Lagoiski

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

My late 2012 iMac, i7 16gig RAM 27 inches keeps shutting down. It looks like as if it was unplugged. Happens randomly. Sometimes while playing Diablo 3, surfing facebook or using iphotos or other apps. Seems to not crash if just left on overnight and not been used.

 

In order to turn it on again I have to unplug it from the power line for like 30 seconds, only then it starts.

 

I have the settings set to restart on power failure, but it does not.

 

Happened a few times a few months back. I have installed a surge protector and it worked fine for like a month or two. However last 2 days it has shut down like 10 times...

 

Help would be greatly appreciated. I suspect hardware failure.

iMac (27-inch, Late 2012), iOS 7.1.1

Posted on May 5, 2014 9:44 PM

Close

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

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

first Previous Page 18 of 29 last Next
  • by lune-cheung,

    lune-cheung lune-cheung Mar 5, 2016 7:03 PM in response to Andrew_Debbie
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 5, 2016 7:03 PM in response to Andrew_Debbie

    Hi Guys,

     

    The late update. My iMac has been repaired by the Genius Bar in Miranda Sydney in  Australia. Initially, they thought it would be either the logic board or the power supply, therefore they had ordered those parts. However, they have found out that the power supply is faulty and they can reproduce the random shut down during their stress test. They have replaced the new power supply for me. I have been running this Mac for 2 weeks. It is all looking great.

  • by Andrew_Debbie,

    Andrew_Debbie Andrew_Debbie Mar 11, 2016 9:12 AM in response to lune-cheung
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 11, 2016 9:12 AM in response to lune-cheung

    Our iMac is back with Apple.   They are going to replace the logic board again.   


    Fingers crossed it stays fixed this time.   The computer goes out of warranty in a few days.  If it fails again out of warranty, the repair is £537.  Possibly even more since that does not include troubleshooting.

  • by Andrew_Debbie,

    Andrew_Debbie Andrew_Debbie Mar 16, 2016 7:25 AM in response to Andrew_Debbie
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 16, 2016 7:25 AM in response to Andrew_Debbie

    The repair is complete and our iMac is ready for pick up.

     

     

    In other news my work computer, a Mid 2015 27-inch iMac, is exhibiting the same symptoms.    < sigh >

  • by mlediard,

    mlediard mlediard Mar 28, 2016 4:40 AM in response to Andrew_Debbie
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 28, 2016 4:40 AM in response to Andrew_Debbie

    Here we go again!

     

    I had the power supply replaced three months ago and it's still happening. Third apple support call coming up. This is not over!

  • by Lnkn52,

    Lnkn52 Lnkn52 Mar 30, 2016 7:47 AM in response to Lagoiski
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Mar 30, 2016 7:47 AM in response to Lagoiski

    This will be my second time returning my '27 iMac  (2012) to the Apple Store. They first diagnosed the issue saying it was a PSU so they went ahead and replaced. A month later, the issue is recurring.

     

    I only have 20 days left on my warranty, now I'm worried.

  • by CurtsywithAnger,

    CurtsywithAnger CurtsywithAnger Apr 2, 2016 1:42 PM in response to Neovinter
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 2, 2016 1:42 PM in response to Neovinter

    I've been getting good results with this technique over the last three months. In December when the shutdowns were happening very frequently and I was using my computer a lot more intensely due to winter break, I started unplugging my computer every night. I've been getting more lazy of late about unplugging the computer and I've even left my computer on for three days. That seemed to trigger a relapse yesterday when it shut down in the middle of a game. It seems to like being powered off as much as possible.

  • by SeBigBoss,

    SeBigBoss SeBigBoss Apr 11, 2016 3:03 AM in response to Lagoiski
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 11, 2016 3:03 AM in response to Lagoiski

    Hi all,

     

    have the exact same symptoms on a late2012 27" iMac with core i7 and the 680MX graphics card which I bought to be safe for some years of innovation. I've not done any reparing other than checking if different RAM configurations are the issue yet and am very sceptical of trying anything after reading through this. Has anything other than being lucky and getting a new Mac worked? It seems to not have, but I just wanted to ask...

  • by omgpizza,

    omgpizza omgpizza Apr 14, 2016 12:47 AM in response to Lagoiski
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 14, 2016 12:47 AM in response to Lagoiski

    Same exact problem here.

     

    Late 2012 27" iMac with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2048 MB

     

    Purchased around April, 2013. Random shutdowns started last summer, so a little longer than two years after purchase. I've had it in to the Apple Store just once so far, a week ago. They tried to replicate the issue by letting various animations run in the grapher program for about 36 hours, but no dice.

     

    Their diagnosis was that it was fine and that I should take it home and unplug all my peripherals in an attempt to isolate the issue. Yeah, so did that, and two days later, boom, shutdowns. The first one came after only working on it for less than hour. Happened when I went to open a photoshop doc. Next night, I had two shutdowns within 15 minutes of each other. This time, I only had Chrome and text edit running. Then a third one later that evening.

     

    Going to schedule another appointment soon because this basically renders the machine useless to me. Unfortunately after reading through this thread though, I have a feeling I'll just be out of luck.

  • by SeBigBoss,

    SeBigBoss SeBigBoss Apr 14, 2016 3:07 AM in response to omgpizza
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 14, 2016 3:07 AM in response to omgpizza

    I see it a lot brighter now, so I'd like to give some hope to you, too. Firstly, with the amount of cases, the words "planned obsolescence" need to be dropped here. I cannot believe the immense efforts apple seems to go to not acknowledge that this series of iMacs has serious issues. Also, not at all replying to this gigantic thread made me get to the decision to leave apple products forever after using them exclusively for my whole life even before they were "cool". If some manager reads this, this is your doing and I will keep telling everyone I know, that Apple sells faulty (expensive!!!) products and does not stand by it but chooses to ignore their customers.

     

    Sooo, now the advices:

     

    I talked to someone on reddit with the same problem and he did some research: People that replaced the power supply are mostly happy now. The problem seems to be, that even the licensed workshop I'm going to because I lack any AppleCare does not simply want to replace it. They want to diagnose the problem and then make me an offer. Soooo, if you get your people to replace the power supple, then there is a chance you're fine, but getting them to do that might prove difficult. I'm very close to getting the parts and tools and opening that thing myself since, as you said, it's basically useless now.

     

    As a short-time solution and kind of troubleshooting: Try disconnecting your iMac from power completely everytime it is shut down (especially during the night) and you should experience much longer uptime. If not, there might be something wrong with the mac outside of the power supply. So far it worked quite alright for me.

  • by Lnkn52,

    Lnkn52 Lnkn52 Apr 18, 2016 5:21 AM in response to Lagoiski
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 18, 2016 5:21 AM in response to Lagoiski

    So about a week later after the Logic Board (and over a month the power supply was replaced as well) has been replaced, it shut down abruptly last night again, very frustrating.

  • by Francois_D,

    Francois_D Francois_D Apr 20, 2016 2:25 PM in response to Lagoiski
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 20, 2016 2:25 PM in response to Lagoiski

    I'm experiencing the same type of problem, but on a model ( imac 27'  ) of  late 2013

     

    Despite the different release date  symptoms are the same as those multiply exposed here.

     

    It said in that thread that Apple takes the problem seriously, right ?

    I found it hard to find information on the problem and to find confirmation that it is not an isolated problem

  • by Jin2401 ,

    Jin2401 Jin2401 Apr 23, 2016 5:04 PM in response to Francois_D
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 23, 2016 5:04 PM in response to Francois_D

    Hey guys. Count me in.

    Same problem.

    My iMac: 27" iMac late 2012 i7 3tb Fusion Drive Geforce 680mx

    Started 5 weeks ago. First I thought it might be my hard disk. So I took my Mac to an Apple service provider. They changed my hard drive for free because there is a replacement program. So after I got it back everything was fine. But a week ago the same problem occurred again. Sudden shutdowns with no warning regardless of what I am doing. It happens when I play games or watch youtube or just do nothing.

    So I took my Mac back to Apple Service. Of course they can't reproduce the problem I have described and they tested my hardware. Everything is fine.

    After looking for a solution by myself, I came across this thread.

     

    So there is really no 100% safe solution?

    What a disappointment. And Apple seems to keep ignoring this serious problem.

  • by Beolion73,

    Beolion73 Beolion73 Apr 23, 2016 7:54 PM in response to Jin2401
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 23, 2016 7:54 PM in response to Jin2401

    Same issue here, started 2 months ago and I tried to wipe the HDD and start all over again. And am using a new powercord.

    I guess the power supply is probably at fault, and I can only hope that Apple will acknowledge that there is a problem here.

    iMac 27", late 2012, i5 3.2 GHz, 1TB Fusion drive, GeForce 680MX 2GB, bought in Denmark.

  • by Luispq,

    Luispq Luispq Apr 24, 2016 4:49 AM in response to Lagoiski
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 24, 2016 4:49 AM in response to Lagoiski

    Hey guys, i have the same problem with my iMac ! It is a BTO with nvidia 680MX 2GB and i7 3.4. I took it to service but they couldn't replicate the random shutdown. I guess the problem is from the GPU or something related. My iMac doesn't shutdown surfing the web or in sleep, but in Adobe Lightroom or any more demanding GPU app the computer shutdown and than, when i turn it on again the problem happens more often. I can't do anything more than surfing the web check email or something light like that. I really don't know what to do, and i don't want to pay 1000€ for a new logic board, and it seems that doesn't solve the problem. Im in Portugal so we don't have apple stores here, just oficial resellers and some certified apple technicians.

  • by Luispq,

    Luispq Luispq Apr 24, 2016 5:00 AM in response to lune-cheung
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 24, 2016 5:00 AM in response to lune-cheung

    Hey,

    So, how is it going? So far so good for your iMac?

first Previous Page 18 of 29 last Next