Greyish Smudge marks behind the glass screen.

Groundhog day. I remember back in the 90-s Apple had similar problems with hardware and same attitude to customers. "We understand your problem but there is nothing we can do." I have 3 iMacs at home and all of them with different defree got this "cataract". Got to this ïnteresting" two year old thread and didn't find a single response from Apple. It's interesting that with cars POTENTIAL problem with useless nut leads to mass recall of vehicles. Isn't this time to protect us - loyal mac users - from abuse. Owner of numerous mac products and I'm not going with my iMac to the macstore.

Read Jobs bio and real story about his dislike to fans. May be this spots, clouds on my screen are heat related but the biggest one is on the bottom right corner which feels like the coolest part.

The smudges are heat related but that being said not exactly heat related.

The fans blow air through the motherboard and hard drives and power supply etc.

The Screen is sealed (mostly) There is no direct airflow or currents though the screen it's self. This screen is the same as any other screen basically. The way that the smoke particles/ultra fine dust particles get inside the screen is due to the air flow caused by heating and cooling.

When the screen heats up the air pressure blows air out of the sealed screen. It's not 100% sealed it's just taped along the edges. When the screen cools off again the air contracts and is sucked back inside the screen. When it is sucked back inside it flows in all the little cracks and the staticly charged dust particles/smoke haze is sucked in with it. But since the screen is Mostly sealed the inflow is only in small certain areas rather than all around the screen. This concentrates the smoke/dust particulate matter in small areas causing noticable smudges. I have found that if you take the screen out of the iMac and take the tape off the smudges are not noticable because the air is sucked in every where rather than concentrated in a few small areas.

If you've ever taken apart any normal flat screen or for that matter any monitor you know that this dark static particulate matter is all over the inside of the case that contains the screen but does not actually get sucked into the screen. It seems to get caught inside the enclosure before becoming sucked into the screen it's self.

With an iMac, becuase the mother board etc is inside the screen enclousure and the fans are in there as well the heating and cooling of the screen seems to suck the dust inside the second layer as well. Is it a design flaw? yes. The screen NEEDS to be seperate from the rest of the components. There needs to be a divider between the display and the rest of the machine.

Apple would have been fine if they had taped a laptop to the back of a 27 inch monitor and then wrapped the entire assembly in a pretty skin. But no... they had to put it all in the same area.... mistake.

Could be easily fixed but that would require admitting a problem.

It's too bad that Jobs is gone... I'm sure if he had been more intune in the final years of his life this would never have been allowed... But the liability suits and lawyers have gotten involved and Apple will never be the same again. It will go the way of other cool manufacturers like Micron....and be no more...

I'm going back to my home built PC making it a hackintosh.... Even a home hack can do better now...

Well just happened to me too. I bought a brand new 27" iMac at the end of December and in less than 2 months I had already got the spots. I called tech support and they tried to convince me to buy AppleCare so somebody could come to

My house and replace the screen. I told them that wasnt happening as this is a brand new unit and it shouldn't need parts replaced already. I live in a nice house and never smoked a cigarette in my life, so trying to blame it on the environment is unacceptable. after arguing a little bit further I'm taking my iMac back for a swap out with a new machine which satisfies me now but Im worried the samething is going to happen again. I must say the rep I spoke to was very nice and understanding and was aware that the problem exists. Maybe I should be pushing for a refund instead of a swap out. I love the machine but this is unacceptable for such an expensive computer. Maybe I should be buying AppleCare if I decide to keep it, but even then it sounds like a hassle to constantly have the screen replaced. Not sure what to do.

For those guys who are lucky to have warranty or chance to upgrade to AppleCare (and leave in the place where you can do it) please DO it and change your screens OFTEN. As soon as you have slightest hint of a problem. I believe that is the best path to per$$uade Apple to do something about it. Unfortunately I can't return to PC (and won't) until they sort out their OS and mobile convergence issues.

P.S. Own Apple stand alone monitor for quite a few years with no problem.

I just signed your petition. Last year (somewhere in July) I bought my first mac (iMac 27" the best you can get 😉) I am not a smoker and today I started to notice a few smudges. It is not the glass, but the LCD. When I go over these smudges with my cursor you can clearly see that these smudges are behind the cursor, so in the LCD screen.

There is going to be an Apple Store in Amsterdam and I am definitely going to pay a visit when it is opened.

I do not have an apple care protection plan because my one years warranty is not over yet, but should I buy it right now to get my screen replaced?

Antonio999 wrote:

For those guys who are lucky to have warranty or chance to upgrade to AppleCare (and leave in the place where you can do it) please DO it and change your screens OFTEN. As soon as you have slightest hint of a problem. I believe that is the best path to per$$uade Apple to do something about it. Unfortunately I can't return to PC (and won't) until they sort out their OS and mobile convergence issues.

P.S. Own Apple stand alone monitor for quite a few years with no problem.

My guess is they will correct the issue for future systems and then just quietly replace peoples monitors who ask for it until their Apple Care expires.

-edit- This thread has 630 messages with 140,000 views over 2 years. If they haven't publicly admitted an issue by now, they never will. If they did release some kind of statement, they realize people will start looking for a problem and those who have mild discoloration who haven't been bothered by it before will start bringing their systems in. It's cheaper to just deal with it quietly.

I know I would probably just live with it if it was mild. As it turns out, mine is somewhat severe and getting very distracting when browsing the web. I actually can't wait to build a gaming PC and retire this iMac to all other non task intensive duties (after getting the screen replaced again). It's kind of rediculous since I paid so much for their top end iMac in late 2010, but I can't see any other alternative at this point.

Very interesting observation about the cursor. There is quite a space behind (below) the cursor. The cursor I understand is matrix and smudges are somewhere between the source of light (lamp? LED?) and back side of the optic glass? Can't quite get physics of this...

P.S. bhull302 - you are right, amazing 140K of problems and these are thouse who got here, there are others out there in Google cyberjungle. For gaming probably PC is the way to go, definitely not iMac.

P.P.S. I added as a last resort today 4 gigs of RAM with no noticeable decrease of CPU usage (big improvemnet on the Aperture load time). But found quite a load of dust in the memory compartment. How it gets there?

It looks like you have time to buy AppleCare. From reading their policy I realized that there is carrot and there is a catch. You can buy it anytime within first year but it starts from the purchase date. So simply it makes sense to buy it at the end of the warranty IF you will you have issues or take a risk (having a test run of 12 months). BUT you don't get phone support (3 month from the start?) and you pay 3 year price for 2 year warranty.

Can I purchase the AppleCare Protection Plan anytime?

You can purchase the AppleCare Protection Plan anytime within the one-year limited warranty period. Your eligibility for coverage under the AppleCare Protection Plan starts from your hardware purchase date. Apple strongly recommends that you purchase the AppleCare Protection Plan when you purchase your Apple product to maximize the additional benefits provided under the plan. http://www.apple.com/support/products/faqs.html

Thanks,

I think I'm just going to order this Protection Plan... Just in case the Genius people ask me about having a plan.

About the smudge, there is indeed a small space between the cursor (matrix or something) and the smudge. I suspect the smudge is on the back light or something. Definitely not easy to clean. I hope the apple store is going to open soon, because I am starting to notice more and more smudges...

I just called and ordered AppleCare as well. I told them about my recent problem with my iMac less than 2 months old and was able to work them down on the price due to the hassle. I'm not really one to ever buy warranty's in fact this is the first one I ever have, but they will be getting a call for a replacement quite frequently over the next 3 years if the issue continues. I'm hoping I don't have to but based on what I'm reading I'm not so confident. I guess if they want to waste thousands of dollars on new displays every time a smudge shows up on my screen that's their choice, although I would prefer them to just acknowledge the problem and find a real solution

Well this *****. I've got a 27" iMac from May 2011 which now has a smudge mark matching the others on this forum on the upper third of the screen. It's annoying because Apple clearly is ignoring this issue. 😠

I purchased a BTO iMac 27 in 2010. Within a year, the smudges started to appear, darken, and spread. I brought it to the Apple Store and was given the laughably improbable dust and smoking storyline. The genius took it out back, obviously removed the screen to clean the glass, came back, and stated it was clearly not dust or environmental contaminants. The display was replaced (under warranty). A year later (today, in fact), I returned to the Apple Store with the same iMac and the same smudging problem. Again, I was given the environmental problem storyline which I handily refuted. The display will be replaced but the repair will cost me $600. I will most certainly be complaining when I return to pay. This iMac has been sitting screen-to-screen next to a BTO 2011 iMac 27 for 10 months. This newer iMac and all previous iMacs have resided on the same desk in the same room without issue. Does Apple really think I'm that stupid?

I took a trip to the Apple store today to show my "smudging" issue to the Genius and he immediately knew what was wrong. His explanation to me was that the video card sits right behind the glass on the upper right corner of the iMac which overheats during normal use and begins to kill the LCD panel slowly. Eventually the smudging becomes more noticable. He said he's seen quite a few of these issues and immediately ordered a new video card and display. I'm out my iMac for a week but I'm happy the issue is going to be resolved and no cost out of pocket. Apparently this is a serious defect in the Mid 2011 27" iMacs and the replacement includes some sort of heat shield to eliminate future issues. If you've got a Mid 2011 27" iMac I'd seriously consider buying Apple Care while you still can. It's well worth the investment. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the additional info. My 2010 is out of warranty so I'm paying $600 for the replacement and plan on complaining very loudly about it. I'm hoping they install the heat shield you mentioned. I just added Apple Care to my 2011 Mac 27 today. No issues so far but nice to read Apple has a "fix". This issue goes back a few years from what I've been reading here and on the web and it seems to have really shaken the trust and loyalty of many customers. Add me to this list.

skeltonmedia wrote:

Apparently this is a serious defect in the Mid 2011 27" iMacs and the replacement includes some sort of heat shield to eliminate future issues. If you've got a Mid 2011 27" iMac I'd seriously consider buying Apple Care while you still can. It's well worth the investment. Hope this helps.

The defect has been around in every model that is this design (since 2009)... it's not relegated to your model. This heat shield that has been added as a perm fix - this is the first time I have heard of it. The problem from what I can see from this thread - never goes away - it always comes back eventually - even after multiple repairs. I have read all 43 pages of this post - where did you hear of this "fix?"

And yes, AppleCare is good to have for these kind of things but it's not a fix... eventually it will expire (3 years) and in the case of my 2009 model, I will eventually have to shell out money to replace the screen. The sad part is that Macs usually hold their value. When/if I upgrade my Mac, I can always count on being able to get decent money selling it used. Not this time. As a matter of fact, you tell me how one sells their iMac used on something say like eBay and NOT disclose that the screen looks awful. If I do, I get nothing for resale value. If I don't the person will send the unit back and leave me bad feedback. In other words, if I don't sell it right after I fix it - it's worthless. And I hadn't planned on replacing my iMac until there WAS a perm fix.

This seems to be a design issue.