27-inch / 27" iMac Random Shut down

My 2011 Imac 27 inch i5 started random shutdown cycles last week. Gradually got worse and it wont even boot up to the password screen. Had it diagnosed by OpalCS in Edinburgh and it turns out its a faulty logic board which will cost £504 to replace, spent £1500 on this computer and its barely 18 months old.

Going to take the issue to my credit card company, as this qualifys under there extended year warranty that comes with the card which covers electrical goods.

I've been having the same issue, but my issue is touch to decipher. I installed a new ssd in addition to the sata hd that came with my 27" iMac. After installing the SSD, I upgraded to Mountain Lion and shortly thereafter is when this issue began. I'm just curious why you feel confident it's a faulty hard drive.

Thanks, Jonathan

Apple has determined that certain Seagate 1TB hard drives used in 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMac systems may fail. These systems were sold between October 2009 and July 2011.

Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP) will replace affected hard drives free of charge.

Apple is contacting affected iMac owners who provided a valid email address during the product registration process to let them know about this program. If you have not been contacted, but think you have a 1TB Seagate hard drive, you can enter your serial number below to see if it's part of this program.

Hi there,

After my second trip with a local supplier, they now have admitted there is a problem and have given me a bill of approx $1,200 to replace the logic board. ****!

You can feel the love after 3 macbook/pro's, 2 mac minis, 2 macbook airs, 2 iPads, 1 iPad mini and about 5 iPhones ... and the iMac !!

Time to switch.

😠

Gotta love Apple ... and BTW looks like this support programme has ended and is no longer available (ended 12 April 2013):

http://www.apple.com/support/imac-harddrive/ :

The program covers affected iMacs for three years after the first retail sale of the unit or until April 12, 2013, whichever provides longer coverage for you. Apple will continue to evaluate service data and will provide further updates to this program as needed.

Hey,

I'd like to share my experience regarding the random shutdown issue. My iMac was a 27-inch, Mid 2010 model with i7, 16GB RAM, a 250GB SSD and 2TB hard drive. My hard drive was not one of the ones that Apple recalled.

The shutdowns had become unbareable. They could happen at anytime and under any conditions, whether the iMac was hot or cold to touch, whether I was just browsing Safari or editing in FCP 7. It was random but I could also easily trigger a shutdown on demand in FCP 7.

I had Applecare so I rang them, they got me to try reinstalls, to clear caches etc but to no avail, it was still happening.

So they arranged for it to be collected from my house (I live close to a Apple store but I didn't want to carry the machine, it weighs a ton). It was taken to Apple certified technicans and it was clear they had no idea what was wrong. I spoke to them over the phone and at the start of the call they were convinced it was the power supply unit but by the end, having listerned to my experiences, they seemed unsure.

Fast forward 2 weeks and it arrives back with a new power supply and a letter saying it had passed evey test... And visable dust under the screen (but that is for another time). Anyway, within 30 minutes I had triggered another shutdown so I rang Applecare again.

It got taken away for repair again the next day.

Fast forward another 2 weeks and it is back... This time with... Another power supply unit! I was very sceptical to say the least and it shut down, without me trying to trigger it, within 3 hours. Again, the technicans had said it had passed the tests and that they never had it shut down on them.

I was livid. But I calmly rang Applecare and explained the situation in full (not for the first time) and I told them that I would absolutely not allow the same people to look at my machine, that this whole debacle was costing me money (Missing days off work for collections/deliveries) and that after one month nobody knew what the problem was. I also said that the forums were full of people with a similar problem and that although forums may only offer a snapshot of a problem it was clear that no real solution had been found anywhere. I finshed by saying I believed the machine was irreparable.

They put me through to someone with authority and he put me on hold for 10 minutes whilst he looked through Apple "procedures". He came back and offered me a replacement, a new 2013 model at full spec (My 2010 iMac was at full spec and because many of parts were no longer used and because they cannot downgrade you I got the modern equivalent).

I'm happy with the outcome but the whole process was a not good. I have read many posts on dfifferent forums about solutions but many are contradictions. Unless you want to gamble money on new parts the only way to solve this is to get a new machine, hopefully via Applecare. Good Luck, and if enough people do this then it will force another recall and maybe help those who don't have Applecare.

I am experincing the same ramdom shut-down issues with my late 2009 27" iMac 3.06 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, and there is no Apple Store within 100 miles of my home. Thus, this past month, I shipped my late 2009 27" iMac across country to the Melrose Mac tech support department in Hollywood, CA and they reviewed the crash logs and diagnosed my issue as being bad RAM, which they replaced.

A few days later, they shipped back my iMac, and I powered-it-up, and it ran for 30 minutes, and then shut down and would not start-up for the rest of the day. Since then, my numerous power-down experiences have, once again, been really random.

It's time for a class action lawsuit against Apple in an effort to force them to recall all of these iMac's. Does anyone know law firms who handle these type claims?

Same Thing!

Keeps shutting down. 2009 Imac 24" - 8GB Ram. Worked fine up until about a week or so ago. Even when I only have an internet browser open.

nuts to this. Want My Money back!

Ok, so after having the random shutdown issue for quite some time, I've finally decided to give Apple a call.

After talking to applecare rep last Tuesday, I dropped it off last Wednesday for repair. As soon as I got home after picking it up last night, I tried to do my regular work (mainly LR and PS) and it shuts down on me. It shutdown like 5-6 times and yes I have recorded 4 of them on my phone.

This morning, I contacted Apple again and I now have a senior advisor assigned for my case now. After talking and sending him the video links, he advised that I take the computer in again for repair. As frustrated and annoyed as I already am, I didn't think I had any choice but to take it in again. I mean, what can I do? Too soon to claim any legal action, right? I did tell him that this would be the last time lugging this heavy machine to the store. If it fails again, I demanded for a replacement but who knows, right?

So I'm taking it back tonight and hope they finally resolve this issue for good. Or just simply replace it.

Just for those interested, below are the links of my shutdowns.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXqRoxD2DTs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30E7yMfQpKE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5l1qJWyr6k

Oh BTW, they have supposedly replaced the logic board in order to fix the random shutdown. Obviously, it didn't work...

My second trip to Apple didn't work either. They replaced the power supply but random shutdown was not fixed.

I just wanted to give those interested an update. Long story short, I finally took delivery of a brand spanking new iMac (3.4GHz, 16GB, 3TB fusion drive, superdrive)!! It took almost a month, but I'd say it was well worth it. I now have a thinner and faster iMac with thunderbolt ports! 🙂

i have had the same problem. 2011 27in Imac. I got it about three months ago used. It worked fine for works and then it would just reboot. Off and on. Sometimes it would stay on for weeks and sometimes it would reboot 3 times in an hour. I have done everything that everyone else has done, memory, heat issues, UPS, but to no avail. Very frustrating...

I too am experiencing this and I've only had my brand new late 2013 iMac for one week!

I will try some of the suggestions in this thread and contact my supplier and will see how it goes. I might limp along until Mavericks comes out and do a fresh installation to see if that helps matters.

This is somewhat frustrating seeing how long it takes to get everything installed and set up just how I like it.

Would anyone suggest making a new User to see if that solves the problem?

Well... after several months of trying everything including the apple phone support, my problem got worse. Finally after making a loud pop and not rebooting I took it into a local mac repair shop. I was sure it was a power supply issue. After running extensive test they found a faulty power switch was the problem. This seems to be an issue for the 27in Imacs. This is kind of what I thought in the beginning. They took off the beauty cap so the actual power switch is exposed. It now works perfect. It looks slightly odd in the bank. At this point I dont care as long as it stays on!!

I am keeping my fingers crossed so far.

Thanks for your post regarding power supply at your house. My iMac 24" 2009 has recently been shutting down after being told/going to Sleep Mode. I purchased a new cd/dvd external portable drive with Lightscribe function from LG. The drive is one that draws power from one or two USB cnnections from the main computer as needed. I wonder if this 'glitch' is due to the new external drive. Think I will try an experiment and disconnect the drive for awhile and see if the problem persists.

I had a problem with a 2011 27in imac. I have posted this previously and various members of the community posted various fixes which I tried with never any lasting fix. The previous owner had pushed on it too hard too many times and it had slipped. It would not center in the opening. I set it to automatically come on after a power failure and that usually worked. However, as I found out, it was shorting out and would cause the Imac to turn off on its own. It would always just come back on. Their was no crash report and nothing significant in the console. It would randomly turn itself off from time to time.

After hours and hours of trouble shooting I took it in to my Mac Repair center and they opened it up and simply took the switch cover off. That was the problem, not the switch. It is further in. If I have to use the switch I can just reach inside the hole where the cover was. Unfortunately the switch cover is glued to the back of the case and there is no way of replacing without taking everything out and replacing the back of the case. I don't mind the small hole in the back because the random reboots have stopped!

This was a pretty cheap fix. My Mac Repair Shop (not Apple) did it under their $30 diagnostic fee. Someone should make an aftermarket switch cover that could be attached from the outside that would still allow the switch to be depressed.