iMac 2011 27inch i7 screen flicker dark left side

Could someone send me the re seating connector guide as well? I already hace a replacement one so if I mess it up oh well if not I could give it to my mate who's also having problems.

Email: zachroe at gmx dot com

Thanks a lot!

Enejust just wanted to again thank you for this incredible information.

Really, I can't think you enough.

Cheers man !

I had my post removed by Apple to the faults. There are three problems Flickering Screen, Dark Blotches,and yellow tinges. This is my 3rd iMac (New) Apple has addmitted the problems.

You have to contact AppleCare with any of these problems. If it is out of warrenty i don`t know what you do.

Thats my problem. In fact it`s just come back after a week in repair. They said it was the LCD screen was faulty,and they done the same thing again by replacing the screen.

This was about a year in March,and it`s October now,and it`s still OK I am just waiting for the fault to come back again?

I have the same problem on my 2011 27" imac ... but found its not new or specific to the 2011 line...

This thread talks about it for the 2009 models...

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4041042?start=0&tstart=0

So Apple must have know about this for two + years and have done nothing about it.

The problem seems to be a manufacturing defect on the panel backligh connector socket/wiring.

Unfortunately I didnt take out extended warranty as I have never had a problem with any apple product before this... The 1 year warranty expired last month... and now the problem arises!

I am trying to fix it with the "wedge something between the screen and the LCS paned" fix before I unscrew and solder back the backlight connections manually....

As I said I brought my I mac to an "Authorized Reseller" they replaced the old backlight by a new one (and a new display, because they belong together), which is not affected by heat.

So everything's fine now. To top it of: Mountain Lion made my iMac much hotter, but flackering did not come back 😀

This has been affecting my Imac for about 6 months now. I am an Illustrator and require good colour calibration to enable me to work. This exact issue has rendered my 27 inch screen useless. You guessed it I'm out of warranty and without Applecare. I previously classed myself as a die hard Apple boy and have had quite heated discussions with friends who use PCs. I have defended Macs all the way because of the quality of their design and manufacture. I've had Macs in the past last me 9 + years without a single problem. I usually would not mind as sometimes these things happen with a product but to have so many cases and for Apple not to recall the affected models back for repair even after the warranty has expired is just disgusting. This is grossly unfair behavior for a company that charges that much more for it's products. I thought better of you Apple. At the moment I use my Imac screen for reference images whilst I'm working on a calibrated 19 inch for colour work. I never thought in my wildest dreams the next sentence would ever come out of my mouth but: I'm going to buy a PC next time.

Signed a disgusted customer.

I know that any user affected by this problem should be angry and very angry (Like me) but there is a workaround you can perform to resolve it. Check this thread: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4041042

Thank you Kaos2K.

I have seen that topic as I have been looking for a fix for quite sometime now. It has been nice to know that a fix has been found but it was this fix that has underlined my anger at Apple. They know that this is a problem and they know that their product is faulty from the factory. The proof is linked for all to see. Yet they still do not recall these expensive machines to help out their customer base who have been conned with an inferior product.

I am not competent with electrics and have never soldered anything before in my life. I know that there is areal possibility of making the whole machine useless if I attempt this fix myself. I have no doubt it works but I will have to pay someone with the skills to perform such a fix. Also lose time and money whilst the machine is away being fixed. The creative industry have always bought macs because they need something that works perfect out of the box with no worries about whether you need a phd in electrical engineering to fix it. It's a tool bought to do a job. That's why you pay much more for them in the first place. Perhaps Watchdog or the press need to know about this problem as I bet there are many more consumers who have bought these machines as a family computer who are experiencing the same issues but do not know about these topics.

Our consumer rights dictate that: Products sold need to be fit for purpose and last a reasonable length of time.

If you pay that much for a product and it lasts 18 months before the main and most expensive component fails because of a known fault then surely my consumer rights have been breached and I am entitled to a free repair or new machine?

I understand your frustration. When it happened to me i felt really left behind by Apple but fortunately i'm a curious guy and when they refused to repair my iMac unless i paid them 600€ for a new screen replacement, i started researching the nature of the problem and when i found it, i managed to fix it by myself. Now i can work normally on my machine.

As you said, this is a widespread problem and Apple is aware of it. They MUST start a recalling program ASAP to fix this for free like they did with the Seagate hard drives and more parts on another products...

Well everyone with this problem has been left behind by Apple and if this is the way Apple are going I would rather take my chances with a PC. They should bite the bullet and reestablish everyone's faith because as far as I'm concerned they have lost my faith in their products which is saying a lot. If I had the time I would attempt the fix myself but I have ongoing projects that need my full time attention using my mac. If I bust it good and proper attempting the fix I would be in a right mess as I have no back-up machine at the moment.

Such a shame Apple I hope it was worth it.

Did you fix it via the method you linked? ie re solder the connections?

Sorry Kaos2K, just realised that you were the original poster of the fix. Welldone on that one. I am going to show your walkthrough to someone who might be able to perform it better than me and get a quote. Thanks for your help. 🙂

Hehe. Dont hesitate to contact me if you have questions about it ;)

Thank you. 🙂

Ditto to original problem. 2011 27" imac screen darkened 50% or more on left hand side on start up

this morning which was preceded by intermittent flickering during the past two weeks.

In addition there has been a gradual build up of some sort of "smudging" behind the extreme upper left and right hand side of the screen which has darkened the screen in those areas.

Took the computer down to my local Apple store and the rep was unable or unwilling to to give an explanation to either problem despite my mentioning that it was a matter of some discussion in forums like this. However since the machine is still under warranty he accepted to repair it, waiting time up to two weeks....

Much as I admire the attempts at DIY repairs on this forum I have neither the time, inclination or nerve to tinker with a £2.000 machine myself. This morning I had a tech man from Apple suggesting that I buy extended Apple care before he "guided" me through a DIY repair over the telephone!, as they say in Britain "We are not amused".

As a long time user of Apple computers I am very much dissapointed by the appearance of what seems to be design problems and hope they come up with a permanent fix ASAP.

I had EXACTLY the same symptoms:

Same timeframe : 2 weeks flickering then "bang" >>> dark left hand side

Same "smudged areas" at top left and top right hand side of the screen (I thought this was surface dirt on the front glass but it was actually within the panel).

This must be a manufacturing defect - LCD screens dont just deteriorate like this.

The worst thing is that there are posts in another thread dating back from 2009.... thats 3 years ago.

I never had a hardware failure with Apple equipment before this.