Graphical issues with 2011 iMac and Lion

Maybe you are not holding your iMac the right way 😁

I get same problem... only happened twice in past week but I have stock 8GB RAM.

I wonder if this is related at all to the crashing that update 10.7.1 fixed and they didn't fix 100%. Wasn't a partial solution to remove flash? Maybe those who have serious problems try removing flash.

I didn't install flash. I use Google Chrome for flash.

Yep, also only happens for me when I watch youtube videos in Chrome. Moslty in HD quality and if I skip around in the clip. That seems to trigger it more often.

hi, i have same problem...and install lion by recovery by 0..and the preblem perxist.....apple said me don't know how to do....

Same problem here - and I have all the original hardware and updated to the latest software/security update - yet no change. Still annoying artifacts and Youtube in Chrome getting all colourful in green and pink bars - really annoying.

Weird, but my iMac seems to have fixed itself. I've been able to watch 720p/1080p vids on Youtube via Chrome all day, every day for the past 3-4 days with no issue. Only thing that's changed since the last issue was the Security Update.

Hi!

Same problem with my Mid 2011 iMac with Radeon 6970 with 2GB RAM. I don't get freezes while watching videos but severe display scrambling when scrolling in (big!) Finder windows and also in OmniGraffle. Any idea if a fix is around the corner. Smells like a graphics driver problem.

try downloading a new graphics card driver

From where?

ATI/AMD do not release graphic drivers for Mac OS. And Apple releases new drivers with their Mac OS updates. The EFI Graphics Firmware Update 3.0 won't install on my machine, already tried.

hi panner! i have the same problem here...we can't do nothing becouse we need wait an update from apple...please contact apple support and tell about this issue...becouse apple don't know the issue...apple care tell me is my hardware problem....but isn't...i said many people have this problem and send him link of this discussion....apple tell me don't know wath to do...nobody know the solution......HELP PLEASE!!!!

in italy,apple tell me i'm the only one have this problem!!!! omg HELP!!!!!! i don't want come back to SL 😟

Hi Alessandro! I talked to Apple support today. They told me:

1) That they never heard about this problem before

2) That it is most likely a hardware problem

3) That I can't send them screenshots because the poor guy does not have an email address 😉

4) That I have to bring the iMac into an Apple store (which is really fun with a 27" iMac)

JoshS182 tnx a lot for help......keep us update for this solution....hope can solve it very soon....

Ok, I am getting sick and tired of "AppleCare" telling me I'm the only one with this problem, or that they have never heard of this problem before.

There are plenty of other people with these problems, obviously, based on the other threads about this with 75+ comments on them. ie: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3201871?answerId=16157263022#16157263022

About a month and a half ago I bought a 27" iMac, 256Gb SSD, 1TB hdd, 2GB graphics card, 4GB of ram (upgraded to 12GB with 3rd party ram) ** and NO the 3rd party ram is NOT THE PROBLEM ** (Lion pre-installed... gee, thanks Apple)

For the first few days I had no problems whatsoever. Then, I noticed when restarting, the iMac hangs on a grey screen before the Apple logo for anywhere from 30 seconds up to 5+ minutes. I also started noticing strange graphics artifacts appearing on the desktop along with some wierd graphics problems in the Finder, Dock, and Dashboard.

A few days later, when playing youtube videos in HD, the video goes crazy with all kinds of pink and green strangeness. This also happened when playing HD video in Plex.

After all of this I noticed most of these issues became evident when using Safari. I quit using Safari, and the video issues and graphics artifacts have mostlydisappeared.

Now, upon login, I have vertical lines running through my entire display (not external displays though, only the iMac display), but these disappear after a few minutes of use. Also, using Spotlight takes an abnormally long time, especially with a SSD, 3.4GHz processor, and 12GB of ram...

Apple has released two iMac firmware updates, one to fix the "hanging" on the grey screen on reboot, one is supposed to fix some of the "known" graphics issues. When I run system updates my computer finds neither of these firmware updates. When I manually download them and try to install them, they tell me that "my hardware is not supported for these updates".

Many people have said that "going back" to Snow Leopard fixed their problems. I am a developer, so "going back" is kind of out of the question.

Another person said that using SMCFanControl to speed up the fans about +275 rpm fixed the graphics issues for him, but this approach does not work either.

By the way, this is clearly a software/firmware problem because I can take screenshots of the graphics issues.

Other possibilities for causes of these problems: I have a beta version of iTunes and Xcode installed (but I have both of these beta programs running on my mac book pro 2008 - Lion with no problems at all.) I really doubt either of these things have anything to do with these issues, but it is possible.

I have tried removing the 3rd party ram, resetting the pram, unplugging from power for ~30 seconds, reinstalling Lion, not using Safari, only using one desktop in Mission Control, not using external monitors, increasing the fan speed, installing the firmware updates (can't), and countless other things I can't even remember. NOTHING HELPS.

I still haven't found a way to force any of these issues, but other people can force them by dragging a file to the desktop and moving it around rapidly, or quickly scrolling in a large list in the finder. You can find videos of them on youtube (if your shiny new iMac can even PLAY YOUTUBE VIDEOS). I would love to hear what other people have done to force or fix any of these issues (preferrably fix), as I am completely out of ideas.

I am a college student, and I have been using my iMac for everything so far this year. I have everything set up just the way I want it, so getting it replaced is a last ditch option. Although, I don't think a different iMac would help solve any of these problems. This is getting incredibly annoying. I've patiently waited for long enough now, and if these issues aren't resolved or at least acknowledged sometime very soon Apple may very well be losing my, and many others', $3000+ purchase. Not that they really care, apparently.

I bought this iMac because it benchmarks faster than any other consumer Mac ever made. Now it takes more than 5 minutes to restart?! Come on...

Please, everyone with ANY of these issues, CALL APPLECARE. Do it right now. If enough of us complain enough maybe they will realize that it is an actual problem. I realize that calling is a bit of a hassle, and most of these problems resolve themselves over time, and are relatively easy to ignore, but if we ignore them SO WILL APPLE. So take one for the team, call AppleCare, make a fuss, threaten to return your purchase, tie up the line for an hour or two, do whatever you can! The call takes less than half an hour usually, and it can benifit us all.