You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!
When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.
When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.
👋🏻 Today I turned on my old iMac (about 2009 model) for the first time in several months. I noticed a hissing sound, like air/gas escaping, but what alarmed me was its toxic smell! It started up normally & functioned ok.
My initial thought was the smell was a bit like gas, but I’m bemused what on earth could cause that in an iMac. 😲
Does anyone know what it could be?
iMac, 10.11
After several months of disuse the odor is most likely due to an accumulation of airborne contaminants that settled upon components that become warm while in use. Turning the Mac on probably caused them to evaporate into the environment from which they came, and the resulting odor should now be gone.
Any electrical appliance can be affected that way. Normally those contaminants are not noticeable, and don't have sufficient time to accumulate within a device in routine use.
After several months of disuse the odor is most likely due to an accumulation of airborne contaminants that settled upon components that become warm while in use. Turning the Mac on probably caused them to evaporate into the environment from which they came, and the resulting odor should now be gone.
Any electrical appliance can be affected that way. Normally those contaminants are not noticeable, and don't have sufficient time to accumulate within a device in routine use.
Thank you for participating in the Apple Support Community.
We want to make sure you reach the right team for help with your device. We recommend that you contact Apple Support directly. Depending on your region, you may be able to reach them here: Get Support.
Thank you!
iMac (2009) smell/ 'leak'
