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Late 2013 27" iMac LCD/Video Failure. Horizontal/Vertical lines

I purchased a brand new Apple iMac (Late 2013) 27" iMac from Apple in August of 2013. It's fully loaded with i7, 4GB DDR GTX 780M, 16GB ram, etc. Usage is light-to-medium for photo editing and web browsing.


Yesterday my screen displayed vertical and horizontal lines. Absolutely nothing on the screen was legible. The screen came back to life after a few seconds. I figured it was a fluke. I put the Mac to sleep for a few hours as I normally do when I'm done using it. Upon waking it up, the vertical and horizontal lines on the entire screen came back again. This time for good. I've done several restarts, holding down command + option + P + R, and nothing works. I figure it's a hardware fault. Very disappointing for something so new and so expensive. I've been a PC builder and user for years and I thought I'd absolutely have a rock solid high end professional bulletproof computer when buying my iMac. I've scoured the entire internet and nobody seems to have had this problem on this new of an iMac.


I purchased a Thunderbolt to HDMI cable and I plan to hook the iMac up to my Plasma and see if I get video. If I do, then I can rule out my video card. Is my plan solid?


I'm also considering taking it into Apple but I have a feeling they will tell me to kick rocks as my warranty is up. Any word of Apple good-willing these types of repairs? I have been a very loyal Apple user for a period of years now. This is very disappointing and my confidence in Apple computers has gone down. User uploaded file

iPhone 6, iOS 8

Posted on Sep 8, 2015 9:40 AM

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7 replies

Apr 11, 2017 4:00 AM in response to indigosixalpha

Having same kind of problem with my Late 2013 27" iMac. Noticed vertical lines for the first time today during a cold boot on a grey background. When the system warmed up, the lines disappeared. Maybe bad capacitors?


I've been using the system a little under three years now around 4 hrs a day. External 27" Thunderbolt display picture didn't have any distortions so I guess that the GPU isn't broken.


I think it's really weird if system breaks down in less than three years at least with usage like this which at least by me, is considered quite normal. I've relied in Apple for high quality products but now I'm getting some serious doubts at least if this is considered as normal and no reasonable replacement is made.

Sep 21, 2017 4:15 PM in response to indigosixalpha

Hi. It's me again. The answer is yes I successfully fixed the iMac screen with a used replacement LG screen (direct replacement) from eBay. The cost was $430 shipped. It worked for two years until a few weeks ago. There is a vertical pink line going down the screen. The shelf life, again, was 24 months. So it seems Apple's supplier LG supplied massively defective screens and has yet to do anything about it. If there's ever a class-action or any kind of recall, I hope I get reimbursed. Now I have to make a decision... I wonder how long this second screen lasts? The computer is great otherwise. But I am thinking it's best in the future to build my own PC.

Sep 10, 2015 1:02 PM in response to indigosixalpha

Update 9/10/15:


I took my iMac into the Apple store at Fashion Island in Newport Beach, CA just now and I wanted to update this thread. The technician verified that the LCD was indeed bad.

I explained to the technician and the store manager that my iMac was exactly 24 months old and while I understand it is not under the 1-year warranty any more, that Apple should good-will the replacement of my LCD screen given that the expectation of high-end product such as the iMac should not fail within two years of purchase.


While I understand Apple has no legal requirement to replace my LCD screen, I am disappointed that Apple, even despite my request, would not even cover any portion of the repair. Given the actual cost to Apple for this mass-producted part is likely well under 1/4th the retail cost, you would think it would be beneficial to Apple to at least assist a loyal customer with the costs of repairs relative to the negative attention and word-of-mouth. The latter is far more damaging if even one person is swayed against purchasing a new iMac. I, for one, certainly would not purchase one again.


It appears in an attempt of profits, market-share, and profit margin, Apple quality is going down as they increasingly source cheaper and poorer quality parts from various suppliers.

I'll continue to use my current Apple products but in the future, I will seriously reconsider before purchasing another.


Attached is my iMac plugged into the display confirming my LCD is bad. The logo/graphic you see is actually a reflection of the wall at the iMac store. See the lines on the screen? Even the technician agreed it shouldn't have went out that fast. He was nice and asked the store manager to consider covering the repair. Manager was nice but denied it.


User uploaded file

Mar 20, 2016 3:45 PM in response to indigosixalpha

Did you ever get this fixed? Mine has just gone after waking the iMac up from sleep, 3/4 screen is black with some vertical lines/flickering. I've opened it up and reseated the cables to no avail. I can see the iMac works fine when hooked up to an external monitor, so it can't be the GPU.

Looks like I might need to order a replacement LCD. So disappointed that a display in Apple's, Late 2013, Mac couldn't last more than 2 years. I have a Dell monitor which is over a decade old and still going strong.


Found this video which shows symptoms similar to mine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw2eHWBqVTM

Sep 29, 2016 3:03 PM in response to Keyb0ardWarri0r

Hello,


i had the exact same problem with my iMac late 2013 a week ago after recovering from sleep and my iMac is only 1 and a half year.


I haven't make a Apple care protection and apple refused to replace the screen under warranty. I must give them 570€!!


I have several apple products and one of them is over 10 years old now, none of them have ever had a problem. I'm totally disappointed about apple repair politics. It cannot be tue that a product that costed 1800€ breaks after only one and a half year!

Late 2013 27" iMac LCD/Video Failure. Horizontal/Vertical lines

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