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

It's what the Genius Bar guy told me when I took mine in for repairs last Friday (Oct. 2nd, 2015).

This seems to be a rather strange argument. Are you saying that style means a sacrifice of quality? Not so with a few hundred luxery brands I can think of.

I called Apple, and there was no argument whatsoever, I was told to take it to an Apple dealer and three days later it was fixed.

The company is SO aware this is a manufaturing defect. I'm very happy to have it fixed!

i have an iMac 27 inch that i am calling about right now with the same problem. Okay I'm told that between late 2013 and mid 2014 there was a design flaw with the swivel mechanism that causes it to just "fail". I was not even near my screen when i heard a loud snap and noticed my screen was drooping. It even forced the power cable from the back of the screen. Anyway they are telling me once its reported i can get it fixed ...no charge... at either an apple store or a certified apple repair shop in my area. As you mentioned the swivel mechanism is pretty sturdy save for a part that causes it to lose it springiness, if you will. I am glad i came across this thread. I'm sure i would have found out eventually and paid for the service.

Add another one to the list. Mid 2013 bought as a refurb from Apple Summer 2014.

After a weekend out of town, I came home to my monitor drooping down. I went to tilt it up and thought, "Wow, this thing is heavy or maybe a cord is stretched and stuck." Unfortunately not a cord tangled or pulled on. The hinge also snapped. 😢

Will try the Chicago Clybourn Apple store to see if they are covering it.

I am happy to report that a repair appointment at my local Apple store has resolved this issue at no cost to me - even though I have owned the computer for a couple years now and I am not under any AppleCare program. The store employee acknowledged this to be a known issue. In my case they were able to complete the repair in two days.

Thanks for sharing this information. My late 2013 bought in the summer is 2014 came down too. I'm planning on getting a new iMac and once I have the new one up an running I will take the broken 2013 to the Genius Bar for repair.

This just happened to me today to my 2014 iMac. I was sitting at the computer, and then suddenly a crack, and the monitor drooped down. I brought this in to Apple on 5th ave, and I am out of warranty with no Apple Care. They will replace this for free and it's a known problem. Hope this helps.

mid 2013 27" imac ....JUST LIKE MJ SANG...."YOU ARE NOT ALONE..." LOL ****, HAD THE SNAP WITHOUT THE CRACKLE AND POP BUT THEN HAD THE DROP.

You guys wanna know the funniest thing though, I kid you not, I was actually on the page to checkout for a new 27" 5k retina model and thought hmmm, I will call them Monday and run it thru my biz, usually get 10% off like i did with the one im on now,....and then, it all happened, SNAP and plop. hahaha......maybe my windows machine got jealous of the mac and sabotaged it! or did the mac just get even because I run win 7 64 bit pro via bootcamp....crazzzzzy. Im gonna call them next week and get a work visit to fix, still got applecare warranty till mid 2016 so i noticed.

This happened to me tonight. I heard the loud POP and couldn't figure out where the sound came from until I went to use my iMac (27-inch, Late 2013). The screen was tilted forward and wouldn't stay in position after I attempted to adjust it. I have Apple Care and called them. The support person assured me that it would be covered so long as there was no visible damage. Then she proceeded to tell me she'd "never heard of such a thing. That it's so weird." She then went on to ask me if I'd been placing anything on top of the screen or attaching anything to it. 😠 All that was running through my mind was a hope that Apple's award winning customer service was still holding strong. Don't go trying to make this my fault. While I was still on the phone with her and listening to her explain how weird this event was, I ran a google search "iMac screen pop and tilt fail" which earned me a nice selection of hits. Which I shared with support. I know she's doing her job, but the implication that I'd done something to the screen, or was attempting to manufacture an issue was rather insulting. I paid nearly $3K for this machine. And now I have to pack it up, pray that it's not damaged in transit, drive it 90 minutes away, and sit tight for however long (hours or days) it takes to repair... all while being six weeks from a deadline. I'm not unreasonable. I know bad stuff happens and failures happen and there's no way around it sucking majorly. But let's avoid adding insult to major inconvenience, eh. Because while you tell me it's "just so weird" and "I've never heard of anything like this ever happening" and your tone suggests your humoring me -- the fact that this Apple Support Community thread has a over 400 replies points to someone being full of bologna.

@astrid dont stress apple definitely knows about the issue. Its apparent on all 2012 2013 models....I just got off the phone with the techs which were organised for me after a support call to apple, really fast...dont worry if the apple support person says they have never heard of the issue, that just shows how new they are at their job, apples 100% KNOWS and will fix any imac even out of warranty. its a failure on the hinge part and Ive just also been told the new Imac 5k retinas dont even use the same type of mechanism due to this issue they remodelled it. Your covered, and not sure about your area but i got them to come to me, Im not lugging a 27inch computer around!

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Oooh. I'm glad to hear it. And come to me... that's an amazing thought. I'll certainly see if that's an option. I was sitting here trying to work out how in the world I was supposed to park and cart this sucker however many blocks to the Apple store. Yep, I'll be calling support and inquiring about that as an option. I appreciate the reassurance and the suggestion. I hope your repair is smooth.

Great news to all imac owners in Europe, not sure if it goes for the rest of the world. My imac Late 2013 had the same issue, the hinge broke for no reason. I don't have apple care and bought it almost 2 years ago. Apparently consumer laws in the UK states that manufactures has to warrant electrical devices for manufacturing faults for 6 years, 5 years if you live in Scotland.

After applying for a phone call an Apple support adviser said it was a known problem and they would pay for the repair. They emailed me a list of places to get it repaired. I have booked it in for next week and service centre says it could take a week before they receive the part and can fix it. My imac should be back next week with the repaired screen.

Well done Apple for recognising it's a manufacturing fault and claiming responsibility.

UPDATE

Spoke with apple on Monday, its now wednesday and after 2 hours of fixing my new imac has a new hinge and is working again!

2 DAYS PEOPLE!!!!! Big thumbs up to the tech from Unisys for representing apple in the most professional and thorough way possible!

Now Im going to get on the apple site and buy a new 5k retina version right this minute, Im just so happy with apple!!

You are not alone, mine just did exactly the same but luckily I still have Applecare. Still very distracting and I'll be without it for a day or two

Tonight I get to join this group. My 27" iMac gave out a loud crack and flopped all by itself. It's a few weeks off it's second birthday. I'm only a couple of miles from a genius bar but I need it for my work so I don't want to be without it while it's repaired. I'll have to phone apple tomorrow and plead my case.