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

GraftonTV wrote:

I would love to know how those without Apple Care were able to get their screens fixed. We had TWO Imac 17" do these within two weeks of each other. They were both purchased at the same time. This has to be addressed and covered regardless of Apple Care. It is a design flaw and nothing less in our option, and Apple should recognize and remedy the issue.

17" iMacs were never affected. Perhaps you should proof your text before posting.

EDIT: Glad you fixed your goof.

I had this happen to me mid 2014, (on a late 2012 model bought in mid 2013) about one month after the 1 year warranty expired. I never took out Apple Care either, so thought I was doomed, and just tried to forget about it. But I recently contacted Apple Support (and surprisingly got through even though I had to provide my iMac serial to proceed). Anyway I now have an appointment at the local Genius Bar to look into it (so far no mention of any pending charges). I think this is because when I spoke to Apple Support I told them the problem and the fact this is a known fault, and that regardless of being out of warranty with no Apple Care, I wanted to lodge a complaint about this. I also told them I was suffering posture issues (which I am) due to not being able to efficiently position the screen.

They put me onto a manager who happily said she would personally handle my case. She also advised that in the UK and Europe, there is some sort of consumer law that covers the mechanical parts if there is a fault in the build or design.

All this was prompted because I decided I was going to change the iMac stand to a 3rd party desk mount type stand, that uses a Vesa Mount to attach it to the monitor. The Vesa Mount requires that you remove the iMac stand, which is actually easier than I thought, but when I tried to do that I was unable to remove it, which I think is down to the broken spring mechanism. So this got me well peed off! and I decided to contact Apple Support and let them know my feelings.

I'll update after my Genius appointment, at the end of this week.

This is my news after posting few pages ago about the same problem happening again, this time out o warranty so they wanted to charge me 485,00€ (euro)!! Incredible!

well I googled out for shopping the hinge, bought it for 30€ and I fixed it by myself! Up to those losers who don't admit their own fault! Allowing thausends of people to freely criticize such a great brand that Steve Jobs worked 'till death to creat!

I Have written several mails to be contacted and nothing ever happened. I've been an Apple supporter for at least 10 years and being dumped like this was very bad of them. from my little spot what I could do at the moment was not to by the new iPhone SE, which may sound stupid and mean less, but it's a drop and Oceans are made of drops.

thank you

That charge is outrageous! Where did you buy the hinge from?

I Posted the parcel ones, because I made them to live the paper of what they would have charged me for the fix, but the moderator of the support community erased it.

anyway I bought it on eBay.. And it's not hard at all to replace it.. It takes just a big amount of patience

Happened to mine today, purchased new from Apple online in March 2014.

Have no idea what happened as I was outside all day, came in to sit at the computer and it was leaning way down and won't hold it up.

No Apple Store near me and I can't be without my computer for even a day (self employed) so I'll probably just find something or other to hold it in position since I never adjust it anyway (I've got the box from a printer cartridge in there now). I'll try the credit card trick referenced earlier.

Let's hope Apple has fixed this part in later builds.

I didn't want to take mine in because it's out of warranty, the cost of the part/labor, and it's something I can live with. Had some hardware in the garage and made this adjustable solution. There's a small hole / indention that the eye fits into so it doesn't slide down.

You cannot control the angle so easily. You need to adjust by using the thread, nuts and bolts. An old credit card, broke into peaces placed in the slot on the bottom and the top, does the job. You can control the angle, no problem. Its been over 2, and it works like a charm.

I rarely adjust the angle of my screen, but I'm going to give the credit card solution a try. I work with 2 other 27" iMac owners who also have this issue and are using various objects to hold their screens up. Thanks for the tip. I didn't see your post originally.

The SNAP and tilt happened to my Late 2013 27 in iMac today also.

I called AppleCare, they put me on hold for a few minutes, then told me they are aware of the issue and will repair it for free at any Apple authorized repair center. Told me to make an appt at my choice of location and provide them the case number indicating there would be no charge.

Count me in.

It happened two days ago while plugging an usb cable. Late 2013 27" iMac. Same symptoms, even the loud noise (just like a little stone banging on the windshield).

Obviously, the 2 years warranty expired just two months ago.

Before I pack the whole thing and bring this huge beast to the nearest service point, I wanted to be as sure as I can about the repair cost and the extended warranty program many on this thread have been referencing to.

So, I called my local Premium Reseller but the guy on the phone wasn't a technician and didn't manage to talk with any of them.

I then phoned Apple: when I described the issue the guy on the phone said "Awww yeah...." just like "here's another one", so I thought he was perfectly knowing what I was talking about. Instead, he put me on hold for about 5 minutes and then said he couldn't verify the extended warranty program thing and I should contact an Apple Store... Considering I'm about 150 km from the nearest genius bar, I guess this is a bit too long trip.

Does anybody know if there's an internal document or policy number or whatever I could reference to with the support guys, so I can be sure that the repair is free of charge? Or should I simply cross my fingers, bring the huge 27" box to the service point and pray?

Thanks in advance...

Maybe try the approach I took and just ring Apple Support and complain and insit on getting it fixed for free. If you just take it into a Genius Bar they will most likely want to charge you.

Mine is a late 2013 27" that was also out of warranty. The store on University in Fort Worth took care of mine at no charge. I probably would have paid to fix it though since it was already there as it would have only been $67 parts and labor. I don't know if it was due to me mentioning this thread or the fact that Apple is using a plastic washer/retainer to hold back a heavy duty spring but hey, they ate the cost and I left happy.

Bought my 27" iMac in 2015. This just happened to me today. I heard a loud POP, had no idea what it was. Later, I went to tilt my monitor up a bit and it now just falls to the lowest position. I fixed it by cutting out a small egg shaped piece of pine wood. Wrapped the edge with electrical tape to rubberize it. When I need to tilt the monitor up, I just slip it between the monitor and stand and walaa, FIXED!

Should I take it in? Yea, but dreading the genius bar.....

I used this method and works like a charm. Never had any issues.