Greyish Smudge marks behind the glass screen.

Another smudge person here, although I also have another issue shown here when positioning an app over the left side of the screen for more than 30 mins. Screen burn on an lcd?

Now the outcome at the Apple store was 'used in a smokey environment' AND 'agreed to replace new glass and lcd panel however customer advised any future replacement will be chargeable'

Having got home and actually thought about this it's hit me that this is surely illegal for apple to offer this? they are essentially asking you to forfeit your warranty to rectify a fault which based on this thread and the thousands of others on the Internet is clearly a fault with design.

I did call back the apple store this afternoon and express my concern as I am seeking to take out applecare because of this issue, but IF i undertake this repair it would render the applecare useless anyway as this would be chargeable?

Going to contact Citizens advice tomorrow about this ...

I have a 27" iMac since January and just recently discovered through a white background in Photoshop that it wasn't my screen that is dirty from dust, but a series of dust-like lines on both top left and right corners and some to the sides that are clearly on the LCD behind the glass. This is unbearable on such an expensive and professional machine.

Here's the unmodified photo from my Canon 7D:

And this is the same photo with the levels tweaked to clearly show the problem:

Setting aside the discussion over warranty and costs, is there any official explanation regarding what this is and why it happens?

Here is a photo taken with a macro lens showing the border I mentioned that was not evident on the first two screens I had replaced under Apple Care. The earlier screens went at least to the edge of the black surround on the iMac glass screen front which makes me think a different panel was fitted for my current screen. I don't notice this in normal use now as it's dark and blends in with the screen border. Bear in mind this photo is magnified and brightened to show the small gap. Again, there has been no re-occurence of the smudging and marks since this screen was fitted.

Its really bad on mine. late 2009 21.5" imac bought december 2009. spread over most of the screen with 4 sets of circles showin through burn. Got no apple care and live 160 miles from the nearest apple store 8(

I have exactly the same problem with my 27" iMac (late 2009 model). Have attached a photo which hopefully shows a corner of my screen where it's particularly bad.

But basically it follows same trend as other posts in this thread. I only really became aware of the problem about 6 months ago (so well out of warranty) and had assumed it was dust under the screen. But on removing the glass, the smudges stare back at me tauntingly, and the marks are clearly behind that secondary screen and therefore out of reach.

Like so many others here, I'm now using my iMac for serious photography and am having to resort to my macbook pro instead of my iMac. A win-win for Mac, but crap for me as a customer.

It clearly is one of those issues that Apple know about and choose to pretend it's a few neurotic users. If it were a cheap piece of kit then I'd shrug my shoulders in a 'get what you pay for' manner. But I feel so often now with Mac products we are not getting what we paid for.

Yesterday i have cleansed my 2010 iMac 27 (with cloth dipped in Hama LCD screen cleansing liquid and water) and in horror noticed just afterwards these marks as on the photos. (Maybe they were present before but I haven't noticed).

These strange marks can be seen when the display is off.

I did not dare to turn on my imac (in hope not to worsen the situation if these marks are from the liquid vapour that entered behind the glass) so i do not know if they will remain visible when on.

Please advise as to what is this. (it is not a reflection on the screen)

many thanks in advance!!

Since 2008, I've been suffering iMac display issues like image persistence, grey stains, etc. My history includes five replacements of LCD panel, one replacement of HDD and one replacement of the whole iMac. Recently, I added another replacement of the whole iMac(early 2008) to a new iMac(mid-2011).

Mostly, my complaints were about image persistence, not smudge or dust, and I believe the image persistence is due to poor heating control of iMac systems at the time. Regarding new iMacs, however, it seems to focus mainly on smudge, dust, or as some people called, cloud. So, I visited an Apple store to check the new iMac. Here, I could find the grey stains even in iMacs displayed the store. The clerk looked slightly stumped and indicated the upper side of the iSight camera. To prevent dust to flow inside panel, he told me to have to tape the position as soon as I unpack the new iMac. It was on the built-in microphone to be taped! I've never noticed the mic. until then. The mic. seems to be located off the thickness of the tempered glass screen.

Then, it means that the Apple has already recognized the design flaw, but they never admit it officially. If it is true that the mic. was the cause of the grey smudge, Apple must admit the design flaw and recall iMacs ASAP!

C'mon people,how can this be normal.Look at my screen after 2yrs.This is garbage,

Lets take our iMac's in front of our closes apple store,find some nearest outlet for extansion cord,and lets turn on our macs in front of apple stores.I think that everyone has to see this.

These are v poor quality pics from an old phone (yes, I don't own an iPhone!).

Need to get some decent pics of this.

But they show the state of mine (late 2009 21.5"). Problem began after only a few weeks.

The second pic is the right corner when the computer is OFF. Strange pale whisps that are not the same that show when the screen is on. (Anyone?)

The outside of the screen is clean.

Anyone fancy trying to color correct photos on this? 😢

edit - the top image appears to have been scaled down a bit, but anyway...

ians

I have noticed this recently on my 7 month old 2011 27" iMac. So am I guessing it's something to contact Apple about? Also does everyone lug their iMac into the local store, or get it picked up? Not sure I could manage to carry it into store as have a knackered shoulder at the mo.

Add one more to the list: 27" iMac with the same gray artifcacts all over the screen. Some vertical, some weird and wavy. They began appearing shortly after the local Apple Store replaced a defective hard drive and have been getting worse ever since.

I've contacted them for advice and will follow up if there's a resolution.

I also have had the same problem with an iMac 27 ", purchased new Sept. 2011 from an Apple Store in So. Ca. I recently noticed the same greyish smudging over my entire screen and took it in for repair. I was told it was an "environmental issue" and that they would replace the LCD but may not in the future. I did purchase Apple Care. From what I have read in this thread it is either a dust or heat issue, either of which are obvious design flaws. I purchased dust filters made for the iMac 27" from Amazon (uploaded pictures) and plan to use SMC fan control to bump up the fan speed to decrease the inside temperature of the iMac.

Think this will be enough to prevent it from happening again?

I think i've experienced the same issue so thought of contributing. Attached photo is how mine looked like. iMac 24-inch early 2009. Still under AppleCare, expiring end of this month so that makes my iMac 3 years old. Initially the smudges started top left of the screen (i think around 6 months back) then it spreaded larger towards the centre.

Anyway, last week i've sent it to an Apple's Authorized Service centre (a 3rd party provider but where they actually repair Macs on site itself not those Apple centres that have to send the Mac elsewhere for repair), and they completely replaced the LCD, free of charge under AppleCare. They quoted "faulty lcd" so i'm not sure to what extent this problem is actually "cleanable" dirt/stain rather than actual LCD problem. It could be that it is cleanable but the guy just took the easy way out, as he can charge Apple for his work - i don't know,, but i don't mind new LCD so let it be.

Problem is my applecare will expire this month so if the problem reoccur i guess i might have to be adventerous and do what most of the posters here have done i.e. take off the LCD to try clean it up.

Cheers.

llanslez, UK.

This just happened to me, I went away this weekend... came back today, and fired up a tv show and there it was...

This is something I cannot deal with as I edit photos and video regularly... I guess I'll give apple a call..

Hi! Is this something that everyone from this topic gets on their screens or mine is different? I get this burn like patterns just in the middle of the screen and it seems everyday more and more 😟((((((