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

Update:

Onsite repair came the other day and now my iMac is tilting again. But, for how long? The failure was indeed the iMac’s stand tilt mechanism in which one of the two springs broke through the plastic washer-like part that holds down one side of the spring. The tilt mechanism has two of these plastic washer-like parts; one per spring.

The contracted tech who came to my home was fantastic! He was pretty knowledgable, friendly and except for having to run out to a local hardware store to buy a #4 Torx bit, everything went smoothly on the first try in a couple of hours. The #4 Torx bit was necessary to remove the wireless and bluetooth antenna’s from my old iMac shell and put them on the new shell. “Shell?” you say! Yes, because at least for my repair instance, Apple Support had sent the tech’s company a brand new iMac 27in aluminum back shell that was empty, except for the tilt mechanism that was included and attached to the shell sans actual stand.

So the tech had to remove everything out my iMac, including the 3 antenna blocks screwed to the shell around the edges at three places, and the actual stand. I took a lot of pictures, asked a few questions and was given some nice tips during the repair and in the future when my Apple Care has expired and if the tilt mechanism fails, or for that matter anything else inside my iMac fails or I would like to upgrade, I now have my illustrated bread crumb guide to get me in and out of that dark nether region Apple is trying to deter everyone from going by virtue of their design philosophy.

Since I was last here on this thread, there are quite a few more users reporting the same failure. I hope that all users get a satisfactory fix and I ultimately I hope that Apple engineering comes up with a permanent solution to this failure and even perhaps retrofits all those that have reported this failure with that permanent solution. I wonder what the likelihood of that last suggestion is? Hmmmm…

Hi everyone

I just came back from an Apple authorized service provider.

They fixed my computer and gave me the broken part as you can check in the image. The total cost was 245 USD to fix the failure. I know, its absurd the price here in Brazil: 53 dollars only for the new part and the rest of the money for the service. I forgot to make the apple care protection plan before my computer made 1 year of use, my mistake.

It's very sad that a 3000 dollars computer relies it self on one cent plastic ring. I'm not an engineer or designer but I think that a plastic ring holding a metal spring is not the best choice. I think this ring should be made of metal or any harder material that properly holds the tension of a metal spring.

As you can check in the uploaded image, the plastic ring highlighted in red fits under the screw and holds the spring.

Good luck with your broken mechanism, the fix of my computer was expensive but was made in 8 hours.

ps. Please don't delete these message, is the third time I try to write to this discussion group to show solutions and answers about this problem. I'm not using anything in these text that is against the company policy like rants or complaints. Im just exposing the problem with real facts.

Thanks.

Best regards

Hi, again.

After explaining the issue to the people at the Apple Store, as long as the iMac was under warranty (10 months after purchase), they took it to be repaired at no cost.

It was the first time they had to fix such an issue. Even they had some problems to classify the issue under warranty as long as the iMac is not considered to have any physical malfunction but with void warranty.

I had to wait 5 working days for the spare part to get to the store. Not only the spring was broken but it also damaged the heat dissipator of the motherboard. They changed also the whole motherboard. The hard disk was changed and now it works fine. Nevertheless you have to sign a paper acknowledging the you may suffer complete data loss: So doing a full backup is a good thing before going to the store.

After the repair I purchased an AppleCare protection plan. Now I know that the iMac can have this kind of issues and it is safer to be protected.

The people at the store where very kind and behaved in a timely manner.

My story:

-iMac stand broken.

-EU warranty 24 months.

-Official Apple service repair line was 1 month long.

-Official Apple service took my problem at the one month service line, and let me keep my iMac home that time, so that my work does not suffer.

-Got message that it was my turn at the line, got my iMac to the service, Official Apple repair fixed my iMac "leg" one working day.

-This cost me nothing and was warranty issue, there was no any questions or arguing that was this issue warranty or not case, everything went smooth and fast and free of charge.

-My iMac 2013 is in working condition at my home now, all good.

-Finland 2014 (hope that this does not happen again after one year)

Guys, If you live in the EU, Apple will honour the repair under the 'fit for purpose' laws. i.e. if you can prove the product was substandard when it was manufactured, you can claim a free repair if the 'item' is less than 5 years old. Mine failed in the same way as many others on here and Apple stuck to their word and repaired my iMac for free even though it was out of the one year warranty.

I suppose that is one good thing about living in the EU, not that I want to spark a debate in this forum 🙂

Add my 27" iMac (Late 2013) to the list.

As I was working on the computer in my office this morning, that sound ("pop!") that many on this string have described occurred. I am fortunate that my office is walking distance from an Apple Store, and I have an appointment set for tomorrow. I am within the first year from the purchase date (actually within 5 months) and the genius bar staff has already confirmed that it will not cost me anything (excluding the hours that I cannot work on the computer while it is being repaired).

I'll send an update if the results of the repairs or communications with Apple shed any new insights to the community. Thanks for the details; this string provided the Clif-Notes on the topic in a flash.

Tell whomever you speak with at Apple that you refuse to pay for it, because it is an obvious design flaw that would have happened regardless of what you did and it is not something that is considered 'normal use'. Explain that you found this thread with more and more customers coming forward with this issue and that it is an obvious design flaw.

The Apple Rep I spoke with said that he believes Apple will cover this regardless of warranty considering it is appearing to be a known defect with the design. Also, I know of some other customers that were out of warranty that claim Apple is paying for the repair.

Try and fight it! You should not have to pay for a design flaw. I certainly would not.

Hope that helps!

HI Tipu,

yes got it fixed from ABM care, it wasn't a smooth experience dealing with them though.

My iMac was under warranty, but the technician claimed no mechanical parts covered under standard warranty. However they acknowledge the issue and he has to put in a request to Apple to cover this 'mechanism' issue under warranty. Eventually after 15days they got it fixed free of cost.

Be prepared to leave your iMac there for 2 weeks (may be more now due to holidays). Also ABM care answers 1 in 5 calls only, unfortunately we don't have much options.

My trip to the Apple store didn't go quite as I had hoped, but they are aware of the issue and will fix it no questions asked.

The Genius that helped me hadn't heard of the problem so when I described the plastic bit that broke he said that he was sure that there were no plastic pieces in the mechanism...until the Genius next to him said that in fact there were and that it was an "out of warranty repair authorization" (meaning that even if the warranty had expired they would still fix it). Since I have Apple Care it's still in warranty.

The gentleman that helped me couldn't find a specific repair class or whatever so he entered the closest one he could find on his iPad, "Squeaky hinge".

The Apple Care rep I talked to on the phone called the local Apple store to see if they had they part in stock. When he called me back he said that they told him that they had to disassemble it to see if they had the right part or parts. However the Genius said that they didn't need to take it apart; he had checked and they didn't have the part. He said that it would take two to three days to get there and if I wanted to take my iMac back they would notify me when the part(s) came in. So it was a bit of a waste of time to take it in, but at least I can still use it and knowing that they'll get repaired sooner or later is good.

To be continued.

I just had this repair done and it was a bad experience from a customer relations point of view.

Hinge failed. Made appointment and dropped it off. Fixed 3 days later. They wanted to charge me $28 for the hinge that was broken because the manager considered it a consumable part and the hinge is subject to wear and tear, which would negate it from warranty coverage. I called tech support and they said it should be covered unless it was from damage (it wasn't obviously) but there seemed to be some latitude in the language to consider this hinge subject to wear and tear (********).

I was upset at this but couldn't really argue the point any longer. But when I went to go pick it up, a different rep rang me up, and it came out to $0.

So whatever I got what I wanted, but things still really aren't clear.

I do have Apple Care. When I contacted Apple by phone the gentleman said that Apple was "working on the issue" and that there wouldn't be a charge.

That said, the first gentleman I spoke to at the Genius bar at our local Apple store was unaware of the problem and said that I might have to pay for a repair. But the Genius next to him overheard the conversation and said that it was an "out of warranty repair authorization" (meaning that even if the warranty had expired they would still fix it) and that I wouldn't be charged. He wasn't aware that I had Apple Care.

So yes, if I were you I'd contact Apple and (politely) ask about a refund.

paperiebakery

What I believe is that paying to have my imac repaired is completely insane,inappropriate, and dishonest. It is clearly a design problem, and as a client, who trusted in the brands name and as a client who payed almost 3 times more hoping to have a better product, I believe we should not pay for absolutely nothing, not even a cent. APPLE should resolve the problem with or without apple care, it's their mistake, otherwise it is consider to be disrespectful with all the people who wrote on all of these 14 pages, and who knows how many more. At least I'd like to receive an answer or an apology from them, as a minimum expression of understanding they know something went wrong, but all I here is your warranty expired, pay more than you have already have.

Had you read even the previous page of this thread or so you'd understand that Apple has in fact acknowledged the problem and is repairing 27" iMac hinges that have failed at no charge, in or out of warranty.

One more to count in the famous "spring-break" of recent iMac models. Mine is a 27-inch late-2013 model. Last week, I found it head-down, playing Droopy. After finding this thread and being assured I was not the only one, I sure enough contacted Apple (here in Turkey). Although the system was purchased last year Feb 10, 2014 and as Apple does not offer AppleCare in Turkey yet, their material is under warranty for a generous 2-years.

Apple now have 2 stores in Istanbul, Turkey (with Genius Bars and all the perks) however, due to popular demand, it is impossible to find a free slot to book an appointment. Therefore the person from Apple on the phone recommended I contact one of their Authorised Reseller & Service Provider called World Information Technologies (WIT). I did that and explained the situation. They were aware of rare cases on the 21-inch but had never encountered it with 27-inch models yet. Nonetheless, despite the original Apple process which usually takes about 3-4 days, they were very helpful and agreed to order the piece ahead of time and I simply took it in yesterday and picked it up today. So thumbs up to WIT and their tech-guy Fatih there! The repair was covered by Apple's warranty and I did not pay a cent, which was great as well.

As I was told the faulty piece would go back to Apple, I hurried and took a few photos of it to share with you all. You can see them following this link: https://flic.kr/s/aHsk8pPqmR and in particular this photo: https://flic.kr/p/rtVteg (see below smaller) to better understand the issue here.

There is of course no guarantee this will not happen again, just crossing fingers... Good luck to all of you!

Aloha gang,

Ok, so here is my followup. I called Apple on March 16, 2015 and got my case escalated up to a "Senior Advisor" who directed me to the nearest Apple Store for inspection of my computer and in this case it was going to be MacNet Maui an Apple Authorized Service Provider(only option on here on Maui) which is on the other side of the island about an hour away. At around noon on March 18, 2015 I carefully packed up my late 2013 27" iMac in it's original box(than God I actually still had it) and took my busted computer to the MacNet store. Upon arriving the tech asked what he could do for me and I said that I'm another member of the Spring Hinge Parts Failure Club and he smiled and chuckled saying something to the extent of "No problem, we're familiar with the repair, and have the part in stock". I was charged $147.81 total for the service at this point and told it would be a day or two.

Part number 923-00151 MECHANISM,27"IMAC $41.95

In-Store Support & Labor Fee $99.95

Plus tax $5.91

They didn't finish the repair until today March 21,2015. At pick up I asked about if I was perhaps going to be reimbursed for the my payment thus far mentioning that my folks here in this forum were getting "Out of Warranty Repair Authorization" and that this design flaw was know by Apple and they had been covering repairs costs beyond the original one year warranty. But no luck for me. I still had to eat the $147.81 repair cost. The tech said that Apple hadn't call them and or there was nothing in their system that said to charge $00.00 dollars for the repair and that I should call Apple again. So I called Apple before I left MacNet but couldn't get thru to my "Senior Advisor" so I just called Apple Care again and escalated my case up to another "Senior Advisor" but still no luck. He said that currently there is no "program" in place to cover this out of warranty repair. He did say that I could go to http://www.apple.com/feedback/ and leave some feedback pertaining to my issue and that might help to get this problem better known. I guess if enough people leave feedback perhaps Apple will acknowledge the problem and make it part of their

Exchange and Repair Extension Programs

http://www.apple.com/support/exchange_repair/

EU minimum warranty is 24 months ( 2 years), my iMac leg was fixed authorised Apple service, with out any cost.

they need to order new spring system first, and I did not have to leave my iMac there, so when new part arrived, it took one business day to fix.

(Finland)