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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

May 9, 2016 12:18 AM in response to Mr Mo-Fo

Add one more to the ever growing list of broken stands, mine's just gone pop :-((


Can anyone confirm the latest on whether apple are replacing like for like on the broken part, or if an upgraded (fit for purpose) part is now used in the fix?


Like the credit card temp fix, works like a dream and stops me spending too! :-)


Chris.

May 9, 2016 11:23 AM in response to Chrisl68

I just joined the club too. Late 2012 27" iMac. Was sitting in my office last week and heard a loud bang - somebody previously in this thread describes it as rock hitting your windshield and that's a pretty accurate description. Monitor droops and won't stay in position. Called AppleCare, they made an appointment at my local Apple store which I had this morning.


Long of the short of it: the repair costs $28.41 in parts and $39 in labor for a total of $67.41 and takes 3-5 days. I went ahead and authorized it. A little annoyed that I had to pay anything, but I guess I'd rather pay $67 than wedge crap into the stand.

May 9, 2016 12:30 PM in response to Chrisl68

... bit of an update. Called Apple and got told to take it to the local store, so I asked to escalate the case no. while relaying the information and following the guidance within this thread. This resulted in them being incredibly helpful and agreeing to complete the repair FOC at my local store with authorisation from Apple International Distribution.


It seems this issue does not flag on the advisors screen, but once escalated is a known issue by the Senior Staff, or that's how it appeared today. I was also assured that the fix is a modification to the original plastic washer arrangement.


Will update once the work has been completed. Thanks to everyone who's posted, great thread.


Chris.

May 13, 2016 6:26 PM in response to Mr Mo-Fo

Whoa. this literally JUST happened to me. I had turned from the iMac for about 1 minute as I was responding to a text on my iPhone. Then "POP!"


I heard a sound that startled me as it was loud and I saw in my peripheral vision that the screen on the iMac had suddenly tilted downward.


iMac is late 2013 BTO. wow. I have never ever had anything like this happen with an Apple product. If not a design flaw, then must have been a batch of fault hinges.


How long is the turnaround if I take it to the Apple Store?

May 13, 2016 6:41 PM in response to licm

I dropped mine off on Monday morning and picked it up this (Friday) morning. When I did I showed the Apple genius this 41-page thread, explaining that it's obviously a design defect and many people are reporting that Apple repaired it free of charge, but the matter apparently needs to be escalated to a supervisor for that to happen. My guy was kind of dismissive of the forum, it's an unusual problem, not affecting many units, blah blah blah, and he said this is something I should have handled with Applecare when I had them on the phone. I said well look, I wasn't aware of the scope of the problem either, but I do think it's a design defect, there's a guy with a company on here who says half of his Macs have failed in this way, and I'd really like to speak to a supervisor about it. So he want to his boss who approved waiving the fee for the repair. So based on this experience I would advise people, when they call Applecare, to escalate the issue there rather than in the store.


But in the end, Apple did the right thing and I have my iMac back and the stand is working correctly.

May 24, 2016 9:45 AM in response to Mr Mo-Fo

Final update... got my late 2013 27" iMac back from it's stand failure repair in Zürich. All work completed FOC as agreed with Apple Distribution International. Fantastic service, great quality work, not a scratch ... perfect. They said they've had many back both screen sizes and recognised it as FOC work. Well done Apple, great support.

Jun 2, 2016 8:51 AM in response to Mr Mo-Fo

Add me to the list... I´m so ANGRY!! I don´t let ANYONE get close to my imac... And it just popped when I wasn´t even in the room.

I saw this video (https://youtu.be/06gdrDps2No about the PLASTIC piece Apple ¨designed¨ for it to brake after we loose warranty over the product, which made me angrier.... but it helped.. so I guess I´ll try some quick (pen-eraser-holder) fix while I find courage to open my poor baby...

She looks sad looking down. 😢

Jun 10, 2016 4:05 AM in response to Mr Mo-Fo

Unfortunately one can add my 2014 27" iMac to the list to. Today I just could not bellieve when this morning I sit on my desk and found my iMac tilted down and the night before was perfectly fine.


On my opinion this is a major design flaw, and it should be taken as a flaw by apple with a recall for replacement of this part.


For now I'm sustaining in correct position with a pencil eraser between the foot and the monitor to. But this is not a way to fix a 2000€ premium machine.


Shame on you Apple.

Jun 11, 2016 6:18 PM in response to Mr Mo-Fo

I called Monday and asked that my case be escalated. I quickly got approval for a FOC repair and made an appointment for the next day. I took it to the Apple Store Tuesday and was told it would probably take 3-5 days. I got an email and a phone call early the next morning (approximately 17 hours after I left my Mac) to let me know it was ready to pick up.


It's now fine. Everyone I dealt with was friendly and helpful.

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

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