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

Hi all,

I was just sitting watching TV when there was a loud crack and my iMac screen suddenly tilted down - now the screen will not stay where it is tilted / positioned. I was not using the mac at the time and it was not doing anything it just broke on its own. The mac was only bought in February and has not been moved or tilted once it was in place. This looks like a major design flaw to me as a 10 month mac just fails on its own! Has anyone else suffered this malfunction?

I have yet to contact apple as the store will be closed now but am interested to know if anyone else has suffered the same problem and what apples response was?


I will keep you guys posted once I have spoken to Apple


<Edited by Host>

iMac (27-inch, Late 2012), OS X Mavericks (10.9.1), Stand failure

Posted on Dec 28, 2013 9:34 AM

Reply
709 replies

Mar 12, 2014 9:17 AM in response to Mr Mo-Fo

Hi Guys,

I thought that I had actually put a reply on this after I got my Mac back - anyway 4 days later I had my mac back all repaired - the tech told me that the actual spring and bolt on one side had shattered completely so I was surprised it did not damage the mobo!!

Anyway all is good but it does make me wonder how long it will be before the other side fails :-( and I have to go down this route AGAIN!!! and if that does happen then it will be down to using my Apple Care so not sure if they will try and charge me for the repair (but I will also point them at this thread and say that it does look like a definite design fault).


dzimking the repair is quite easy so I am led to believe BUT unfortunately to action a repair you have no choice but to remove the screen as it is bonded on - there is no way to access or repair the stand without removing the screen. There are kits that you can get which contain the speacial tool to run along the outer edge of the screen that cuts the bonding material and then a replacement bonding strip to be able to put it all back together (do a search on google for Mac parts - sorry I cannot remember the URL that I went to) also there are break down guides on the web such as on ifixit if you want to face this challenge - dont forget that this path will invalidate any warrenty that you have.


To be honest I dont know how many Apple stores / repairers there are in Zimbabwe but you will probably be better off getting them to do it as the repair does not take long to do as long as you can find someone and they can get the parts.


I hope all goes well for you and let us know how you get on - if you contact Apple then they may lay on a courier service but then the repair will take longer depending where it has to go for the repairs.

Mar 13, 2014 1:18 AM in response to Mr Mo-Fo

Thanks for the reply MO_FO,


well there is one place here in zim that is covered buy the mac warrenty, there is another that is not, which I believe they are a better store as they are Apple followeres through and through, but apple will not give them the licsense for support, which I find very fustrating, I did write a letter saying would it not be better to have compotition to keep the standard up but no reply, sadly.


The last time I went to the other store was 8years ago, when I took my laptop in and needed my optical drive looked at, it was handed back with two screws threaded and a screwdriver wedge in the front where they had tried to lift the keyboard and had not taken all the screws out. The techinian had the ordasity to say it was there before I brought it in. So I went to the manager who said its my word against his... of which I stood up told everyone in the shop they were buying an amazing product but the support in this shop was(excuse my words) Fu£*&% crap and walked out with out paying.


The worst thing is the manager was I guy I new, and used to do all his design work for him when he owned a PC company... no surprise there!! I have heard that they have picked up there standard since then but I'm still not sure I trust them.


So I have three choices send it to South Africa...(take to long have to much work but safest option). take it to them (and cross my fingers) or three do it myself ( which I was happy to do a few days after I got the imac and found that I had forgotten to order a fusion drive so was going to do it myself until I found out the risks and costs if I stuff it)


Choices choice...

Will keep you posted on what I do.. ;o)

Mar 23, 2014 10:52 PM in response to Mr Mo-Fo

I had the exact same problem with my 27" 2013 iMac. I was using it and it just went crack in front of me and tilted forward. Took it into the Apple store on 4 March and the Genius there made remarks like, "I've never seen this happen before. Are you sure you didn't drop it?" I said no and he conceded that there would have been more damage or bending to the stand and said that it'd be a repair inside the warranty. They said 3-5 days. After 1 week I phoned and was told they were waiting on a part that should arrive today or tomorrow. Two days later I called and got the same reply. I asked to speak to one of the repairers and he said that they were having trouble finding the rear housing and that no one in Australia had any in stock so they had to source one from another part of the world. I finally got my iMac back on 20 March.


I got it home and I noticed that I could not insert my thunderbolt display into the rear port or couldn't connect the lan cable. It appears that the housing is slightly askew and is blocking entry to these ports. Also there is a strange burn mark on the bottom left hand corner of my screen that was not there before the repair. Lastly they didn't take OSX out of diagnostic mode so when I booted it up it flashed the globe icon and took ages. I found a fix for this myself however.


I've called the Apple store to relay my dissatisfaction but they want me to bring it back in again. I use the iMac for work (self-employed) and its absence has impacted me quite a lot in the past two weeks.


Is this standard?

Mar 24, 2014 5:43 AM in response to translucent18

Not standard, give AppleCare a call and let them know what has occured. If you need ask for your case to be escalated. Be polite, have your facts straight and be persistent.


There have been a very few reports of these failures, not enough to warrant a problem however if the issue occurs to you as it has then that does not matter. Just contact AppleCare and ask for the case to be escolated, you may even want to request a replacement machine.

Mar 28, 2014 6:30 AM in response to Mr Mo-Fo

Hello, as of last night this has happened twice (2x) to me within a 4 month period, I have a genius appt. later today and am so frustrated by this that I may try to go another route. I was told they would work with me to find a better solution, possibly just go for a macbook pro or a different display setup Idk... I did not hear any cracking noises as previously described with my first stand failure however, last night I did hear what sounded like someone dropping a box of matches on the table, lo and behold my monitor will not stay up now. I hope Apple realizes they have an issue, however small.

Apr 9, 2014 12:21 PM in response to Mr Mo-Fo

Just had the spring mount fail on my 2013 27" 3.4 iMac. I do have Applecare and would be really interested in hearing more from others with the issue, regarding the repair time. Like "translucent18", I too operate a small business (video), and this is my main editing machine. While it may be annoying for moderate use, the 8-15/hr edit sessions I have to do for work are brutal right now, as the screen is increadable dificult to view. That said, it really nees to be fixed, where a single day with out my machine is highly inconvenient, anything more than 3 days would be disastorous for my workflow. Any info or advise on fast-tracking a repair would be appreciated.

Apr 18, 2014 2:56 PM in response to Mr Mo-Fo

Same thing just happend to my 27" mac (purchased new almost exactly a year ago, in March 2013).


I heard a very loud sound coming from the computer while streaming a tv show last night. It sounded like something heavy hit it. All I saw was the screen slightly shaking, as if someone just moved the computer desk. Couldn't figure out where the sound came from until I sat behind it the next day and tried tilting the screen up. It just fell back to it's lowest position.


I called Apple Care immidiately and got the same answer - the technitian never heard of this problem before - happy to find this thead to help establish that I'm not alone in this problem!


From the sound of it, this issue is starting to happen to more and more people! Taking it in to the genius bar tomorrow.

Apr 26, 2014 4:38 AM in response to Mr Mo-Fo

Let's add my iMac to the list. Bought a year and half ago, crack! and droop last night while I was in the room but not using it. I have a roll of duct tape wedged in between the back of the screen and the stand to hold it up. If I found out it will be insanely costly or they will have my computer forever, this may have to be my 'permanent' solution. If you think about it, that screen is terribly front-heavy and it is predictable that something like this would/could happen. I have had one Apple or another for 20+ years and I am honestly not surprised. They used to build a much sturdier product in the old days,

Apr 28, 2014 6:07 AM in response to enokidake

I'm a member of this growing club as well. Bought my 27" iMac in summer 2013 and one day in march 2014, *crack* - and my screen hangs limply down.


As a temporary fix, I've propped an old 6" ruler between the curve of the base and the little rubber collar of the power cable, and this is presenting the screen at a comfortable angle for work. It's of course not ideal, as I can no longer adjust the screen for various lighting conditions.


The real question for me now is when I can afford to be without my computer for the week it would take to get repaired. This is a classic 'threshold' question -- so long as the annoyance owing to the decreased functionality of the screen stand is less than the hassle involved in hauling it off to the Apple Store (risking further damage by dropping, banging) and the loss of use for a week, it's not going to get fixed. But I need to get it done at some point if only to preserve the resale value of the machine.


Rats.

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

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