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

+1 here, 27' iMac purchased in October 2013

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…

This morning whin I booted my 18month mac 27" the stand gave up. Luckly I have apple care. I tried to call apple care but could not get them. I will try again during office hours. As I am in Singapore, I don't know how long it will take to repair at this part of the world.

seeing this thread it's true that it's a design issue. Is the repair include modified parts or apple using the same part number to repair. So after the repair I just need to pray that it should not fail at least 2 years after extended warranty.

I paid $5k to get the top end model.

I've joined the iMac 27" stand failure club over the weekend when I was not even at home! However, after reading all of the woes and how it needs to go away for repair, be prised apart and sometimes comes back mis-aligned I thought I would make a fix of my own. It took me two goes while I understood the forces acting on the stand and iMac due to the angles, but when I figured out what to do it took me around 20 minutes.

If you look at the back you will see the cooling slots that you do not want to cover, and the RAM cover which is weaker than the rest of the back. I looked aroung my garage and found a couple of bits from some bathroom fittings and a bumper fom the front of a metal desk. I pushed the metal bathroom fixing inside the hollow end of the desk bumper and placed it on the metal below the cooling grid, then when the weight of the iMac tries to push itself down to the bottom my improvised bumper stops it at the perfect angle for me. I applied double sided tape to the part touching the iMac to keep it from moving and it is now working as a correct height bumper, invisible unless you look for it.

Now, if my iMac develops a real problem that needs internal work I can get the stand fixed at the same time, if not (hopefully) I will live with it as it is. I can't tell any difference now. You will also be able to do this, maybe with a rubber door stop and something stuck onto the back below the grille, trial and error until you get the right angle. It's so much better than sending it away to be prised apart!

Another to the crowd. I bought a 27 inch imac in june 2013, my stand broke exactly 1.1 year after this. No-one was near the computer when a crack sounded...now my movies have to be watched on a lower chair.

perhaps it is time for apple to admit a design flaw and start repairing these stands...

//morgan

BAM! Same here just now, loud crash front of my eyes, and now my iMac late 2013 is leaning down 😟

Dam!

My late 2012 27" iMac stand failed today. Will be a 4-5 hour job at Apple store in OKC. Am curious if a reengineered hinge will be installed or will the new one fail in another 18 months.

Same thing just happened to me. I was using my 27" iMac and there was this laud crack and now when I try to change the position it doesn't hold, exactly as you mentioned. I already scheduled an appointment for tomorrow at the apple store. Hopefully they'll fix it fast as I can't stay without the mac for long.

I just made call to the Apple Service, and they told me the reason for this, it is broken spring inside iMac and it's not big job to fix.

the same thing just happened to me 5 minutes ago and I haven't had the I mac for even 2 months yet 😟 I heared a strong crack in the room while I was going through some paperwork and though someone had just thrown a stone against a window or so, then I noticed the monitor of teh computrer had a strange angle and couldn't adjust it any longer so I searched online adn here are your comments guys 😟 I even live in an isolated place in the mountains with no Apple Store nearby... 😟

I just got the same problem yesterday. I was not touching or moving the screen when a loud crack came from it. The screen bend and stay in that position. My computer has 1 year and a half since I buy it. I was stupid and forgot to renew the apple care so probably if I got it fixed will cost me a fortune.

Its a shame for a computer that cost a high amount of money to brake it self like this. Apple is a very expensive computer this type of problem should be avoid with better inspection.

Im really sad because its the first time I had any problem with a Mac. As I can see here, is not an isolated problem.

Im waiting now to check how much is gonna cost and how long to repair this faulty stand

😕😟😮

Our Apple Service says that this dilema is Warranty issue, and remember people, if you are living at EU area, all you stuff has Two year EU warranty, this concerns Apple all so here in EU.

(http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/shopping/shopping-abroad/guarantees/index_e n.htm)

i had the same problem, it cost me USD 600.. I haven't agree to fix it yet.. it seems many people are having the same problem. if it is a fault in design, Apple should have fix the problem for free since it's their fault. what happened if we fix it with the body replacement and in a couple month it snaps again? a fault design is a fault design, no mater how many times you replace it.. it still a fault design..

i think i'll hold the repair..

Why not do my fix? It is detailed up this page and it works great.

My fix costs virtually nothing, it takes 30 mins or so to find something to use to do it and hardly any time to fix it. Use super strength double sided tape on the back of the iMac and let it rest on the stand. Rock solid!

"After reading all of the woes and how it needs to go away for repair, be prised apart and sometimes comes back mis-aligned I thought I would make a fix of my own. It took me two goes while I understood the forces acting on the stand and iMac due to the angles, but when I figured out what to do it took me around 20 minutes.

If you look at the back you will see the cooling slots that you do not want to cover, and the RAM cover which is weaker than the rest of the back. I looked aroung my garage and found a couple of bits from some bathroom fittings and a bumper fom the front of a metal desk. I pushed the metal bathroom fixing inside the hollow end of the desk bumper and placed it on the metal below the cooling grid, then when the weight of the iMac tries to push itself down to the bottom my improvised bumper stops it at the perfect angle for me. I applied double sided tape to the part touching the iMac to keep it from moving and it is now working as a correct height bumper, invisible unless you look for it.

Now, if my iMac develops a real problem that needs internal work I can get the stand fixed at the same time, if not (hopefully) I will live with it as it is. I can't tell any difference now. You will also be able to do this, maybe with a rubber door stop and something stuck onto the back below the grille, trial and error until you get the right angle. It's so much better than sending it away to be prised apart!