Greyish Smudge marks behind the glass screen.

Same problem here. And this is a 27'' replacement of a 24'' that had similar problems that kept recurring after time post LCD and glass and fan replacements. I contacted Apple over a month ago and they said they didn't have the hardware (screens) available to do any replacements and would contact me when they did. The contact person is not returning my emails at this point though which is a first. I don't like looking at me through their eyes: they seem to think if these smudgy/burny/dirty smudges are continual they must be user-envirnment catalyzed. But I don't smoke, rarely boil water never-mind cook, it's not near a window, and it's well ventilated. I'm a long term mac guy that that feels doomed relative to this creepy screen curse.

I have a 24" iMAC from mid 2006 that has been working great. The HD went out a couple months ago and I had it replaced at the apple store. After I got the machine back I noticed some faint streaks running from the right middle to the middle lower of the screen. The tech at the apple store said it was burn in, but it wasn't there before the HD swap. It seems to be on the inside of the screen, is there a clear cover panel over the actual LCD screen, or is what you can touch the LCD. For all the world it looks like a smear left by a cleaning rag. Screen shot will not show it but I did take a photo of it. Anyone know what this might be. http://idisk.mac.com/silverxrider/Public/screen.JPG

Hi i have the same problem but i am terrified of removing the screen. Was it that easy ? I bought my 24" mac on October. It has the streaks in the top left and centre.
Many thanks

Apple has agreed to change the LCD on this replacement iMac because of the "grey/smudgey/dirty/burny" looking stain on my screen as soon as the screen arrives at the company that does in home reparations in N.Y.C. Since I have a complete absence of environmental catalysts I am confused by the reemergence of this quality of stain (on differing locations) on the LCD. I've had multiple screen and computer changes when the screen replacement (and fan blower) have not rectified the problem (initially fixed) with longevity. Apple does stand behind the product with replacements but the problem sure leads me to a "redundancy" pessimism. d

I got this as well and it's SPREADING!!!

I have the same problem with a 24" unit. I thought I was going crazy as I had never seen this before so i am glad I found this thread. I just created a support case and got a call from Apple support. They passed me on to a senior support staff who proceeded to give me the company line BS. They have to inspect it before they could authorize a repair. They are not admitting that this is a known issue. Obviously unfortunately there have not been enough cases of this reported. The Apple rep kept referring to the problem as a "cosmetic" issue.

Now, none of that is an unreasonable request, except for that fact that the closest authorized repair center is 150 miles away from me. So my only choice now is to make a 300 mile trip just to have some idiot look at it and go "Yup! Looks like the LCD needs to be replaced."

As someone who has been using Apple products since 1980, and acting as a consultant for 1000's of clients over the years, not to mention having purchased or used pretty much every single Mac model ever released out there, I am pretty disappointed by this response.

BTW:
They made a big stink about the fact that I mentioned that I had removed the front glass panel to inspect the problem. So, in case you are calling about this issue DO NOT ADMITT you have removed the glass! Apparently thy believe this can void the warranty.

Message was edited by: Shahin

Yes, it was really easy. I put the sucker on the glass just under the iSight camera, gave it a gentle pull and it came away very easily. Made sure I held it at the bottom just in case the suction gave out. Simple to put back as well 'cos the screen has guide pins which makes it easy to position it correctly.
Since cleaning it a couple of months ago it's still nice and clear and I can't detect any recurrence of the problem.

I am so tempted to do this. It will be a much faster solution rather than bringing to the Apple Care store. However, i am concern whether this will void warranty.

Saded.

Hi
I was nervous before I tried it, but it proved to be very easy. You're right to be concerned that it would void your warranty - it will - but so long as you're careful it would be difficult to get it wrong. When I put the sucker on at the top and gave it a gentle pull it came away very easily. The only difficult bit was making sure you get rid of any streaks on the glass when you clean it with a lint free cloth.
If you do attempt it make sure you unplug the power first.

Could this be a condensation issue caused by room temperature?

If the room the iMac is in is cold when the iMac switches on, the iMac will heat up but the glass on the screen will still be at room temperature (think car windscreen when you put the heater on in the car and it's cold outside), condensation builds up on the inside of the windscreen, because the internal temperature is higher than the external temperature, the moisture in the hotter air condenses on the windscreen.

When it dries the windscreen is blotchy where the condensation dried.

This could be one of the environmental conditions Apple were talking about couldn't it?

I think this is a good theory. The stains I had could easily have been caused by a repeated sequence of condensation/bit of dust/dry out. As I said in an earlier post I bought the iMac second hand so I don't know the conditions it was used in for the first 10 months of its life. However I do know the conditions it's been used in since I bought it nearly three months ago and I'm pleased to say the stain hasn't returned (so far!).

Hi all, do Apple consider warranty on Greyish smudge?

Well they replaced my LCD screen yesterday on my replacement 27 that replaced my 24 with a similar issue that replaced my 20 with similar issue. At the end of the day I have had every form factor of the iMac and a Powermack with an Apple screen and never had this grey-smudge-burny-dirty looking blemish on any computer screen prior to the intel LCD aluminum iMacs so they replaced and replaced screens, fans, and other parts until they had no alternative but to replace the imacs per se. While I have Applecare I believe all of these occurrences happened before the end of the annual warranty. Now being in NYC where they eventually offer in home services and only dealing with customer service reps and Applecare senior advisors helped. At each stage I was polite, honest, detailed, patient,persistent, and had photos available for the engineering department available. d

I had the same problem. Apple repaired it twice but the smudges kept coming back. They also replaced the logic board and the power supply which is behind the top left corner. Now they just replaced the whole computer. I hope this screen stays clear. I'm not sure if this is an apple or a lemon.

I had a similar issue on my 27" C2D, but the smudge, when it would appear, was massive and went across the middle of the screen. It also had a perfect mesh of small rectangles in the middle of it, as if something on the back of the screen was causing the pattern to show through the condensation/smudge depending on how hot the machine got.