iMac 27" Retina 5K Yellow Tinge (Late 2014)

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Level 1

9 points

iMac 27" Retina 5K Yellow Tinge (Late 2014)

Hi all,

I recently inherited an iMac 27" Retina 5K, after using it for a few days I noticed there was a yellow to blue tinge going from left to right.

The device is still under Apple Care, so I booked it in to my local Apple Reseller (Stormfront) and they sent it off for repair, I got it back last week and noticed it's now got a yellow tint across the bottom 1/3 of the screen. White's are tinged with yellow, greys look muddy etc.

So today I've gone back in with it, the girl I handed it over to said she couldn't see the problem, I showed her the difference in whites by opening multiple TextEdit windows and placing them around the monitor, still she couldn't see the issue. I suggested she get a colleague to look but she said he was busy with customers.

So she writes a note in her system along the lines of "I can't see the problem but the customer does".

She then says she can see a dulling around the bottom of the screen, but she thinks that's just a trick of the eye with the white background against the black border of the monitor. I know this isn't the case, I use professional IPS monitors on a daily basis, I know what is white and what isn't!

She assured me the panel would be tested, but considering I received it back with the problem I'm not so confident.

So now I'm waiting for them to either send it back without replacing the panel (because they can't see the problem) or repairing it and sending me back another panel with a yellow tinge or worse. If this doesn't work, I am going to have to phone another Apple store and travel a long distance in the hopes they will do something about it.

This has really put me off Apple products, after reading how many people online have the same problem I'm astounded that Apple haven't done more to rectify the issue. I've heard it happens in many devices including iPhones and iPads. I've even tested some iMac's in my local stores and noticed that a lot of them have the yellow/blue tinge and general backlight uniformity issues.

I was planning on buying a new Macbook Pro when the new models are released with Skylake processors, but if this is the type of thing I'm going to have to put up with, I don't think it's worth it. Trying to convince someone that a monitor is displaying colour incorrectly when they can't see it is extremely frustrating.

So, does anyone else out there own a 2014 or newer iMac 27" Retina 5K? Is your panel perfect or are you living with imperfections?

I know monitors are extremely hard to manufacture at a consistantly high level, but I've owned Dell monitors in the past and have to say I've never experienced a problem so widespread as this yellow tinge issue.

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.5), null

Posted on Jun 11, 2016 3:15 PM

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Answer 1

gmeshkow

Level 1

8 points

Mar 12, 2017 11:46 AM in response to phixi0n

Heeey!
At last I've found someone with the same problem.

I described my issue here.
Does it look like yours?
I am going for replacement for 3rd time already and it starts to make me mad.

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Answer 2

dialabrain

Level 10

122,519 points

Jun 11, 2016 3:36 PM in response to phixi0n

phixi0n wrote:

I know monitors are extremely hard to manufacture at a consistantly high level, but I've owned Dell monitors in the past and have to say I've never experienced a problem so widespread as this yellow tinge issue.

FWIW. I own a Late 2015 27" Retina iMac I bought last November and the screen is fine. As far as the problem being "widespread" Yours is only the second post I've seen. There could be more of course. But even if there were 100 posts, that's not many considering the hundreds of thousands that have been sold.

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Answer 3

phixi0n Author

Level 1

9 points

Jun 11, 2016 4:19 PM in response to dialabrain

Google "mac yellow tinge" or "mac yellow tint" and you will find a bunch of results, some of them forum threads with thousands of replies.

Granted, most of these threads are referring to older models, but I also managed to find some relating to the Retina line.

http://imac.squeaked.com/test.php

Do you see any uniformity or colour discrepancies when testing your monitor? I think the majority of the population wouldn't even notice this issue unless it was pointed out to them. I'm just more sensitive to it because I'm used to using very good IPS monitors with accurate colours.

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Answer 4

dialabrain

Level 10

122,519 points

Jun 11, 2016 5:07 PM in response to phixi0n

I took a look at the link you posted supposedly having to do with 27 inch retina screens. I'm not sure how that is possible seeing the link was from 2009 and the first Retina iMac was released at the end of 2014. There was an issue with 27" iMacs in 2009-2010 which has long passed. so basically if you are worried about yellow tint don't buy a used 2009-2010 27" iMac. Unless it was fixed of course.

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Answer 5

phixi0n Author

Level 1

9 points

Jun 11, 2016 5:21 PM in response to dialabrain

As I said, these issues were reported on old models, but this is still an issue. Check out any iMac or Macbook in your local stores, you will see either backlight issues or the yellow/blue tinge.

The test is still valid, regardless of when it was created. When running this test I could easily see a yellow to blue tinge from left to right on my old panel, on this new one I can see a yellow tinge along the bottom that covers 1/3 of the monitor.

A simple google shows that this issue still exists in Retina models, I'm just wondering how prevalent it is and the chances of me getting a panel that isn't plagued with this problem.

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Answer 6

dialabrain

Level 10

122,519 points

Jun 11, 2016 5:28 PM in response to phixi0n

I couldn't find any links to problems with current iMacs. One thing to keep in mind is approx 1 in 10 males have some form of color blindness. Which means of course 1 in 10 males could be seeing something that isn't there.

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Answer 7

phixi0n Author

Level 1

9 points

Jun 11, 2016 5:39 PM in response to dialabrain

The 1 in 10 thing goes out the window when the problem is seen by multiple people.

Google "late 2015 imac yellow tint", plenty of posts about it.

Here's hoping the person dealing with my monitor has adequate eyesight!

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Answer 8

dialabrain

Level 10

122,519 points

Jun 11, 2016 5:58 PM in response to phixi0n

phixi0n wrote:

The 1 in 10 thing goes out the window when the problem is seen by multiple people.

What that means is in the U.S. alone over 15 Million males have some form of color blindness so I wouldn't say the "thing goes out the window."

Google "late 2015 imac yellow tint", plenty of posts about it.

If less than 6 are plenty then I guess so. Of course if you read them most are asking if the new iMacs have the same yellow tint as the 2009-2010 non-retina iMacs.

Here's hoping the person dealing with my monitor has adequate eyesight!

Let's hope.

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Answer 9

phixi0n Author

Level 1

9 points

Jun 11, 2016 6:04 PM in response to dialabrain

I'm not sure you understand how colour blindness works. It doesn't only affect certain patches of the same colour, but affects the colour in it's entirety - so If I was indeed colour blind, I'd be seeing the entire screen in the wrong colour, not just patches of it.

Far more than 6, you've not looked hard enough.

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Answer 10

dialabrain

Level 10

122,519 points

Jun 11, 2016 6:08 PM in response to phixi0n

You're more than welcome to post a few of the links.

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Answer 11

phixi0n Author

Level 1

9 points

Jun 11, 2016 8:00 PM in response to dialabrain

Sigh... is it really so hard? You're becoming tiresome.

Not again... Strong yellow tint on display.

yellow tinch on all my Apple devices!

iMac Retina 5K Display changes tones when waking from sleep -- Is this normal?

Backlight bleeding on new 5k iMac?

iMac 4K uniformity problem

http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/yellow-tint-on-late-2015-27-retina-imac.1932 989/

http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/yellow-tint-retention-and-rmbp-2015-screen-r eplacement-for-late-2013-rmbp.1908251/

http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/to-those-of-you-with-imac-retina-5k-with-bac klight-bleed.1838092/

http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/new-top-spec-15inch-macbook-pro-2015-being-r eturned.1889395/

As I said, this issue affects every apple product with a screen, Apple have admitted there was an issue, they said they would put it right, yet this problem persists.

There are more, I'm not going to sit here all night pasting links to justify my point even more so. If you want more, look yourself.

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Answer 12

dialabrain

Level 10

122,519 points

Jun 11, 2016 9:05 PM in response to phixi0n

Nine links, half of which have nothing to do with a yellow tint on the latest 27" iMacs. I guess you were right. Out of the tens of millions of Apple products sold, at least ten people think they looked yellow.

I hope you get yours fixed.

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Answer 13

phixi0n Author

Level 1

9 points

Jun 12, 2016 10:11 AM in response to dialabrain

And as I said, this affects everything with a screen, it's been seen on the latest iPhones, iPads, iMacs. How about you stop being such a fan boy for a few minutes and take a step back. I'm not criticising Apple as a company here, I'm criticising the fact that they have allowed such poor quality panels to leave their factory in the first place. You don't need to get your panties in a twist because I'm unhappy with their QC.

Like I said, the majority of people probably wouldn't even notice the problem to report it. Not everyone is lucky enough to sit in front of $1500+ monitors and see real accurate colour without backlight issues. Unless the problem is extreme, I doubt many would notice. I have friends that have used TN panels their entire life and are more than happy with them, personally once I made the move to IPS with sRGB/Adobe RGB I couldn't go back.

I'm sure there's millions of people out there with panels they think are perfect, whether they are or not is a completely different matter. Whether they actually report it online is also another matter, as is whether they decide to contact Apple for a replacement.

This issue is still very well documented online, and whilst visiting my local stores 12 out of 20 of the Macbooks and iMacs I've seen with my own eyes exhibit either yellow/blue tinge or backlight issues. This, to me at least, is unacceptable.

If you're okay with stuff like that, then it won't affect you and you don't really need to be posting in this thread.

Have a nice day.

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Answer 14

dialabrain

Level 10

122,519 points

Jun 12, 2016 10:54 AM in response to phixi0n

I must say, millions of people don't see what you see, yet you feel that means it's everyone else that can't see it. I guess it's like people who see ghosts, yetis, aliens, ufos, etc. They believe what they say as well. 😎

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Answer 15

phixi0n Author

Level 1

9 points

Jun 12, 2016 12:14 PM in response to phixi0n

Thank you for cleaning the thread, now we can get a real discussion going. I'd love to hear others opinions on this.

2 out of 2 panels I've had have both exhibited the same problem.

Maybe I'm just extremely unlucky, but I have read of others also sending their iMac's in 4+ times for panel replacements, but this was back before the Retinas were released. I'm hoping I'm just very unlucky in getting 2 faulty panels.

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