Lines on display

My less than 1 month old iMac displays similar artefacts...and it is annoying to say the least....started to show only this week, and seems to be getting worse...so I expect that I will invoke the warranty any minute unless someone knows what the fix is?


iMac dual core intel 20" Mac OS X (10.4.9) + 23" HD Cinema display + Mac Mini (spare)

I to have had this. It started out a 1 pink line, Then about 2 weeks later another 2 lines appeared. Every now and then when i start up they are gone but seem to fade in after about 5 mins. Hope the screen is not at the end of its life as mine too is just out of waranty.

I think you need to figure out whether this is a LCD display problem or a video circuitry problem.

If it were me (and I was out of warranty), I'd attach an external monitor, and see if it displayed similar artifacts when mirroring the main display. If so, then it's probably a video circuitry problem.

If not, then I'd probably just use the external display instead of the defective internal display.

Get an external monitor from a store with a good return policy (Walmart, Staples, OfficeDepot, Costco), and you can easily make this test.

we hooked up a second monitor and that one showed perfectly. He seems to think it is the display itself, repair cost $780!

(OT, but this is why I'm not a fan of "all-in-one" computers and am a Mac Mini owner.)

You might reconsider my suggestion to buy an external display, if you have room for it. You could even "upgrade" to a larger external display and get more screen real estate for a few hundred dollars.

There may be a third-party repair service available at lower cost, though I haven't found it yet. Such services do exist for Mac notebook computers and charge about half of what Apple does. For example here are two for the MacBook display:

"Overnight Screen Replacement Service for MacBook Series"

http://techrestore.com/xcart/product.php?productid=17384&cat=273&page=1

And here is another service:

http://www.dttservice.com/macbook.html#macbook2lcd

Perhaps by contacting them, they could advise you about iMac repairs.

I note that TechRestore does do G5 iMac LCD panel replacement, but their listing for Intel iMac repairs is blank. The G5 link is here:

http://www.dttservice.com/imac/imacg5.html#imacg5%20lcd

My roommate has a similar problem with his 17" Intel iMac. He has a pink vertical line going down the middle right half of the display. He brought it to the Apple Store and they said it would cost about $600 after services fees and such to replace the display. I say they should fix it for free, since it's not something due to wear and tear, but a defect in the manufacturing.

I found a related article on one of Dell's web sites saying they had a similar problem with some of their laptops' LCDs and so they are repairing them for free, as long as it hasn't been more than 3 years since you purchased the laptop. I don't see why Apple doesn't do the same thing, considering Apple's reputation. Just looking at my roommate's iMac with a pink line down the middle to me says, "Apple's hardware is cheap and prone to breaking." Now my roommate blames me for his monitor problem since I'm the one who told him to buy a Mac.

http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2007/06/19/17774.aspx

20" iMac Intel Core Duo 2.0GHz Mac OS X (10.4.10) 2GB RAM, 250GB Hard Drive

I have the same problem but for now it only appears the pink line!

My first line started yesterday on a 17'' iMac LCD less than 1 and a half years old.

i've got the same problem too, since yesterday!
is it possible to get this fixed for free, it seems to be a well known problem.

I want to add that I too have this problem started about a week ago. I have now a pink vertical line 1px thick on my screen. Please if anyone knows whether Apple decides to fix this for free, please post.

Same problem here since 28th Agost. Mi warranty expired 4th April. This morning I called Apple but they did not recognize any manufacturing problem with the 17' Intel iMac, so we'll have to wait some months for a warranty extension.

I have a 17" Intel iMac which I bought in April last year, no Apple care, and I have had a vertical pink line appear between "Go" and "Window" on the finder menu.

It does not appear on the initial gray screen until the apple logo appears.

I will be calling Apple today without much hope.

I too have the same problem on my not yet one and a half year old intel 17 inch iMac. I have a total of 28 one pixel vertical lines of all different colours. I asked for a quote from the Mac dealership in Valencia, Spain and was told that it would be near to 600€.
Of course that is too much and this experience has really damped my passion and belief in Apple.
My advice to anyone who has the same problem (and we are evidently becoming an increasingly larger group) is:
Change your desk top to 'Flow 2' as this is the lightest out of all the pre-installed desktops and hence the horrid little lines show up a little less.
Avoid any web pages that have a black background
And forget iPhotos etc as you will want to slit your wrists when you see your treasured photos or movies cut up as if they have been through an egg slicer.
AND IF YOU HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM THEN PLEASE PUT YOUR NAME DOWN TOO AS THIS CAN ONLY PUT A LITTLE BIT MORE PRESSURE ON APPLE TO RECTIFY THIS PROBLEM.

Making a phone call to Apple and telling your problem with your name an iMac serial number is the only way we can do in order to obtain a warranty extension. Let's do it.

Sorry for not doing research myself. Can somebody tell me the phone number for Apple so that I can report this? will they connect you to a live person even if don't have valid warranty/applecare?