iMac 27 - black spots

The 27" iMacs have wide-spread display problems, you aren't the only one. We have many threads about this...

Maserati's comments were absolutely not helpful.

That's the first time I've ever seen that. It's impossible to tell from the picture which is also a little blurry, but are those spots on the panel itself under the glass? I'm assuming you already tried cleaning the glass in that area.

If so it's definitely a defect, or dirt and you should send it in to Apple for service.

You might want to take the glass off and see if it's smoke built up on the underside. You can place 2-4 suction cups on the glass faceplate and gently, but firmly, pull the glass off and see if cleaning it and the screen makes a difference. If not then you should give Apple a call.

While it is easy enough to pop the glass panel off the iMac for cleaning I would actually caution against it. The panel is a dust magnet. Apple does this in dust-controlled rooms with silicon rollers as you can see in this video. If you do, then I always say you should turn off any heaters or coolers, close vents and put a damp towel under the door and wait 30 minutes for dust to settle.

The glass and panel are both dust magnets. When a single particle of dust gets between the panel and the glass it resembles a stuck pixel that sparkles. The 27 inch glass panel is a large surface to clean.

I wouldn't use any cleaning products on the back of the glass panel either. Remember, this is making direct contact with the LCD panel. Ideally, the special Apple silicon rollers should be used for this operation for best results.

SaSaSushi said:

While it is easy enough to pop the glass panel off the iMac for cleaning I would actually caution against it. The panel is a dust magnet. Apple does this in dust-controlled rooms with silicon rollers as you can

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Popping it open with suction cups and using an air duster is pretty much a no brainer. Just don't crack it open and leave it open for a long time.

Speaking from personal experience, it a lot harder for dust to settle if you keep it vertical.

Having said that, if you don't feel confident doing this then leave it to the pros.

Hey, kudos to Apple for at least taking a chance on some little-known display provider out of Central Park, New York, NY.

SaSaSushi said:

Maserati's comments were absolutely not helpful.

That's the first time I've ever seen that. It's impossible to tell from the picture which is also a little blurry, but are those spots on the panel itself under the glass? I'm assuming you already tried cleaning the glass in that area.

If so it's definitely a defect, or dirt and you should send it in to Apple for service.

Click to expand...

just saying to me it looked like uneven backlighting (which goes along with all the backlight problems now). sorry.

black spots

took my yellow tinted imac in yesterday. They actually replaced it with a new one, but before I left I had them open the new one. A 1 inch black (gaussian blur) black line about 2 inches up from the bottom that stretched across the bottom of the screen. We let it run some vid for a while and it seemed to fade a bit, but I told the 'genius' that I wasn't paying 2 grand for a black line. He looked it up and said new part numbers are in for a replacement screen. I left it there with them to have the new screen installed. This is my first mac, and I am not taking any **** from these guys. This is my 3rd and last mac. The next thing I get from mac will be my money back.
They were helpful, but I did have to get firm a few times. They tried to tell me to take it home and replace it later when they issue is fixed, but he said that the consumer will never know when its fixed, apple won't let that information out. He said to watch the forums and the web for people who have theirs working

I have the same problem. It seems to have gotten worse over time. They do look like a bunch of dirt stains spread across the display. I've trolled around lots of forums and seen people saying it could be from smoke. I'm a non smoker. My room is not that dusty either. I took the advice of some people and removed the front glass panel and wiped it clean with a Microfiber rag, but I could immediatley see that the stains were on the LCD itself. I gently wiped the area of the screen with the rag with no result. These stains seem to be permanent. Granted I did not want to put that much pressure on the screen. I'm not sure what to do at this point, but it makes my beautiful iMac screen look ugly as sin when theres a white background.

I have been a silent visitor to MacRumors Forums for a quite some time now. I registered today to confirm that I've been facing the uncommon "black spots" problem for over two months now.

I'll cut short my long saga with AppleCare which you can read here and get to the point.

My Week 47 iMac(21.5) purchased in December developed the black spots problem after three weeks. Apple engineer confirmed the issue and I got the display replaced. All was going well until 3 weeks again after the replacement, the same issue developed again.

Image showing the black spots issue. http://img.ly/qhX
In my case there were black patches(left side) that spread over time.

I'm guessing the issue is related to a design fault in iMac rather than being a display issue as the two displays developed the issue on the same machine. Could be improper airflow leading to heating of the LCD panel, I'm not sure about the cause.

As Apple had run out on 21.5" replacement panels, I am now getting a full replacement shipped from Singapore. So if you are facing the issue, I would suggest you go for a full replacement.

Thanks for sharing.

It looks like there is yet another flaw to look out for with the new iMacs. I wonder how widespread it is. Looks like internal electrical smoke. I doubt external smoke would get in like that. Was there a burning or acrid smell accompanying the black blotches?

IndustrialSpace said:

Thanks for sharing.

It looks like there is yet another flaw to look out for with the new iMacs. I wonder how widespread it is. Looks like internal electrical smoke. I doubt external smoke would get in like that. Was there a burning or acrid smell accompanying the black blotches?

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Oh No. Nothing of that sort.

ankurgupta said:

Oh No. Nothing of that sort.

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I wonder if the smell was contained within the sealed casing. However, it does indeed look like electrical smoke of some sort.

Yeah so I tried to clean mine and this is def permanent on the screen itself. Look how bad it is:



Now time to deal with a replacement. Ugh.

Will be taking mine to Apple for this prob, updated my previous post with a pic of mine. This is a crazy, I swore that was just dust or dirt built up under the glass some how when it's not at all. That is permanent damage to the screen.

Had a fairly large black spot on my first iMac, I was advised to take the screen off and clean it, uhhh NO! You should take it back to Apple. I'm on my third iMac and I either have a dead pixel or small dust particle under my screen. For some reason I am keeping it.

The 27" imac screen is a complete disaster, flickering, yellow tint and now this. These are NOT premium monitors they're junk.

scroto said:

The 27" imac screen is a complete disaster, flickering, yellow tint and now this. These are NOT premium monitors they're junk.

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Oh really?? How is yours? I guess you speak from personal experience with that definitive opinion.

Those black spots do look nasty. If mine ever developed that I'd send it back to Apple for replacement in a hurry.

scroto said:

The 27" imac screen is a complete disaster, flickering, yellow tint and now this. These are NOT premium monitors they're junk.

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I'm very disappointed in Apple, too.

Why are these monitors so plagued with problems.

Will Apple every fix these issues.

Just thought I'd give you guys a little update...

I called Applecare on the phone Friday night, and after about 10 minutes of discussion, and him checking if they had any documentation on this problem, he asked me to bring it over to an Apple store.

Upon arrival one of their techs came out and looked at it and said that it looked like a contamination problem.
He went in the back for a bit, came back, and asked me how I would feel about them just switching out the whole computer.

I said that was great with me because I time machined before I came in. He told me this was a problem that Apple wanted to see back at their plants. He then said he was gonna pop the glass open and take a look just to make sure it was in the panel and not the glass. He did, and it was on the panel. So then he goes into the process of typing all the information in, gets to the last step and says "oh.. sorry but this isnt one of the ones they want back. it was made in october 09 and thats not one that qualifies for replacement."

To make this really long story shorter, he ordered the front panel in and their gonna replace that under warranty.. 1 to 2 day repair time. I was hoping for the new one, but all ends well.

im considering buying one... but all these problems are putting me off, i mean sure theyre fixing them without much hassle.... but driving back and forth to the nearest apple store will be a pain in the ass....

Hey guys,

I've got the same problem with my iMac i5 (week 46). Got it since november 25.
Black spots in the upper right corner since 4 weeks and it seems to grown :/
Apart of that, this iMac run perfectly well, no yellowish stuff or flickering.
Time to call AppleCare it seems...