Just got a 27" iMac, where is the quality control?

[msw123307]

I boot it up, first thing, the screen is clearly yellow. Normally I think people tend to nitpick a little bit, but this was obvious to me - which is saying something.

My HD is constantly ticking, like a beating heart basically. IMPOSSIBLE for me not to hear it. I then search and find separate threads for each of these issues. My 24" iMac crapped out and I got upgraded because of Applecare. Even paid an extra $300 ish to go to the i5.

After 3 weeks of waiting, I am extremely disappointed. If I didn't have a laptop I would have been screwed. No way I'm going to keep this machine, but I can't express how frustrated I am at starting this process over again.

 

[MaxLOL]

posts like this are making me so nervous

 

[GugGog]

I was lucky enough to have a nearby reseller and ordered a Week 47 I7, and traded in some Mac equipment to lessen the cost.

Buying locally was better for me, as I was able to keep my current Mac until the new one arrived, and was bench-tested (at no charge) for me. I made sure there were no scratches/yellow-tint/hard-drive growling/light-bleeding and took delivery today.

Naturally, my fan noise is worse than an Xbox 360, flicks on and stays on, and is yet another recognized fault, so I'm returning the unit on Monday, but having a good rapport with a reseller who know their stuff is invaluable.

 

[msw123307]

I'm hoping that I'll be able to swap i5's at my local reseller. I could maybe get past the yellow tinge for awhile - but this clicking will drive me absolutely nuts. If I'm really trying to focus on something I don't want to have to listen to music.

It sounds like someone is just knocking at the back of the iMac. I feel like I'm in an Edgar Allen Poe story.

 

[GugGog]

LOL!

Yeah, the wind turbine effect that I got, having attempted to usurp all other problems before I opened the box, definitely deflated an otherwise excitable migration.... the fan was so loud, it was drowning out low volume music!

 

[Bryan Bowler]

LOL!

Yeah, the wind turbine effect that I got, having attempted to usurp all other problems before I opened the box, definitely deflated an otherwise excitable migration.... the fan was so loud, it was drowning out low volume music!

C'mon now! Are you jumping on the bandwagon, or is this true?

Bryan

 

[chrono1081]

posts like this are making me so nervous

Not me. I still want one. Its the nature of the internet. For the hundreds or thousands of machines that are sold only a few have problems. Maybe its cause I worked in electronics retail for many years or now cause I work in IT that this stuff doesn't surprise me.


Also for the yellow "tint" issue (not saying this is the OPs case) but a guy here got a 27 inch and was flipping out cause he had the "yellow tint" so I calibrated his monitor and now it looks flawless. It was simply a color profile issue.

 

[Bryan Bowler]

Not me. I still want one. Its the nature of the internet. For the hundreds or thousands of machines that are sold only a few have problems. Maybe its cause I worked in electronics retail for many years or now cause I work in IT that this stuff doesn't surprise me.


Also for the yellow "tint" issue (not saying this is the OPs case) but a guy here got a 27 inch and was flipping out cause he had the "yellow tint" so I calibrated his monitor and now it looks flawless. It was simply a color profile issue.

Finally! Someone who has some common sense...

Thank you for the freash air,
Bryan

 

[GugGog]

Bryan,

I can assure you, I'm not downplaying this latest foible, aside from the rather cheeky "wind turbine" comment. Myself and the reseller made sure the "known" issues weren't seen on my machine, and I only found out about others with the fan problem thanks to forums and a spot of Googling.

The noise goes from silent to a regular, quiet fan noise, to a "full blast" fan noise that's louder than any other piece of electronic equipment I own, aside from a vacuum cleaner. Noisier than an Xbox 360. For a supposedly "near silent" computer, mine isn't.

Note this is without having multiple programs running, intense workloads, or anything. I'm a fan of Macs, and once this is sorted out, it'll be a perfect machine.

 

[SaSaSushi]

The noise goes from silent to a regular, quiet fan noise, to a "full blast" fan noise that's louder than any other piece of electronic equipment I own, aside from a vacuum cleaner. Noisier than an Xbox 360. For a supposedly "near silent" computer, mine isn't.

Note this is without having multiple programs running, intense workloads, or anything. I'm a fan of Macs, and once this is sorted out, it'll be a perfect machine.

Have you tried an SMC reset? That may help. You should not hear the fans and certainly not "wind turbines". lol

 

[MacHamster68]

thats now post number 20000 about imac 27 with problems, its more common then posts with working ones , you lot have to get real like i had to get , i was thinking that someone who buys a product could expect it to be in good working order when he opens the box , maybe you got more luck with your next one, you do not pay for that iMac , instead you pay for a lottery, if you are lucky you will finally get a working example
and for the question where the quality control has gone ... you nearly got me there , quality control was dumped in favor of a more affordable price

 

[Sir Cecil]

My HD is constantly ticking, like a beating heart basically. IMPOSSIBLE for me not to hear it.

Is it the Seagate 1T?

 

[SaSaSushi]

thats now post number 20000 about imac 27 with problems, its more common then posts with working ones , you lot have to get real like i had to get , i was thinking that someone who buys a product could expect it to be in good working order when he opens the box , maybe you got more luck with your next one, you do not pay for that iMac , instead you pay for a lottery, if you are lucky you will finally get a working example
and for the question where the quality control has gone ... you nearly got me there , quality control was dumped in favor of a more affordable price

Well there goes your whole theory because I have absolutely NO luck whatsoever and yet a perfect i7.

Sorry.

 

[GugGog]

SaSaSushi,

Thanks for the advice. Yeah, the reset was one of the first things I did, but it's made no difference. The HD fan speed is waaay too high, judging by iStats, so it looks like it's something that's easily fixed. Everything else is damn near perfect!

 

[yourashero]

I personally can't believe the amount of people that say they have a slight yellow tinge and are keeping it. Apples defense is price is that the computer has a better screen than any other computer. I was personally fine withthe old ones and wish they would have stuck with those to drive price down. So if I have the slightest yellow on mine and can't calibrate it... Well there's another refurbished unit for some lucky guy or gal. I won't let them take it until a new one is sent though. I've already waited over two weeks. But I'm getting ahead of myself. There is probably a less than 5% chance that I'll have a bad one. I just wanted to comment on what I have seen.

 

[ABG]

Finally! Someone who has some common sense...

Thank you for the freash air,
Bryan

Common sense? As defined by...?

There quite a lot of this sort of "common sense" / "freash air" from similar people across MacRumors, saying anyone with problems are trolls, liars, whiners, idiots, unrealistic perfectionists etc.

Have a look back over other Apple product launches and see if so many people have had the same range of problems. This is a big issue - especially given how many Apple customers bend over backwards to say its all good (I've read claims of people having perfects iMacs - because they only have 2 dead pixels). If it was only one or two problems there would be howling hoards shouting those people down. Its not. There's a whole hell of a lot of problems with the 27" iMacs and to me common sense is not denying there is a problem because of some misplaced loyalty.

Is it every 27" iMac - no. Is it a "normal number" of manufacturing errors? No. Compare how many people are complaining about 21.5" iMacs with the 27". There are clearly significant problems with a larger than expected number of the 27" machines. Some people are already on their third replacement!

Since 2003 I've spent about $10k on a variety of Mac products and am waiting, nervously, for my latest purchase - a 27" i7. If it turns up DOA, cracked or fails in the first 10 hours (HDD/ screen flicker) I won't be surprised and I will be disappointed.

Common sense is not to sit and tell people with problems its normal and/or its not true - common sense is to hope (as I do) that Apple sort this mess out and learn from it in the future.

 

[MaxLOL]

Not me. I still want one. Its the nature of the internet. For the hundreds or thousands of machines that are sold only a few have problems. Maybe its cause I worked in electronics retail for many years or now cause I work in IT that this stuff doesn't surprise me.


Also for the yellow "tint" issue (not saying this is the OPs case) but a guy here got a 27 inch and was flipping out cause he had the "yellow tint" so I calibrated his monitor and now it looks flawless. It was simply a color profile issue.

I have already ordered. I will know soon if I am 'lucky' or not. I do realize that the majority of what I see on here is skewed but at the same time there is some type of quality issue. I don't feel like this purchase was a poor one because I will get a machine that I will love... the question is will it be the first one I get.

 

[ttopp]

im the same as maxlol

if its not fully functioning ill keep swapping till its flawless..

i want one and apple has always been good at fixing any issues ive had

 

[cmvsm]

I'll have to agree with the quality control statement to an extent. I just swapped out my i7 for another due to the 'yellow tinge' issue. I also had a very loud drive and the screen flickered once or twice.

Now with the new one, I'm very pleased, for the most part. The screen is very nice, no yellow tinge. I did compare it to the old one before packing it up and you can tell a VERY distinct difference all the way across the panel. The old one was very warm versus the new one. Also, the Seagate drive on the new one is virtually silent, where the one on the old one was grinding all of the time.

But all is not perfect. The aluminum bezel, or the 'chin' if you will, does not completely fit perfectly against the black frame of the screen. There are no gaps or anything like that, its just not a seamless line like the first one. Nothing that I will be returning the computer for, as everything else is just great so far, but worth mentioning in the QC discussion.

 

[MaxLOL]

im the same as maxlol

if its not fully functioning ill keep swapping till its flawless..

i want one and apple has always been good at fixing any issues ive had

For the price we are paying for these machines there is not reason we shold not 'nit pick'. It is not like we are doing anything that is dishonest we just want to have what we have paid for. If my machine is plagued by any of these faults I have no problem swapping it out for a new one. Someone else will be happy to get it once it is refurbished.

I'll have to agree with the quality control statement to an extent. I just swapped out my i7 for another due to the 'yellow tinge' issue. I also had a very loud drive and the screen flickered once or twice.

Now with the new one, I'm very pleased, for the most part. The screen is very nice, no yellow tinge. I did compare it to the old one before packing it up and you can tell a VERY distinct difference all the way across the panel. The old one was very warm versus the new one. Also, the Seagate drive on the new one is virtually silent, where the one on the old one was grinding all of the time.

But all is not perfect. The aluminum bezel, or the 'chin' if you will, does not completely fit perfectly against the black frame of the screen. There are no gaps or anything like that, its just not a seamless line like the first one. Nothing that I will be returning the computer for, as everything else is just great so far, but worth mentioning in the QC discussion.

My only concern would be not having a computer in the time it takes to get a new one; but, apple let you keep your 'damaged' one untill they shipped you the new one?

 

[CubeHacker]

The tick is caused by the hard drives performing "diagnostics" at regular intervals. The worst offenders for me have always been Seagates, who's drives started to do this about 5-6 years ago. Now keep in mind that a very loud "CLUNK" or repeated "tick tock tick tock" sound might actually indicate a defective drive, but you will usually notice this because the system constantly hangs or becomes unresponsive.

 

[09iMac=Fail]

Common sense? As defined by...?

There quite a lot of this sort of "common sense" / "freash air" from similar people across MacRumors, saying anyone with problems are trolls, liars, whiners, idiots, unrealistic perfectionists etc.

Have a look back over other Apple product launches and see if so many people have had the same range of problems. This is a big issue - especially given how many Apple customers bend over backwards to say its all good (I've read claims of people having perfects iMacs - because they only have 2 dead pixels). If it was only one or two problems there would be howling hoards shouting those people down. Its not. There's a whole hell of a lot of problems with the 27" iMacs and to me common sense is not denying there is a problem because of some misplaced loyalty.

Is it every 27" iMac - no. Is it a "normal number" of manufacturing errors? No. Compare how many people are complaining about 21.5" iMacs with the 27". There are clearly significant problems with a larger than expected number of the 27" machines. Some people are already on their third replacement!

Since 2003 I've spent about $10k on a variety of Mac products and am waiting, nervously, for my latest purchase - a 27" i7. If it turns up DOA, cracked or fails in the first 10 hours (HDD/ screen flicker) I won't be surprised and I will be disappointed.

Common sense is not to sit and tell people with problems its normal and/or its not true - common sense is to hope (as I do) that Apple sort this mess out and learn from it in the future.

Finally! Someone who has some common sense...

Thank you for the fresh air.

Gonna keep waiting here.

 

[msw123307]

Is it the Seagate 1T?

Yes I believe so. Model # ST31000528ASQ.

And I can assure everyone that I'm not a typical nitpicker. My previous iMac had burn in, but it took an HD failure before I took it in. I was able to deal with it because of the relative ease of operating it every day.

However, as someone who wants to get into photo editing, the yellow tinge is disheartening and could be a problem down the line.

I think, though, that the clicking sound is enough for me to have to swap it out. It's faint, but if there isn't a TV on or music playing, it's all I can hear. It does seem to go away briefly every now and then, but it always returns. I haven't had any issues with performance thusfar, but it's just been internet browsing for me since I got it yesterday.

Someone noted that they were able to fix their "clicking" by manually moving the files they wanted to move over and doing a fresh restore. They restored from a TM backup (like me) and had the clicking sound at first. Really - this is one of the reasons for getting a MAC, so having to do this all manually is really a pain. But if it works - maybe it's worth it.

I don't know if there's any truth to this but maybe there is some kind of conflicting file or something causing the HD to constantly scan or something?

I'm just disappointed in the turnaround time by Apple. I understand these are new, but taking 3 weeks to arrive to me? And then having these issues when it finally does arrive?

 

[msw123307]

The tick is caused by the hard drives performing "diagnostics" at regular intervals. The worst offenders for me have always been Seagates, who's drives started to do this about 5-6 years ago. Now keep in mind that a very loud "CLUNK" or repeated "tick tock tick tock" sound might actually indicate a defective drive, but you will usually notice this because the system constantly hangs or becomes unresponsive.

To reply to this statement as well, it's a definite tick tock tick tock that's going on. I read somewhere that another user noted that it seemed to be when nothing was being written to the HD and happened when he was internet browsing only. I may try to test this theory later.

 

[neonkru]

4 people in my college ordered 27 imac. all of them have yellow tinge including me. all imacs in apple store have it too... doesnt seem that isolated to me and calibrating color doesnt change a thing.