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

Hello,

I apologize because I speak very bad English so I use google translation.

I have the same problem with my imac 2012. The problems have  starting with the update "el captain."

I reinstalled Yosemite and change all my RAM. For now, the problem disappeared.

Good luck and thank you for your actions.

Update:  Was contacted last Thursday by an Apple Senior advisor.  It turned the issue was out of his hands, so he escalated the problem to Apple Engineering.  They contacted me last night. Let's see what happens.

Thats good news. Let me know what happens. I'd love to get things fixed and back to normal

Keep us updated. I've had mine running for the longest period ever now (4 days), but I'd like to feel that Apple is aware of this issue and doing something positive to reassure its loyal customers. I've been buying Apple products for 23yrs now and will continue to do so if my iMac problem can be resolved.

Hi Joe5000,

any news? Apple (Technical Support) will call me later this week.

Hi Paul_ngc,

Still waiting.  At least we have caught Apple's attention to this matter.  Fortunately, the Apple representative who fixed the machine twice documented everything, that is, the replacement of the Logic Board first, and later the power supply.  I e-mailed both reports to Technical Support, and pointed out the futility of fixing this machine.  All they can do is temporary fixes, the machine passes all tests, so I am sure the problem will arise again.  Clearly a defective model. Therefore the only solution is the recall of that model and replacement with one that actually works as intended.

I've had the same issue since February of this year after 2 years of owning this machine (late 2012 model). Made a Genius Bar appointment in October and they were unable to replicate the issue after keeping it for several days. Also, the issue did not show up on any logs even when I gave them the time/date of occurrence. This is utterly frustrating and I believe a recall is warranted for this machine. Specs for my iMac are below.

Update:  Was contacted today by the third Apple Representative.  Polite as always. Definitively someone with higher power of decision. Will keep updating as the process develops. I can only hope for the best for all of us.

Awesome. Please keep us posted!

Just adding my voice: 27" iMac, late 2012, same intermittent power down issue, repair shop has looked at it twice and can't find anything wrong, passes all diagnostics. It seems to occur more frequently when anything is plugged into a USB port, but that might be coincidental.

Definitely hoping for a recall or a fix!

Thanks for your efforts

Jan-Peter

Update:  Took the iMac into the Genius Bar.  We weren't able to get the problem to replicate there however they kept the unit for the week and performed a replacement of the logic board.  Considering that others in this thread have had the same replacement performed without relief of the symptoms I'm pretty skeptical that the issue is resolved, however I'm trying to be as patient as possible and let Apple figure this one out. 

Just out of curiosity has anyone considered a replacement of the video card?  That seems to be another constant for all of us thus far in this problem.

Apple has requested that I send them my ailing late 2012 27" iMac, which I have done. Their engineers are going to tear my machine "apart," (in techspeak) to try to isolate the problem/s. Hopefully, they will find the answer. They asked me questions for a half-hour and I reiterated all of the steps I had taken so far, which I had posted here. I had not yet replaced the power supply, logic board or video-card. Mine starting acting up after two years - doesn't this seem to point to some failing hardware? I am more than satisfied with their response and very happy that they are really looking into this.It is just a matter of time now...

So even after having the logic board replaced, the problem resurfaced yesterday.  After talking again with Apple we decided to try wiping the computer and booting from an external drive.  Once I did that the problem again resurfaced so I have another phone call scheduled for today.  The most recent representative that I spoke with was incredibly helpful and has a theory on what may be causing this.  Also as an FYI I learned yesterday that the video card is built into the logic board, so a replacement of one usually means a replacement of both.  Therefore it seems like that isn't our problem either.  I'll keep everyone posted.  I definitely urge everyone here to touch base with Apple to verify this is a wide ranging problem with this model.

Good news:  Apple has decided to replace my iMac for a 2015 model.  I couldn't expect less than that from this great company.  I am satisfied with the speed of their response.  It will be a couple of weeks or more before I get it, since it's coming from the US to the Caribbean. So far I would like to thanks *****, ******and specially ****** for their due diligence.

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Just a quick update: my computer has not shut itself down for about a month now, since the power unit was replaced. Logic board replacement did not solve the problem either. Still can't tell if problem is gone for good, but one month of really intensive usage without shutdowns looks promising. I even installed Windows 10 just to let my son play Star Wars Battlefront on my downtime, thus giving the GPU a really hard time.

This has to be at least related with the power unit, if not caused by it.