Greyish Smudge marks behind the glass screen.

Is there any chance of a video for this procedure? i am with no warranty and the lcd panel costs a fortune!!!

As stated earlier in this topic, have late 2009 iMac 27", warranty gone as the machine was purchased Dec 2009.

Update to my situation, the short version: Apple took care of the bill.

The longer version: Contacted Varimport here in Finland (Turku offices to be exact) and asked their price range for this. They called back saying I should first contact Apple and ask if they'd cover the costs. If they'd refuse, then Varimport would have to take in the computer and send in their own letter asking for Apple to cover the new display. I called Apple Finland and the guy gave me a cold sholder so I arranged for Varimport to come in and take the machine. The call to Apple was done on Monday (last week) and Varimport had the machine on Wed. They called me back this Monday to arrange for the delivery. The repair guy said he had to file the papers twice as my original receipt didn't have the serial number. But after he had written it down for Apple, everything was okay. The only concern really was that the machine is around 18 months old as that seems to be the cut off date for Apple to fix thing. But luckily it went through.

I'm currently trying to get the original store where I bought the machine (not Apple Store) to cover the 105 € that I paid for the repair service (machine delivery + the papers they filled in for Apple). Apple Finland said that by law the store is responsible for that and not them. So we'll see what happens with that.

To recap: contacted repair shop and Apple on Monday, got the machine back the following Monday, didn't pay for the new display.

Couple of other things to consider - at least with Varimport in Finland, the display would have cost me 600-700 euros plus their fee of 100 euros. So there is some air there with the prices, not sure who's adding the gap and at what point (US$600 to £500 to 6-700 €).

The repair guy also said that "Apple has learned their lesson" with the displays so this shouldn't be a problem anymore. Not sure what to make of that, perhaps that's the case or perhaps not as some people have this same problem multiple times.

Anyway, if you are in Finland, I totally recommend Varimport and their services 🙂

That is a lovely story, pleased to hear it worked out for you. It is a pitty that Czech Republic is not so willing to help in such matters.

Service centre dont care and shops here don't seem to be that helpful either.

I ismply can not be bothered anymore, given up trying to get it sorted. Going to wait until warrenty runs out and clean it myself and simply put up with it for now.

I say wait for warrenty to run out, I'm not sure why I even both to do that really, after all what is this warrenty thing all about if they will not admit a design fault and agree to clean my screen.

Oh well there are worse things in life I guess.

I'm increasingly angry about this situation - so many of us are experiencing similar issues and getting brushed off by Apple. I think it's clear that this is a design flaw of the LCD - some within Apple recognise it but most seem not to acknowledge it.

I wrote an email to apple and never got a reply on this complaint.

At least we have the power to share and spread our collected findings about the display problem...

The smokey stains on my 27" late 2009 iMac display are bearable, only annoying on flat colour backgrounds, but I'm sure it will get worse in time in my dust free, smoke free (very clean apartment). Such a shame for an otherwise brilliant product.

An apple retail store has recently opened in my town (Reading, UK) - I may at some stage take it in to be seen by a "Genius". If they try and dismiss it on environmental factors I'll be sure to kick up a real stink - that's for sure.

I just received word that my 21" iMac is repaired by Apple free of charge (free, except a 85 EURO research bill)!

I live in the Netherlands and we have consumer rights (might be the same in other European countries).

These rights specify that a retailer must repair a purchased product after 1 year, free of charge, if you can prove the defect is not caused by normal usage within a period "one can assume the product should function properly".

You can assume a iMac display, under normal usage, should at least operate correctly for 3 years.

If you live in the Netherlands, have a similiar issue and bought the iMac at the online Apple store, ask for a 'European Claim form' at your local (official) Apple reseller.

It takes some effort..

Now this issue is fixed, my 27" iMac is showing the same issue though. It's far less visible (only on flat colors like Naimryu), but now I'm also afraid the problem will get worse.. I bought this one at a local reseller so I gotta see them to discuss the issue...

I really think the 2009 iMacs have some sort of issue with the glue between the glass and display unit.

...And if you live in the Czech Republic it will cost you 450 Euro if I want your smudged screen resolved.

I am from Moscow, Russia and got my iMac 21 in March 2011. Same problem with display smokey stains in the left upper corner. Went to a local service center. They said this is a common problem with iMacs and promised to replace the matrix free of charge. Now waiting for a new matrix to arrive.

Hi,

Nice to meet another 'friend in need' from Moscow who seems to be a bit lucky than me.I got this strange"dust problem" on my iMac 27", i5 (purchased late 2009). I brought iMac to the authorized Apple Service Center here in Moscow for expertise and got the official statement saying that LCD should be replaced at my expense. They refused to recognize this as a factory defect. In my case I have to wait about 5 months for LCD replacement at my expense about $1500-1600. Not that I am very surprised, but what is the trick?

No tricks so far. I just went there with my iMac and showed it to them (Kholodilny pereulok 3/1, close to Danilovsky monastery - Tulskaya tube station). They said it takes about a month to deliver a new matrix to Moscow. It was about a week ago, so I am still waiting.

Hi All.

Just an update on my situation (see my last post dated Jul 3, 2011 8:03 AM).

I decided that posting a letter to the head office was a non-starter, so I sent one to the Manager of the Apple Store in Liverpool where I bought my iMac. I held out little hope of getting a response (perhaps some British apathy creeping in?). Anyway, I received a phone call from the Store Manager the very next day asking me all about it and he told me that I should bring the machine back to them for an out-of-warranty repair, but free-of-charge. I've just got it back today after replacement of the LCD/backlight unit and it's fine.

I would urge anybody suffering from these issues to do the same. My only worry now is that it may happen again in the future, but I'll just have to hope for the best. When the time comes to get a new computer, I'll not be buying an all-in-one like the iMac (a brilliant machine in every other respect) unless it's unequivocally proven to me that this problem has been designed-out.

Best of luck folks.

Nozzer.

Hi Nozzer and all

I first posted on this back in May 2010 (page 4 I think!) and still haven't done anything about it, because its a load of hassle, and i have apple care, but obviously time is now running out on that so I need to get it sorted.

I live in Anglesey, North Wales so my options are to get apple to collect or to give the Liverpool genius branch a call and drop it in myself (100 miles)

Nozzer, you seem to have got a result at Liverpool, so would you say they are decent people to deal with?

My only experience of genius bar was phoning the Manchester branch and being fobbed off with the environmental nonsense, but that was before Liverpool opened i think.

don't suppose you can post the manager's name on here?

I'm loathed to drag the lump over there, especially if they're going to debunk the problem.

How long did they take to sort it out?

Anyway, thanks for sharing your experiences so far

Huw

Huw (and all).

I actually hate going to the Apple Shop for anything other than browsing the goodies. If I have to go there for a reason like the one I've been posting about, it's a nightmare. Even if you've got an appointment it's very difficult to get the staff to spend more than 5 minutes with you. It feels so chaotic and disorganised it's unbelievable. I'm sure it's not the staff's fault by the way, they're just really busy.

Anyway, other than send my Mac through the post I had to take it there myself for the repair. The manager (I won't name him here) was a great bloke and made sure I was seen to as a priority (even though I was out of warranty). Getting my machine back the next day was a different matter, but I won't go into that here.

If you've got AppleCare I would use it to its full extent and get your machine fixed post-haste. Don't know the ins-and-outs of AppleCare, but does it provide any means of getting your machine to and from the repair? Surely they wouldn't expect you to make a trip like that twice? I live in Wirral so it wasn't that far for me.

Good luck.

Noz.

I am having the same problems, that's why I signed up in here, with the hope that I may learn something about this ONGOING problem. I bought a 20 inch iMac at least a year or more ago and ended up with grey streak marks from the top centre of the screen, after paying over $200.00 for apple care I had a few onsite repairs before being offered with a replacement. I was given a 21.5 inch iMac but it came to me with a grey mark on the top left corner and so I was issued with another replacement of the same model, it too developed greyish marks at both sides of the screen. I was told that despite my extended warranty that apple were no longer going to help me and that it was my environment and I have moved three times. I am now in the process of having my iMac fixed once more, if APPLES issue can't be solved then I want a refund and if that doesn't happen then I will just have to go back to The Department Of Fair Trading and pick up from where I left off. I heard from one of the on site repairers that one of the apple care staff said and I quote 'She is just trying to be difficult'. I can assure you the only difficulty is trying to get apple to see this for what it is 'a designer flaw' and to FINALLY do something about it.

Thanks Nozzer

Apple care would cover the cost of a door to door courier, but I don't think they'd cover my expenses for taking it into a shop myself, though i might ask just in case.

Its worrying that people are having the same issue with their replacement machines.

Is there any evidence that apple has sorted this problem out on the latest imacs?

What's the 'newest' imac that has this problem?

Some of the stories of apple's poor attitude to this problem also very worrying and, depending on local consumer protection laws, probably illegal. In the UK, the item has to be fit for the purpose for a period of time, appropriate to the sum of money paid for the item, so its reasonable to expect a £1500 imac to get through 3-4 years without a problem.

Apple's excuses are poor and below the standard expected for what is supposed to be a prestige, quality product.

Any buyer who doesn't get satisfaction on this should take legal advice and squeeze Apple until their pips squeak!

keep posting all

Huw

I've got a 24" iMac (Early 2008, supplied January 2009) and was advised to buy AppleCare to go with it, citing onsite repairs.. To be honest, I'd have bought the AppleCare anyway, but Onsite repair was one of the features that made it a no-brainer for me, being part of my work and all.

I've got screen burn in as well now.. had it for a while, but I've lived with it as I've been working from my Macbook Pro mainly, and have been using the iMac for a mailserver, with just periodic stints for my photography work... now however, I'd like to get back to using the iMac, as I've added a 2nd display... but obviously I can't have shadows all over my photos when I'm working on them as they look awful under the shadows.

So I called AppleCare.. only to be told that the repair company would contact me to arrange collection. I asked them about onsite repair and they said they don't do it. The website still says they do, and I was told they do when I bought the machine and the AppleCare package! Not happy about that. I've also bought ProCare in the last 12 months so will reluctantly take the machine in to a store tomorrow to have it assessed and then bring it back and wait for them to order any spare parts... 😟 I feel cheated though.