hairline cracks on back panel of intel imac

i went down to the apple store with the intention to purchase the new imac intel. after a few rounds of explanations i decided to get it. the staff helped me set up my imac and asked me to check for any scratches. but before he asked he held up the imac under a light to check for scratches. as a customer who is paying a premium to get apple products, i did the same thing by holding it up in the light to check for scratches.

and unfortunately, the first one they opened there was dust particles inside the back panel as well as hairline cracks below the ports on the back panel n the right side of the power button so i asked for a change.

the second one they opened was from a new shipment which i witnessed myself was trolleyed into the storeroom. it had scratches on the back panel and same cracks appearing on the same places below the ports and the side of the power button. the third to the fourth ones had the same cracks. and since the staff had opened up so many boxes the management decided to give me a refund which i did not ask for, i was prepared to get the one with the least defect. however, one of the managers said "it's like that, made of acrylic."

is it because they had to return all these 4 imacs to the manufacturer for repacking to sell again or is it becasue its a real defect but no other customers realised it? and these cracks appear obvious under the light. if the staff didnt hold the imac up under the light to check i would not have done that and just search for scratches as what would most people do

so i went down to another apple store and told the staff about the situation. the staff was helpful enough, he opened up a box of brand new shipment for imac and i told him where the cracks are and he was surprised and said its a first. he walked over to the demo display n looked at the imac. it has the same cracks. he said it might be batch defect. im not sure if it is a batch defect or is it normal because its made of acrylic? and since all apple products come from that one manufacturer factory in singapore.

imac, Mac OS X (10.4.5)

Posted on Mar 31, 2006 10:43 PM

Reply
32 replies

Apr 1, 2006 7:10 AM in response to chrismackkah

geez,.. I just took a look at mine and, thankfully, not a scratch anywhere.

As much as I love my iMac I must say that Apple has sort of made things hard for themselves by going with this clear acrylic clamshell design. The chances of rendering a unit unsellable (or sellable only as "remanufactured") during assembly and shipping are quite high as EVERY defect is very visible. ..Not at all like the days when monitors were all hard solid-color plastic. ..They could take a beating.

It's an interesting question to consider how much cheaper iMacs would be if Apple didn't have to build into the pricing the added costs that a high-return rate bring with it. ..Even those of us who have "perfect" iMacs are, in a sense, paying a price for those machines that get sent back.

Of course, the beautiful styling of the iMac is key differetiator in the market and no doubt partially accounts for their increasing sales.

IMAC (early 2006) Mac OS X (10.4.4) 1.5 G Ram

Apr 1, 2006 7:13 AM in response to chrismackkah

Having read your story I thought I'd check my intel iMac out for any such scratches. So I looked, without the use of any additional light and couldn't see a single mark on it, so I grabbed a torch and shone that on the back, to my surprise every single hole/port on the back is accompanied by a tiny fracture in the acrylic. Under every port, next to the power button, even under the security hole.

It doesn't really bother me, this is simply a cosmetic issue (on the back of the computer) but I'm glad I know they're there now.

Oh, and I'm in the UK.

Apr 1, 2006 7:25 AM in response to syd123

cry me a river!!!! im not asking about scratches now!!! i want to know about these hairline cracks that appear on most imacs ALL OVER THE WORLD!!! it cant be seen with the naked eye. u have to look with a maglite or some torch. dont tell me how nice an imac looks or how good your imac is working, if its not good i wont be posting here.i wanna get 1 u understand the topic of my post??? cry me a river!!!!


if its a product flaw that happens on all imacs then i can accept it. and if so, will these cracks become worse overtime? because out of the 5 imacs i inspected 1 of em has cracks more than 2cm.

Apr 1, 2006 8:25 AM in response to chrismackkah

alright at least one in the UK.
im sure there is at least 2 in the US?

if this is a product flaw that happens on imacs i have nothing to say but to purchase an imac like what i had in mind.

and if so, will these cracks worsen over time? out of the 5 imacs i inspected 1 of em had cracks more than 2cm

but PLEASE, if you are gonna tell me about how nice an imac looks or how well it works then forget about replying.
i want to know more about these hairline cracks and not about scratches anymore.cry me a river!!!

Apr 1, 2006 8:43 AM in response to chrismackkah

chris,

I understand your concern with these "cracks" you say you've seen, but how do you expect any of us users to be able to say if they'll get bigger, appear later, etc.? The best I can say is that it seems to be a very minor issue: the blemishes, if visible at all, appear to be in a discreet loacation and have nothing to do with how the machine works. I suppose it is possible they could be caused by temperature extremes during transit, so I am guessing that once the machine is maintained in a normal environment, these issues would not occur. But it's just a guess, and a guess about something I haven't even seen myself, so it's your call. Or take it up with Apple. I'm curious if this issue was ever raised with the G5 version, which has been out for awhile longer than the intelmacs.

Apr 1, 2006 9:15 AM in response to chrismackkah

I got out my torch and fired it up. It melted the plastic. HA HA

Using a flashlight I could barely see the micro-cracks described. At first I thought they were cat hairs. They are not.

These are so small to be invisible. I seriously doubt that they will get bigger. In any case they are not noticeable nor do they affect the elegance of this Mac. They are really a non-issue.

Apr 1, 2006 1:06 PM in response to pbeaudet

gosh, I have those cracks too! I am living in germany, for your information ...
they are on all places you described ... about 1,5 cm long
and i think, this IS a subject!
after all ... i had all the problems which were described on this forum (mouse / keyboard problems, sleep problems, problems to start and shut down, kernel panics ... a nightmare! After discussing all this issues with apple support and the store i got a new machine after 5 days ... it now works properly.
BUT - I expect perfection, really! I mean, i paid a lot of money and if they think about such a design they should be able to do it without scratches, cracks etc. otherwise - chose different material!
Will call apple support on Monday. at least they have to know about!!
Does anyone know the previous imacs have those hairline cracks too?

Apr 1, 2006 1:45 PM in response to Mac-Meister

just checked my 17 inch Intel iMac and i also have these hairline cracks below the ports on the rear panel of my iMac. It seriously looks like there is a manufacturing defect rearing its head on the new Intel iMacs - and mine has been so reliable upto now.

I'm also from the UK and i received my iMac 1 week after lauch so my iMac is one of the early models to have been built.

So should i contact Apple and see what they say?

I'm not too concerned at the moment as i took out the Apple Care warranty.

Apr 1, 2006 9:24 PM in response to chrismackkah

imac G5s and intel imacs are made of the same outer core materials. im sure u guys read up before u purchased your intel imacs, "everything the same on the outside...." so perhaps the hairline cracks should be able to be found at the same spots and if yours has a 5cm line crack you should be concern? maybe 2 cm you might be able to close an eye and forget abt it. but like you said all of us are paying a premium to purchase apple products.

i called up apple care service support and the staff told me these hairline cracks are not insured in the warranty even though you decide to purchase an imac with these hairline cracks.

moreover, the manager told me about the defects on an ibook. the ibook is made of the same acrylic materials. he told me himself there are cracks on the ibook. and he specifically told me that its on the apple logo on the cover. again it cant be seen under normal light conditions but dosent the logo has led light? dosent anyone see the cracks on ibooks? i believe that its not just the logo it might appear ard the ports as well?

as much as i want to get a mac os computer, i dont know abt how durable these acrylic plastics are. and i dont think we can compare a brand new intel imac with an old G5 as its more than a year. of course we cant argue if the cracks appear after 1 or 2 years.

Apr 1, 2006 11:11 PM in response to chrismackkah

btw with regards to warranty, like i said hairline cracks are not insured. the apple care extended warranty is jus another marketing sales approach. it dosent solve the issue on hairline cracks in the product.

over here in singapore the apple store and all authorised dealers are just trying to make sales. they dont really care about after sales as i have witnessed myself.

for all these 5 boxes of imacs, the store mgr told me they will be sent back to the manufacturer for repacking and be sold again. that is how apple in singapore works. making sales.

apple cant possibly recall all intel imacs, they cant just replace the acrylic back panel. the whole imac will have to be exchanged. (prob for another one which also has those hairline cracks). apple developers will have to remedy the this issue and reinforce with a better quality plastic because its what we imac users want with the imac, the design and ultimately its a mac os running on unix.

Apr 1, 2006 11:29 PM in response to chrismackkah

In case anyone is interested, I saw a post like this (presumably by the same guy) over at another Mac forum. Here's one of the replies he got that may ease your minds:

What you're seeing aren't cracks but mold lines. Mold lines are inherent flaws in the plastic casting process and are not considered defects.

Mold lines have been discussed before with regards to Apple's other translucent/transparent plastic products. See this link for an example: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58491


(- Steve -)



15in PowerBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.2)

15in PowerBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.2)

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

hairline cracks on back panel of intel imac

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.