Greyish Smudge marks behind the glass screen.

To me this sounds very strange for an Apple response to a guarantee. I am not saying at all that it didn't happen, but if it did, the Apple Store and the workers there should be reported at once--even now. I have never heard of a case where Apple has refused to deal with a product under its guarantee structure, and, to the contrary, I have heard that products have been replaced in whole or in part.

It is true, and it is the reason for this thread, that Apple personnel may not know the causes or solutions for certain problems so that they replace parts that may not need replacing. But, then again, I have never heard of Apple stores refusing to deal with customer issues of machines under a warranty.

While I am far from being a big Apple fan (and this thread has something to do with that), I would be careful about making the generalizations that you are making about American Apple stores v. European .

Also, while your son got service for his problem under the guarantee in Germany, it remains to be seen if the solution he got ends his problem. The real issue in this thread is that despite the many solutions that people have gotten under the warranty guarantee, often the root problem with their machines has not been solved. The real proof of the pudding will be in the coming days, weeks and even months . . . whether there is or isn't a recurrence of the problem. If there is a recurrence as seems possible, I would imagine that your son will go again to have his computer serviced, as many people have here, and possibly rejoin this Apple thread.

fvd, I can confirm that this does happen.

My screen staining began before my initial 90 days were up.

It was not environmental - my machine is kept in dust-free (as far as is possible) clean office conditions. No smoking.

I was told that this issue was not covered and I would have to pay to have it repaired at a local Apple reseller.

(I was one of the first people to post on this thread.)

I had already purchased AppleCare.

As the machine was clearly faulty long before the statutory guarantee expired I was expecting a replacement - as is usual in this country (UK) by law - but no.

I've already expressed my opinion about Apple "customer service" and the obsessive legalese so I wont go on...

That is exactly like mine llanslez. It comes and goes, but was recently even sharper and more distinct than in that shot. I've actually had a positive outcome with Apple - they have agreed to cover the cost of repair even though I didn't have AppleCare and it is one year out of warranty. So IanSN - I can't believe they wouldn't cover yours under warranty! I don't know if you have looked at any repair yet, although if you were one of the first people to post in the thread you may well have, and it may be that since then Apple have had to at least acknowledge the issue internally and deal with complaints on a case by case basis.

I have to say the smudge marks were annoying, but my local Apple Store gave me no issues fixing my screen. As soon as the tech booted up my computer he could see them, and started the repair process. It was worth the trip packing it up and being without it for 5 days to not have that distraction of always looking to see if it was getting worse. Who knows, maybe Apple got some bad screens from someone (Samsung) and are now eating it to make everyone happy until they are out of the wild. Hope it dosen't come back...

@Iain

Yes, it does seem to be that there hasn't been a coherence about this.

Certainly no-one I've spoken to since January 2010 was prepared to fix it without a charge yet others on here have had different responses.

However, I have now been contacted by Apple and the machine is going in for repair as soon as I can slot it in.

The notion that its 'environmental' still stands though, which is the main contentious issue here. (If true there should be a disclaimer for household use with the product.)

If the screen is only 'cleaned', which is what was suggested, I fear the issue could return very quickly.

I'm hoping for the best!

IanS

Glad to hear you're getting it sorted at last. Have you just lived with it for a good while, and heard back from Apple out of the blue? Hopefully this means it's reached such a level that they may be getting close to having to acknowledge it.

It will be interesting to see if it reoccurs - the issue may be the LCD panel, or from what I've read on here the fault may be inherent in the design that prevents dust from ventilating well enough meaning it gets in behind the panel.

I don't get the "smudge" marks per se, but mine is more like annoying grey dots in different areas of the glass panel. at first it was just one..now there are several of them. I didn't notice them until I pulled up Pages or anything with a white or light colored background. They're extremely annoying when I use Photoshop. I haven't gone to the closest approved service center yet, but I am going there today.

Iain,

yes, and yes to your questions 🙂

Out of the blue insofar as it was in response to my recent post on here.

I don't mind if there is no public acknowledgement of the issue (in fact I hardly expect that, to be cynically realistic), so long as the folks who bought the machines get dealt with fairly. I hope that is going to be the case.

LCD: in either case there's a fault.

Hi guys I hope this helps I have a 21.5" iMac purchased early 2010 I had some grey dots/ smudges appear on the screen about a year ago and didn't think much of but they got worse so today I took it back to my local apple store and they are going to replace the screen free of charge the guy in the store explained it was a common fault and would be done even though I don't have apple care and my warranty has run out so if you are having this issue take it back to your local store they will do it free of charge

Hope this helps

Your best bet would be swallow the cost and paid for screen replacement. And then sell the iMac. Hard lesson learned you should've bought AppleCare in the first place. Lucky for me the smudge appeared on my iMac within the first year so I had time to think and decide AppleCare is a must. Remember this problem comes back even after screen replacement.

I doubt my next computer would be an iMac again, too problematic. But for the moment I'd like to use until couple months before AppleCare expires and sell it afterwards.

Yeah I am not going to pay €600 euros for a replacement...Thats BS.

I just hate the fact that this is a well known issue and Apple just wont accept this problem.

Obviously I am not the only one and there are many iMacs 'infected'

Well yeah the screen replacement cost is outrageous when we out of warranty. But I think you're a bit out of options. You don't get the screen replaced means you can't sell it for a good price, nor you can enjoy using your iMac as it was when it's new.

Maybe you could try contact Apple online support for alternatives, some people do get lucky and get their iMac screen replaced for free out of warranty. You can keep trying.

I personally have my screen replaced twice within the first year, and I believe it would return again in a couple of months. It would be a tiring regular replacement for the next 2 years.

Since when did you realize your screen have smudge? You waited for so long, or surprsingly noticed it's there? I noticed the smudges within 4-5 months of ownership.

About the selling part, wait and see I guess, at normal use it is noticable but not annoying. Especially on dark backgrounds it is very hard to see, at lighter backgrounds it's not possible to not see it...

Will try to contact Apple online support..

I saw the smudge for the first time about a month ago while I was working on a photoshop document and looked at it full screen, did some search work at google and found out what my problem was.. To bad I didn't noticed it earlier...

(sorry if my english isnt flawless, its because im dutch) 🙂

Has anyone who has had a panel replaced had the issue come back? If so, after what sort of timeframe?

@bertp

I'd really try one last time with Apple - ask to speak to the first person's supervisor / manager, and ask them to look up 'LCD panel contamination' and maybe point to the later posts on this thread firmly but politely stating that it seems that internally Apple are acknowledging the issue and appear to be replacing faulty panels even out of warranty.

@lain

Will try to fix it with the reseller where the iMac is bought, if that isnt working the next step is contacting Apple NL.

There is a law in the Netherlands that gives consumers a standard 2 year warranty on products with an expected lifetime of 5 years (like an iMac). The first two years all repairs will be done for free or almost free. After the two years costs coming with a repair will be split for the reseller and the other half for the consumer.

Offcourse the law describing this has far more details, this is just a very short summary.

Do you have any evidence of Apple acknowledging the issue?