or doing this, that or the other. That Apple Store employees and technicians continue to tell users to do these things is ludicrous, and that some of them continue to insist that they haven't heard of these problems, is shameful and downright dishonest.

Well, I am now on day #26 of waiting for my new i7 iMac to arrive, and from everything I have been reading over the past several weeks regarding how AAR's are being treated, I suspect that I may not see my new machine until sometime in February. That means that I have to continue to worry about how my machine will arrive, and if it will be plagued by any of the various problems that have been discussed in these forums.

I am really hoping that my having to wait so long to receive my new iMac may serve as a safety cushion, by allowing Apple sufficient time to work out whatever is ailing these machines.

As I told someone else recently, this will certainly be the last time that I choose to be an early adopter.

Hey Warren, look at the bright side -- by the time you get your iMac, you probably won't be an early adopter! :P Also, the silver lining to the "waiting" cloud is that it's more likely than not that the bugs will have been worked out of the hardware by the time you get your machine.

Schwa72 wrote:
Hey Warren, look at the bright side -- by the time you get your iMac, you probably won't be an early adopter! :P Also, the silver lining to the "waiting" cloud is that it's more likely than not that the bugs will have been worked out of the hardware by the time you get your machine.

That may possibly be true -- and I am certainly hoping that such turns out to be case -- yet at the same time, the longer that I have to wait, the closer we get to Apple possibly releasing yet another model; either a Rev A of the current units, or maybe something entirely new.

So while I will most certainly be happy if I receive a totally problem-free i7 iMac, I may also be kicking myself in the pants for not having waited a little longer to get something even better.

In this technology game, you can never really win. You may be on the bleeding edge for a few months, but it never lasts...unless you are filthy rich and can afford to buy a new Mac every six months! That's certainly not me! I saved up for years to get this new machine, and I've never had anything like it, not even close. I hope my system can handle the shock of owning such a snazzy machine! :P

I once received a Dual PPC G5 dead out of the box. I was an early adopter and had also to wait for a replacement machine. Since then, the machine works without a problem ...

I would also like to upgrade to a i7 iMac but from the learning with the G5, I decided to wait until at least until February next year. And, I will go for the AppleCare plan, just to play it safe.

On Apple's communication: this is a tricky thing. If you admit having a problem, the news will hit big and make a huge deal out of it. If you don't, you frustrate your clients. They probably decided for the latter hoping that replacing the iMacs silently will keep it low profile. And, we do not know what percentage of those new iMacs are affected. I would probably not report in this forum if my new iMac had no issue.

I agree with those posters here who have decided not to purchase a 27-in. iMac for a month or two until these early production problems have been ironed out. The thought also crosses my mind that once Apple understands and fixes this problem (and once the Christmas shopping season is over) all those returned units you guys are discussing are going to resurface as refurb units, when they begin to appear in the Apple Store I can pick up one of those and save some bucks.

"So while I will most certainly be happy if I receive a totally problem-free i7 iMac, I may also be kicking myself in the pants for not having waited a little longer to get something even better."

But then you'd be an early adopter again, with the same type of problems.
The trick seems to be to pull the trigger mid-cycle.

I'm writing this on a 27" Core i7, having all three of the described problems. This is the second unit, the first one had a dead pixel. Ordered a couple days after introduction from the Apple Online Store, first delivered mid-November, this second unit on the last day of November. This one is manufactured on week 48.

Contrary to what others have experienced, the AppleCare agent I spoke with just a moment ago didn't try to get me to reset PRAM or any of that crap. That leads me to think that they've been briefed on the problems (or he's been reading the forums himself), though he didn't admit that there are many cases. He did, however, say he expects more to come, as with all new releases.

Well, for me this means another evening tinkering with the VESA adapter (got this thing wall mounted), memory modules and the migration assistant. Way cool. Not.

Interesting to see how long it takes to ship the next one.