Power Button Stuck on Brand New iMac

I got the same problem with my 2011 27" imac, took to apple store in st louis the tech and store manager tried to "BS" me that it was my fault that I should never turned the machine off. I call apple support back an spoked with the senior support manager after some song and dance around the issue they agree to make the repair for free becacause it is their problem shoddy componets and workmanship. Should have made the computer in the USA with quality componets and workmanship.

If your machine is on, the "Power on after power loss" tip works. (see the post above from jibunmira )

Have you tried turning the iMac upside-down? That worked for me, but now I have a pink tinge to the upper-right corner of the screen, so do be very careful when turning the unit over.

Alsloginid: You've hit the nail on the head. The problem with a stuck power button is that the button is designed with guides in which it's supposed to slide. When working properly the power button logo is perfectly vertical. When pressed with too much force the button can move past and rotate outside of its guides hence not being able to move back to home position which is flush with the housing surface. So, if the logo isn't perfectly vertical, it'll jam in the down position. To fix this, rotate the switch back to vertical and it'll pop back up and, if the switch hasn't been damaged internally, will function as designed again. I had a machine in for repair where the button was jammed so tightly that I had difficulty rotating it to vertical so I used the tip of an exacto knife on the edge of the button and tapped the handle of the exacto knife and slowly rotated the button to vertical until it popped out. I then applied a very tiny drop of very light oil to the edge of the button to lubricate the button and housing surface so it'll move more smoothly and maybe the customer won't have to push as hard anymore to start the machine and keep the button from rotating and jamming again. Waayyy cheaper solution than replacing the rear housing.

Thanks, Alsloginid

Cheesboy42 is the man!!!!

I use my 27" for my recording studio and finished a really awesome recording session last night and came in this morning to do some editing and work up a rough mix for the client to listen to.

Pressing power button, very little movement and no power up chime.... This had happened before and I thought I just needed to play with it some more so I was pressing and pressing, turning, hitting... for nearly an hour.

Pulled out the ipad and did a google search for "Imac power button stuck", followed the link to the first search result that brought me here.

Turned the mac upside down and fiddled with the button for maybe a minute and boom!! Powered up and good to go.

Now I have enabled the power up after power failure option in system prefs.

Thank you Cheesboy42

After trying all the suggestions here and elsewhere, my wife discovered that she could get the button to come out again by super-gluing something she could grip to the button (I think she used a Lego) and then pulling it out. It's an old machine, so she wasn't worried about the super-glue residue on the button. Others may be more sensitive to that.

As always, people get off track from the original question. So to try an offer some constructive advice.....

I have a Mac Mini and an iMac. On both machines I never actually use the power button. I use the "sleep corners" function in the screen saver, so whenever I move the mouse to say top left, the computer is put into sleep or hibernation mode. Whenever I want to work, I just tap a key on the keyboard and the computer instantly wakes up. when I'm done, mouse to the top left and goodnight.

I find this particularly useful for my Mac mini, which sits under my desk and has a lot of cables connected to it. Hence finding and pressing the button on the rear is incredibly awkward. But I never really need to. Just a thought. Dave.

I have a new to me late 2013 iMac, 27". Just finished setting it up for myself this past weekend. Shut it down and it hasn't been used until I tried to start it up tonight. I've had no joy with the solutions offered here. Power button seems is not perfectly flush on one side with case. Should it be? Upside down, turning with tape etc. don't have any effect. Tried to reset SMC with no difference. I can see two green LED's on through the slots in the bottomwhen it is upside down. Getting a blister on my finger. Teach me to buy used but the lady was so nice. Any suggestions?

Just to add, if after you rotate the button a little and find a position where it consistently works, put a small piece of tape over the button and surround to stop it rotating again.

Jerry

I would agree - the problem comes during power failures, etc. That's where I kept running into problems.

Sorry! Credit goes to Cheeseboy42.

This post saved my day! Thanks Cheeseboy42!

27" iMac 2011 User

All credit goes to Cheeseboy42!!! Thanks a Million!!! Save me time & money...Do I have to do this everytime though? SMH. Disappointing after all the money I spent. Again Thx.

Thank goodness for Google and Cheeseboy42!!!! You just saved me an inconvenient trip to the apple store! THANK YOU!!

@jibunmirai - great tip, thanks!

Somebody know the cost for the repair?
I try everything and did not worked