Design fault? 27" 2013 iMac stand just gave up!

My (out of warranty) 27" iMac was graciously covered by Apple. They warned me up front at the store that if the problem was the back housing, the repair would be in the hundreds of dollars. Fortunately, it was the typical problem with the mechanism and the $40 part and $40 labour were both waived. The service appears to be excellent and the iMac is none the worse for the wear of being completely disassembled. Thank you to the posters in this thread who were actually friendly and supportive.

You are welcome. 🙂

Happy computing

Pete

This has happened to my iMac 27 just yesterday, after having it for over a year and out of AppleCare warranty, and bought here in Dubai, UAE

After googling and finding this discussion thread and reading through the experiences of others, I was hopeful that my situation will be resolved here the same way others have had repairs done free even out of warranty. So I called up the Apple Support hotline here, and was then transferred to an AppleCare International rep who kept saying that he is "unaware" of any global action that Apple is taking to repair defective units. I told him to go to this Apple Discussion board and gave him the link, but he persistently made it a point to deny that this is a common problem with the iMac 27" and refused to have my iMac repaired free and made an "Apple Support Denied" note on my unit's serial number! This I have found out later after calling the local Apple service provider and gave them my unit's serial number. Is this what Apple is doing now? Denying that this is a common problem and will not repair this FOC and rectify their design flaw?

I have been an avid Apple user for more than 15 years and this is the FIRST TIME I have called in anything for support, and this is what I get.

Now I am left in the doldrums with a "limp" iMac 27

Any suggestions how and where I can take this further? even just to complain about the lack of courtesy and support that International reps are giving to Apple users outside the States? Or will it be pointless as they are now washing their hands of this issue??

<Personal Information Edited By Host>

Unfortunately they are correct. They are isolated incidents.

Cheers

Pete

Same thing happened today to our 27" iMac today!😠

Mine just broke, too!

Yep...I'm the latest victim.

Was doin' work on my 27' iMac (Mid-2013 model), and POP...then the screen just sank down.

Well welcome to the ever growing club.

In the USA at least, the fix has been pretty painless for most, even without warranty coverage.

Hopefully you have an Apple store reasonably nearby. If nothing else, just show them this link. However most have been getting timely repairs, without major hassle.

Dang. It's really maddening, isn't it? Mine is just a little over a year old and it hasn't moved an inch since I unpacked it. The idea that Apple thought using plastic washers instead of metal to hold up this heavy monitor is mind boggling.

I will call my store to see how the wait time will be, but the thought of hauling it to the store in this heat has me sticking a cork behind it to hold it up for now. Thank goodness someone shared that idea here because it appears that Apple hasn't addressed the problem at all.

Add me to the list. Mine apparently gave out overnight. Came into my office to find my late 2013 iMac drooping. 18 days out of warranty. Called Apple support and the person simply told me to take it in to the Apple store. Luckily I have one close. Have an appointment for tomorrow. Will refer them to this thread and see what they say. I've had good luck before with out-of-warranty repairs. The 3-5 days without my production machine will be pretty hard, but I'll see if there's any way to shorten that.

I'll try to post my experience after the fact. Thanks to everyone who has posted so far.

I'm in the US, btw.

-Update to my post from yesterday-

Visited the Apple Store today...*mic drop*.

Despite the title of the thread, what we're talking about here is a manufacturing defect, not a design issue. iMacs have had the same design for years, but appear to have only started experiencing this issue in late 2013. That means that they must have either changed the materials used for the hinge, or started purchasing hinge parts made from the same materials, but of a lower quality.

There is sufficient colloquial evidence to warrant demanding a free repair from Apple. That may only start happening after settlement of a future class action lawsuit. The "old Apple" would have seen the prevalence of this issue and made every effort to keep its customers satisfied by doing the repairs for free in recognition of both their own obvious culpability as well as the inconvenience to customers of lugging their iMacs to and from the Store. That's unfortunately no longer its corporate culture, just the theme of its marketing campaigns.

Then again, the old Apple wouldn't have cheaped out on parts and had this kind of manufacturing issue arise in the first place.

If you don't have money to get a new hinge, get a 178 mm stick. If you want, paint it silver. I made mine out of a plastic coat hanger. A piece of two sided tape can be added to both ends to make it earthquake proof.

How disappointing Apple - yes my late 2013 iMac no longer stands tall. I am of course out of warranty and will now need to find out where to get it repaired. Given the number of failures it is very disappointing that Apple hasn't contacted owners for something that is known. Any ideas on how to get it fixed in NSW out of Sydney?

If any one is having issues with their hinge, I suggest they contact apple and ask the representative to review OP1488 in GSX. This is a known issue, and is covered outside of the standard 1 year warranty.