Greyish Smudge marks behind the glass screen.

I noticed too grey smudge marks yesterday on my monitor (2011 iMac 27"). Initially, I thought that these are just fingerprints but shortly found out what the problem really was (thanks to this forum). My system is just 4-months old and I'm really disappointed with this. Most disturbing is Apple's attitude towards customers and attributing this issue to some "environmental problem". Fortunately, my iMac is still on the warranty but since this appears to be a recurring issue (due to design defect) - I'm affraid that I will have the same problem in the future after my warranty runs out. I'm wondering if anyone on this forum that experienced smudge marks issue tried to ask for a full refund? I find it inexcusable to tell customers that this can be fixed only once. We all pay huge premium for Apple's hardware and expect the best quality.

I just noticed the same thing on my 2010 27" iMac. At this point, the smudge mark's are not very noticeable, but my warranty ends next week and I'm affraid they'll get worse with time. I guess my only option is to spend even more money and purchase the AppleCare extended warranty.

I think you should all try cleaning your screen well first. I just cleaned my screen for the first time today and it is a bit of a hassle but once you figure it out, the screen becomes spotless.

It seems that because of the high reflective quality of the screen smudges that aren't visible from all angles appear to be below the glass - but are not.

Go and get an authorized Mac screen cleaning kit or follow the insructions ont the Mac site on how to clean apple products and you should be fine.

when you clean your screen in general follwo the instructions on the mac site and make sure when you are wiping your screen it is turned of and there isn't but a drop of cleaning solution on your wipes. Temperature differences may cause these problems as well.

if the problem is serious, the solution is simple, call Apple. If it is not then follow my instructions - Im tellig you the screen can be hard to clean sometimes....

hope everything goes well

bill33, I understand you are trying to help, but it really isn't as simple as that. You should read all the posts here, this is a major flaw in the iMac which cannot be solved by simply cleaning the screen.

Get down your apple store with printouts of this entire thread and get it fixed for free. Or at least try! If you're in the UK, get trading standards involved. Items are meant to last for a "reasonable amount of time" 18 months is NOT a reasonable amount of time!

no worries mate. I got mine done for free (albeit only a week out of warranty) at the apple store in Liverpool. There's someone in South Africa who printed out the thread and got hers done OoW as well. It really seems that Apple are expecting folks to buy Applecare and are not prepared for the anger from people whose stuff breaks down whilst still very much in what is its reasonably expected useful life. Maybe stuff is being downgraded - i.e. they're sourcing cheaper kit, because they expect you to buy Applecare. But, if you haven't, then you're stuffed.

But that's just not right, and in the UK at least, we do have legs to stand on thanks to Trading Standards. Go get 'em!

There is no way this is "enviromental" or the aluminum design acts like an oven. No problems for the alu Macbook lineup as far as i know. I have a 27i iMAC (late 2009) model. It is a few months out of warranty, and the smudges are spreading in the same pattern as most of the guys here, starting at the top right and left and spreading downwards.

This is clearly a design problem, probably the LCD panel is not sealed correctly from dust and the fans located at the top of the MAC are circulating dust around.

I am in Greece, and there is no Apple store here, only authorised resellers. Any people dealed with that problem in Greece? Did they charge for a display change and how much was it?

It is a frustrating and dissapointing issue, espacially if you've paid 2000euros for a computer and after just a few months you get a crappy display.

Apple you losing customers and credibility by the minute! You address a problem for the 1TB Seagate HD for some iMACs but you play deaf for this huge issue (25 pages and counting). Eventually you will lose more customers and future sales than the money needed to replace the lcd panels with proper ones.

Same here - 27" iMac late 2010. White marks at the top right corner. I have just been at the apple store at brent cross in london today and the store manager said that he has never heard of any problem like this before. They change the lcd the second time now. The warranty ends next month. Shall i pay another couple of hundred quids for apple care? NOOOOOOO. They were useless in the shop, pretending they cant do anything. I am really disappointed in apple.

Yes as it is still under warranty and there was no misuse! That is the minimum expectation after i paid 2 grand for an imac, that is 11 months old! I find it ridiculous. The store manager clearly has the authority to offer extended services.

I have a27" iMac late 2010, it´s almost two years old and last month I saw theWhite marks at the top right corner…

Idon´t smoke, I don´t have pets, mycomputer it´s not next to a barbecue, etc.

Here inSpain it´s under warranty (two years by law), so I took it to an appleauthorized service provider in Madrid.

When I left the imac there, they told me that they they were aware of the problem (White marks at the top right corner) but didn´t know if they were going to charge me for the new lcd. After 3 weeks with no news from the store, last Friday they told me that they changed the LCD at no cost and that I could pick it up. I asked at the shop if I could do anything to avoid the marks in the screen and they said that they didn´t know, I asked if I would have the same problem again and they said that probably I would but I have a 3 month warranty on the replacement part (Seriously?).

I hope I don´t have this problem again...

Hey guys! Yeah, I'm having the same issues as you with my iMac 24". The thing is: my iMac 24" has 2 greyish stains ( left side and above) and the stains are light only visible on white background. My iMac is still under warranty but my headache consists in: if I make a call to AppleCare services and have my screen changed will it solve the problem? Of course I'm aware anyone can't guarantee me that that the new screen won't have any stains anymore but I've came here to ask people who changed their screens like hummm... 6 months ago... Did the stains get back? As I wrote above, my stains are light but it is obvious that it disturbs me since purchasing an iMac is a very high investment and that's no excuse for that but if the stains problem is still real and kicking in why do I have to call AppleCare? Can you see the dilemma here? If the problem persists I can get a bigger, stronger and greyish stain right in the middle of my screen after the screen warranty ends. A friend of mine says the new screen are not having stains issues like before but my iMac is 24" late 2008 and not those news ones 27".

I don't know what to do even having an AppleCare at my side!

Thanks in advance! xoxo

I'm a couple of months into my post-repair life and no sign of the problem yet. My replacement LCD was one of the ones with the mystery bezel. This may or may not be the crucial factor. Since Apple STILL haven't admitted a fault with these machines there's no way of telling whether this is a permanent fix or not. If I were you I would go for the repair regardless. If it comes back at least you had a few weeks stain-free!

Just an update for you all. My replacement LCD did not fair well. The screen gradually got more and more cloudy with time until I couldn't stand it anymore. I'm under the paid for Apple Care warranty and am at a far enough distance to request on site service. The first time I made this request there wasn't any problem. They came to my home.

The second time around they said they couldn't find who did the work before and I said I would get back to them once I found the information myself. I had a hard time finding the contact. I got busy and time went on. About a month later I stumbled upon the contact and called the service technician who originally replaced the LCD. He said I needed to contact Apple. I called the actual person at Apple (he left me his number) whom I had the conversation with regarding the replacement LCD. He then changed his tune regarding having someone come on site. He said he wanted it taken to a shop where there was a "controlled environment". I grudingly agreed and took it to a shop that was a long drive away. The technician looked at me like I had two heads when I mentioned the so called "controlled environment" (no such thing). I was without my iMac for a week (ouch!).

I picked it up and took it home. The first thing I noticed was a shoddy job of putting the glass back on. There were dust particles on the inside. Oh, I know there are some of you that think it's easy to take care of that yourself. Well forget it. This display should be perfect! After what I had been used too before this display seemed like a dream except for thoses dust particles. Then I soon realized it was a bit dirty looking a yellowish. There is also so a blur blotch of some sort you can see on a black background. So once again I called and demanded on site service questioning whether they will ever get it right. They said they'll replace the graphics card as well. I said I doubt that's the problem and I'll probably see the problem return because something else is messing up the LCD like too much heat!

I love the large screen but if it can't be right then I don't want an iMac. I'd rather have a laptop with a smaller screen if the screen is perfect. Or perhaps the Thunderbolt display hooked up to a Mac mini. As long as I get what I paid for. I didn't get what I paid for by any means.

Yes, no more issues so far 'fingers crossed' but it may come back, this is my third replacement computer and I've lost count regarding the ammount of replacement screens, the grey marks haven't returned........ yet but my Apple Care 'as they call it runs out this year.