Greyish Smudge marks behind the glass screen.

I agree, Churchil

What we are missing is an acknowledgement from Apple that this problem even exists. No such thing has been forthcoming for 3 years. New machines continue to be sold with the same problem.

That's why other sites exist, Steve. We are entitled to talk freely and share our views - heavens, that's what all this marketing of iPhones and iPads, etc., is about, is it not? Y'know, "privacy is dead" and all that.

I agree we should continue to post here, though when pages of comments are cut - 'branched to a new discussion' which we are 'not authorised' to visit... perhaps privacy is only dead for the consumer?

Apple might well be the first company ever to hit $1 trillion.

More expense or dismantling are not reasonable suggestions to consumers of high-priced machines.

We have not even had an 'expert' here, or some bright spark with 5 stars after their name - apart from telling us to call Apple Care or see a 'genius'. But we have seen from the comments here that this is often a trying and sometimes fruitless pursuit.

That's what half the complaints are about.

I certainly hope that our loyalty to Apple will be justified....

Been a PC user all my life and I finally decided to go Imac with my next computer. I have been procrastinating for a few months now but after reading several posts here on different subjects and now this problem has me thinking that I should wait, hang on to my old PC a little longer until this problem is acknowledged and corrected by Apple.

Well .. to be fair, I have this issue but the computer itself is fine and quick, no slowdown whatsoever. But, yes ... the persistence smudge on LCD just changes the way I work or enjoy the computer. I dont appreciate it as much anymore knowing it's there ... and the worst part it's most likely coming back even after Apple replaced the whole display.

If you really want to go Mac desktop. What do you need exactly? Unfortunately Apple provides nothing in beween. It's either extremely casual and light computing with Mac Mini, or heavy contender and workstation with MacPro. But MacPro aint wise choice these days. This thing has not been updated for almost 2 years while keeping the same price. $2500 CPU tower with no display, outdated GPU, "just okay" quad core Xeon? Radeon 5xxx GPU? only 3GB of server grade RAM?!! Still yuucckk ... 😐 Real bad attitude from Apple if you ask me.

So, yes, current MacPro IS NOT FINE! It may still have some edges, but not with the same price just as 2 years ago! MacPro loyalists would deny the inevitable fact that MacPro most likely dead, simply by saying the new Intel Xeon CPU has not been released yet, thus no new MacPro line. But time will tell.

As much as I love it, I must imply that there will be no next gen MacPro .. like it or not! Mark my words here and I will apologize if proven otherwise.

Just an example and proof of the past: Macbook White unibody sold like hotcakes at $999 albeit it always has the lowest spec of all, but it's a darn good Mac and solve most daily computing, it satisfies most college and school students just fine, yet Apple disbanded them! The same fate will happen to MacPro in favor to the iMac, which in case still have some flaws and issues, smudged display in particular.

Too bad, iMac is the ONLY most decent and worthy choice for a power user & CONSUMER Macintosh computer with reasonable price. That's what I thought at least, and I gave it a go. I was aware that there were several problems with the iMac, some say it's the GPU, but many said the display problems will give you headache.

And so it is .. I ignored those posts and gave it a chance anway. Yet, here I am filled with a bit of regret. Why didnt I listen? If I were to go back, I would go MacPro if I can find it on a good price. If not, hmm .. going Hackintosh would be the wise thing to do. MacMini just wont cut it for my needs, and I'm not willing to spend that much for outdated 2010 MacPro. Not much of a choice, wouldnt you say?

I've got to say I've been both happen and disappointed with my late 09 iMac. I started seeing the smudges very soon after getting my machine but didn't really do anything about it. As a professional artist I use my machine at 2 bars of brightness as calibrated to match my Epson 3800 prints exactly. At 2-3 bars of brightness my screen flickers, again, I dealt with it for some time. I just recently upgraded the ram to 16GB 1333 DDR3 and upgraded to Lion. After the Lion upgrade the Superdrive doesn't work and I have sound issues with Logic and Kontakt 4.2 and 5.0.1, same in garageband. The machine is much quicker with the bump in ram capacity and speed but Lion is unacceptable. I have an appointment tomorrow to address all these issues but I fear I'm going to get the "environmental" excuse. When I changed my RAM chips the bay they were in was loaded with dust, I mean packed. And I fear the whole inside of the machine is packed full of dust.

My next machine will most definately be a custom built Mac with Snow Leopard.

I was going to upgrade to a refurb mini, but my parents decided to help get me a refurb quad-core i7 15" Macbook Pro for Christmas instead. And I recently inhereited a 30" Cinema display from an old client. It's actually much faster than my late 2009 quad-core i5 27" iMac. However, a mini would have worked just fine for me as well. And I use my Macs for entertainment, video editing, and CS5 work.

But really a mini or a Macbook Pro and external monitor are probably the better options. Although, if you require extra power, you can always get a refurb Mac Pro.

This doesn't dismiss the fact that Apple still needs to address this iMac issue. Luckily, I can just hold onto mine and wait for a response. But a lot of people on here don't have the funds to upgrade right now, so they're stuck with these defective iMacs. Clearly, from the more recent responses, Apple and their employees are feeling a little skittish about this issue. These iMac models must be recalled now. The longer Apple doesn't address this, the more costly it will be in the long-term.

Also just google @omek on twitter. The link to one is in the first tweet.

Additionally, contact the news media and tech blogs. And share on your social networks.

No doubt some of the new 2011 MBP could be faster than 2009 or some 2010 iMac. But again, they're not from the same generation, are they 🙂

I believe so far, iMac give you the best performance for your money as far as a Mac system can go. Maybe a few pages back I already posted a few comparison.

1. Basic Mac Mini ($650) + 27" Thunderbolt Display ($1000) would cost you at least $1650 total, you get i5 mobile CPU, intel HD3000 which barely able to do anything intensive, 2GB RAM and measly 500GB RPM HDD.

---> Or you can buy a base 27" iMac which already has 2.7GHz i5 desktop CPU, 4GB RAM, Radeon 6770M (which is not that bad), 1TB 7200 RPM and you still get the same 27" WQHD display. It all comes with roughly the same price.

2. Basic MBP ($1200) or MBA ($950)+ 27" Thunderbolt Display ($1000) even gives you worse value of all. Cost at least $2000 and you get pretty much the same performance as basic MacMini. The only advantage would be you get a standalone notebook which can be portable whenever you need it.

---> Or, again .. with the same money you can get hi-end standard 27" iMac which gives you 3.1GHz i5, and even better GPU (Radeon 6970M), it can respectably compete with basic MacPro ... iMac gives you much better run for the money, the only downside is that you have to buy another Macbook to get a portability.

My point is, iMac offers the best value in terms of performance, but the smudge display as we know it ruins everything about it. I dont really know what to do now 😟 Apple would surely replace the whole LCD panel, but if it keeps coming back, I really cant imagine how I must deal with it in the next 2 3 years with AppleCare. Bring it in to replace the whole panel, just to keep coming back again in the next 3 4 months, stop .. and repeat again. It doesn't just STOP.

Dammit  for bringing me into this situation.

Hi All,

Just a little update from Denmark. I have a 27inch late 2010 Imac that developed the mentioned "greyish dark spots" - both corners, mostly in the right upper corner.

As I purchased the AppleCare protection plan along with the computer I contacted Apple and they mentioned quite clearly that the "problem is well known and must be fixed".

Tommorow - the day after I contacted Apple care - they are picking up my computer and sending it for repairs -alternatively a replacement.

This is ****** good service in my book.

I agree that this problems should not occur and especially on a high end premium product such as Apple brands themselves.

I will offcourse be keeping a very close eye on the "new" display in the future and will not hesistate to contact Apple immidiatly if is sould happen again.

Now I am just curious as to how long I need to wait for the repairs....

will keep you all posted on the situation

Just a quick update. Set up a genius bar appointment for this screen issue. They took the machine in the back and removed the glass and cleaned the LCD panel. They use a special cleaning roller. This did not work. They asked if I was a smoker, I am. They are replacing the screen completely with Apple Care. My machine is used in a heavily ventilated room but due to the heave graphics work I do I have to run my fans at max to keep the temp under 110°F. So just a heads up, even if you are a smoker and the machine is full of dust, I mean packed like wall insulation, they will still replace the screen. I saw the replacement cost for the LCD panel on the work order, it's over $560 so having Apple Carr is huge. So just make an appointment and they should replace it regardless of "environmental" conditions. Thankfully the store I went to had a replacement LCD in stock and I will have my machine back tomorrow. So happy about it getting resolved seamlessly.

@Noblin

Applecare, OK ! That's completly normal they changed your screen, even if you are a smoker.

But what will happen at the end of applecare? 3 years after having bought a computer ( 2000$) you will have to pay again 600$ to have a clean screen.

Do you think it's normal? I don't!

that's why i create .... (my name ! )

After 4 years the computer will be replaced. It'll be completely outdated. Dirty screen or not it would make for a fine whatever machine.

Dont know how things work in US - but in europe we have a 2 year warranty - that will cover the new and/or replaced display.

It's hazzle but if the "spots" returns I will bring it back to Apple for another replacement.

The last days i've started to notice the smudge on my screen too on my 27" iMac, from 2010. My warranty just ended, since i've had it for 13 months. I work with graphic design and this is just unacceptable.

I live in Sweden, and Apple told me to take it to an Repair Center. Not sure what the result will be yet but i'll get back when i know more regarding this.

Just opened my door for DHL in order ro receive my iMac27 after being repaired for the fourth(!) screen replacement. Last time it took a litlle more than two months to see the gray spots to return. I guess that according to Apple my "environment" will cause the next incident in the same time, but you never know....... I have Apple care but they (dutch Apple Care) stated that this last time was a sign of their good intentions, and that in fact my third replacement was allready beyond Apple's obligations ( since the problem was caused by "my environment") and not by a design, engineering or other flaw. Ik somebosy from Apple is reading this I would appreciate a written confirmation of these findings. The lady in the Netherlands explained me that this was not a task for Apple Care. They were just there to inform me that after an investigation (?) itcwas clear that "my environment" etc. Etc...........sigh.....

Even a definition of what the 'environmental' problems are would be useful.

A list of disallowed items or conditions.

A disclaimer.

Is the iMac a home computer or not?

Most of the reasons for the environmental issues are all those that can be found in the average home as far as we can tell.

Are there some homes that are not suitable? Which sort of homes? We need to know.

Or, if we're going to accept the 'environment' argument without clarification, is the iMac only really suitable for clinically pristine, sterile environments and we should not buy one otherwise - just in case?

Dear Churchil,

I also come across this on my 27 inch iMac (late 2009). Too many people are having this problem and not all of them are heavy smokers. Apple ignores the statistics. We all love Macs, it's a real human machine. But this "environmental" excuse is like a sign on a pack of cigarette " Dust, smoking, cooking and alcohol seriously harms your Mac". May be it's true, why not? But it should be written on every Mac in LARGE LETTERS. This is obviously a design flaw or technical error or a factory defect etc regardless of any "environmental" excuse. Apple should make a formal statement on this issue. The laws of Nature are not going to be suspended for the Apple. Let me remind them Steve Job's speech and where were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." May be they have become too fat and smart?