iMac Retina 5k Display Has Marks Behind Screen. Why?

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Hi, I discovered the same issue on my iMAC 5K 27". Because I use one of the OS Sierra backgrounds with dark green trees at the bottom, you can't notice it when working in the middle of the screen. I noticed it only some months ago by coincidence when moving some window with white background to the bottom corner.

I predict that much more people will be confronted with this issue.

I'm experiencing the same issue. My MBP had a similar issue with the antireflective coating and was covered even out of warranty. Anyone take this in yet and see if Apple has a quality program for this?

Hi Garrick,

Had the same issue with my MBP, swapped it for a new MBP with touchbar. The issue was not taken into account when determing the trade value for the old one, because the reseller told me that the repair program was still valid for my MBP , which was 3,5 years old.

So I hope that Apple will recognize the iMAC 5K issue soon. When I called Apple some months ago, the engineer was not aware of similar issues. Is there somebody who knows if we can take additional steps to inform Apple ?

I had the same issue as this thread with the smudges/dust under the 5k "sealed" glass. It was out of warranty, so the cost (SoCal) was $628.77 ($510.23 for the screen, $79 labor, + tax) for a replacement screen direct from the Apple store. The techs at the Apple store here said they had seen the a few times before but guessed that most people didn't want to lug in the iMac or spend the $ to get it fixed.

Was told if Apple issues a quality program for this later, that I'd get reimbursed so hopefully enough people have told Apple about the issue that it happens.

With the MBP it took a lot of visibility from people including "staingate" moniker to be established before the quality program was done.

https://www.macrumors.com/2015/10/17/apple-mbp-ar-coating-quality-program-staing ate/?

Southerly48 wrote:

I would like to know how you get on. I am thinking of buying an iMac and will not accept in that condition.

Please remember these are "help" forums and are not indicative of typical users experiences. Looking at these forums is kind of like going to a hospital to get an idea of the overall health of the population of the US. That would be a totally ridiculous idea, it is the same as coming to these forums to get an idea of how "good" a Mac is.

Remember this, if you buy any Apple hardware product from Apple you have 14 days to return it for ANY reason. This should give you adequate time to evaluate what you bought and for it reveal any issues. In the 10+ years of buy multiple iMacs, Mac Minis, iPads, iPhones, iPods etc I have never had to return a product. I think my experience is typical of what most people experience. On rare occasion there are machines that have problems, hence why there is a 14 day return period and you are also covered by a 1 year warranty and if you buy AppleCare that is extended to 3 years.

Even if you see 20-30 even a 200 users with similar problems that is normally a VERY VERY small percentage (less than 1%) of the total population of machines therefore it's not indicative of the overall population.

I agree, I own many Apple products and they are on the whole very reliable. I've had a few issues and to date Apple has by far been the best tech company I've ever dealt with in getting issues resolved. I expect no less in this case especially as this is a very expensive piece of kit. I wouldn't hesitate to buy or recommend Apple and have been happily Windows-free for many years now :-)

The first genius who saw my iMac wasn't sure about the smears behind the glass but on checking with a supervisor he said it was covered under Applecare and they booked the machine in to have the entire screen and front glass (which is a single unit) replaced. I got the impression from the supervisor's reaction that its an issue they've seen quite a lot. It took about 10 days to get it replaced as they had a backlog.

Also to add please make sure you check over your computer very carefully when you take it in as mine came back with some damage to the front of the aluminium stand which wasn't there when it was checked in so it's now back in to have the stand replaced at Apple's cost. I'm not thrilled about it but at least they put their hands up and agreed to fix it without any quibbling.

I suspect if this issue does recur then it's a design fault rather than just badly sealed units and should be covered, in Europe at least, beyond the Applecare warranty.

Please contact AppleCare, you have 90 days of complimentary telephone support. http://www.apple.com/support/complimentary/

Were you able to resolve this? I have the same issue and the marks look almost exactly the same...

Called Apple Care and they told me to take it in to an Apple Store, which I'll do after I backup everything.

I have this exact same problem. Now I have a dead ant stuck behind the glass.

Apple tells me it is not covered under warranty and I have to pay $700 to replace the display.

Not cool.

I have the same problem in the bottom right and left corners of my iMac 5K screen that appeared several months after purchase. I will be taking my computer which is still under 1 year manufactures warranty to the local repair facility in Dubai.....to be continued....

Hey guys,

Today I've noticed exactly the same gift on my 5k. Well I'm gonna make an appointment to go to Genius Bar next week.

Guys, could you please tell everythin' what Apple told about this issue ?

Thanks in advance.

PS everythin' with issues... Apple today is not as good...

I have the same problem, bottom left and bottom right part, I guess dust is somehow getting inside...I have a iMac retina 5K late 2014...