27 iMac (2012) crashes and requires smc reset to turn on

I'm absolutely gutted to say that after 4 weeks of relative calm since installing CUDA, I'm back at square one, for no reason at all multiple shut downs within a couple of hours. Honestly thought I was close to a solution. 😟

Update - but not convinced. Having ( for 10 days in a row ) unplugged the Imac at close of play until it wakes itself at 7am for routine backups - no failures, the machine has now been running for a further 7 days without the unplug routine and SMC reset without any crashes. Not so sure it is a hardware issue.

I've been having the same problems. started a few months back. been at the apple store twice. had the fusion drive replaced and then a full system wipe. every time its around 2 weeks later the random shut downs start. Apple store blamed software last time, which is odd since it will shutdown without loading any apps. usually struggles to stay on for more then a minute once it happens.

not really sure how to sort this either. massively affecting my work since its my main work computer.

will be following this thread closely

late 2012 imac 27''

3.4ghz i7

16gb crucial mem

3TB Fusion Drive

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2GB GDDR5

How long can you run before it turns off again? I've been having the same issue. It's no problem for me to unplug my computer at night but I need 8 hours of uninterrupted work time during the day. I used to put it in sleep mode at night but that seemed to speed up the crashes.

Well, my office wakes up at. 7am and the computers do an auto backup (CCC) and are generally not switched off again until 6pm earliest - often much later according to studio work load. As I said in my last post, I am not convinced but we have had no crashes at all after continuously unplugging overnight over a period of about 10 days and since then we have not needed to unplug at all.

Same issue for me.

I have this iMac:

late 2012 imac 27''

3.4ghz i7

32gb Ram

3TB Fusion Drive

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2GB GDDR5

I have notice that the last two time when the pc shuts down were during the pass from Bootcamp to Mac.

In particular from Bootcamp and Windows when I press "restart". In this case instead to restart the system on OSX, the iMac shuts down. So I had to remove the plug and wait some minutes...

In my case, the 95% of the times the iMac shuts down was during the use of Windows (on Bootcamp). 5% of the time during the use of OSX.

I don't know if it may help...

I've had the same issue with my late 2012 27" 3.4 GHz i7 750 SSD 32GB imac, running 10.10.5. (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2048 MB)

It's definitely a graphics card issue. I was dealing with debilitating shutdowns. I wiped my drive and did a complete system reinstall (did not install any NiViDA/CUDA drivers). My imac runs like a beast now. I worked on a 4k project in After Effects (Creative Cloud 2015 version) this past week and haven't had any shutdowns. Trust me, I pushed it hard. I worked on the project for 10 hrs straight yesterday. I don't know what I'm going to do when I have to render it out.. I can't use GPU without the Nivida Cuda drivers.

This is on Apple.. They put a graphics card inside these imacs that are faulty. I can't belive they haven't recalled the machines for this issue.

First of all imac isn't meant to be used under severe usage like hours of rendering. Ventilation isn't enough for that usage. Despite that, it worked 3 years. It's not bad at all for low profile slim computer.

Hello,

I have come across this problem in the last 2 weeks now. I am a freelance Editor/Asst. Editor working on a:

27" Late 2012

Yosemite 10.10.5

3.2 GHz Intel Core i5

8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX 1024 MB

I purchased this in June 2013 and have had no issues up until this month. I am guessing I should have purchased the extra apple care service? Or is there is a solution as to why my computer crashes every hour or so? I originally thought it was Adobe Premiere with their new updates but after reinstalling that, verify/repairing permissions with no problems, doing the opt + cmd + P + R at boot thing, and now have been trying to Time Machine back up but my machine won't even stay on long enough without crashing for it to complete a back up. At this point there are only a few programs I would need to somehow get back but want to see what I should do before reformatting.

I keep reading about similar issues regarding the power supply, the graphics card, or the logic board but is there a way to tell without spending a lot of money? What are some more steps I can do to fix/test/figure out this issue? I need this for work and is quite embarrassing to have it crashing while having a group edit session. Please let me know if more information is needed.

Add me to the list too.

27" late 2012 iMac

Yosemite 10.10.4

3.4 GHz Intel Core i7

32 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2048 MB

Just had the fusion drive replaced last week under the HD replacement program - Started shutting down again this morning. This most often happens when using Adobe Premiere but can happen at other times too.

Clearly something is failing or not operating properly - probably graphics or power related. I have CUDA running and I'm using the latest Nvidia Web drivers but none of these things have helped.

Apple, I am a poor professional who spent every penny on this computer 2 1/2 years ago hoping it would last for 5. This is not good enough. Please may we have an official response on this issue which is clearly not isolated judging by quantity of posts on this issue.

I"m having the very same issue with my late 2012 model 27 inch iMac and am SO frustrated! Apple had it for two weeks and "couldn't replicate the problem" which is bull, since it was crashing on ME every few hours. Geek Squad ended up doing system restore and it has crashed once since getting it back yesterday. This late model 2012 imac is clearly a lemon and Apple refuses to deal with it. I spent almost $3 k on it and it's just a fancy paper weight now. This isn't an event, it's a pattern. Apple you suck.

same thing here, and yes, only have had problems since Yosemite upgrade.

I believe the lack of response is due to these machine's being out of warranty - over 2 years old. They don't care. I'm sure a firmware update would fix this though and maybe 10.11 won't be such a dog of an OS.

I have managed to get some work done by unplugging the computer whenever I can; overnight, lunchtimes, etc... This definitely helps the machine work longer without crashing.

I am also one experiencing the same problem with my iMac.

iMac 27" (late 2012)

Yosemite 10.10.5

2,9 GHz Intel Core i5

16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M 512 MB

I have had this ongoing issue for more than 5 months and been in contact with Apple Care, and they seem powerless, not wanting to deal with a known problem. I will try to get it replaced in one way or another as it´s been in and out of service without any results. Having spent hours re-installing and formatting the system and YET nothing changes I urge everyone with this random shutdown issue to contact Apple and or Apple Care. If many address the same issue surely they will have to act in one way or another!

Adding my machine to the ongoing list. Please note I have an active Apple Care Warranty.

The issue began 4 weeks ago. Apple Hardware Test diagnosed a bad ram module (all components are stock). Genius Bar session 1 replicated the error and made the same diagnosis -- RAM was replaced. Within 2 days, the system continued to intermittently shut down requiring a SMC reset. Genius Bar session 2: kept the system for 72 hours to replicate the issue. Issue was replicated and Apple is replacing the logic board.

As many have expressed, although Apple appears to at least recognize this being an issue for my system, I am very concerned this is a cascading issue. If the issue continues following a logic board replacement, I am hard pressed to believe replacing a power supply, HD, video card, etc will resolve the issue.

iMac 27 (Late 2012)

3.4 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7

8 GB RAM 1600 DDR3

1 TB Fusion Drive

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX