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

Update :

After the power supply replacement (cost around $100), the symptom came up again, went to apple store.

I was able to record the video. Also tried reinstall the OS through recovery partition but the power failed while installing Yosemite.

As expected, they recommended to replace logic board which costs around $770. Apple says it would be cheaper than buy new one. Are you kidding?? The computer was almost $3000 and does not run more than one year?? This is wedding gift from my wife which makes me so sad.

This is unacceptable... They told me only thing they can do is refund the cost for power supply.

Not sure what I should do... I really cannot trust Apple's hardware now.

I know the CPU in this logic board is detachable but the engineer says it is soldered. Why cannot just replace board only without CPU which I guess the reason of expensive cost? Even worse, they are not clear if this logic board replacement can fix the issue.

I don't want to pay more $770 for the $3000 machine which I cannot trust anymore, so exhausted. Even it can be fixed, I cannot use the machine with the feeling that it can blackout at any moment.

Sorry to hear of your troubles.

I use mine in my work as a freelance photographer. While editing files in Adobe lightroom the computer just dies, then I loose all my recent edits - very problematic and costing me time and money. Seems to be overall poor temperature management.

My wife, myself and our 3 children, all use and love Apple products .. now, I am not so sure.

Looks like we got stiffed by Apple.

Update 3/3/2015

I have replaced both Power Supply and Logic Board but the symptom is still showing...

Already tried with new RAMs before. Now remaining part is LCD display and CPU. (I've moved my original CPU from old to new logic board)

This becomes clueless. Not sure what I should do.

It's incredible. Same problem here! It's clear that this model has a fault. iMac 27" Late 2012. Four times in technical service. It can't reproduce the problem. No solution. In my house 4 o 6 shutdowns every day. Apple please help your customers.

I think we should report this case to Apple directly. Anybody know where we should contact for this matter?

Yes agreed, but what to do with Apple inc .. How can we get them to listen? There must be 1000's of iMac 27" late 2012 with random shutdown issues.

I never played video games and looked after my computer well. Cost near $3,000 new.

Good question.

How about something like this:

iMac (27-inch): AMD Radeon 6970M Video Card Replacement Program - Apple Support

I have this video card. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2048 MB.

My model (A1419, EMC2546) i7 3.4GHz has nVidia GTX 675MX GPU, not AMD.

Guys, Fametown and Cre8tive, - How can we get Apple Inc. to recognise our random iMac shutdowns?

My specific model is the late 2012 i7 27" (13,2) with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX.

It could be a faulty Power supply part problem or Logic board or other?

At any rate it will cost us $ and the inconvenience to repair.

Yes, let's do some research on more direct contact.

Thread about similar symptom on iMac Late 2012 :

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6176570

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6432787

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2473276?start=0&tstart=0

This is my video recording. As you can see, it is sudden black out and need SMC reset to power on.

This also happens on even recovery partition boot, during OS installation process.

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=8DAC765079965977!61357&authkey=!AI0eyx0TWA HHZcA&ithint=video%2cmov

It looks like it is not OS or software issue, this happened in Mavericks and other clean install OS too.

What I've done so far :

- Replaced power supply (by Apple)
- Replaced with new RAMs

- Replaced Logic board
- Replaced HDD
- This is not heat related problem. Temperature is ok. Symptom shows on even cold booting process.
- Sometimes it runs ok for one or two days.

Now remaining parts are CPU, LCD and cables. I believe CPU fault or bad LCD is the least suspicious thing.
I am trying to replace power supply connector cable (connects power and logic board).
Also I will try replacing display signal cable.

It happens to me too.

In my case I need to unplug the power cord after the unexpected shut down and wait 15 minutes.

Yes, same here. 15mins sometimes half an hour unplugged before the iMac restarts.

What model iMac do you have?

iMac 27" late 2012.