Vertical Lines - iMac 27 inch i7

I had a similar issue on my Late 2012 iMac. The only difference was I only had a single line and the line ran horizontally and would appear, disappear at random intervals. It was only really visible on dark backgrounds.

I have Apple Care and it was the LCD panel that was at fault.

Here's a video clip I took showing the issue:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR0QAZKWjCo

Vertical lines

Fatboy71,

Good to know that you were still under Apple Care.

The lines on my monitor are grouped in fours app. 1/4" apart in each group; each line smaller than yours... maybe 1/32"... extending in the groups across the display. Now that I'm aware that it's a constant problem, my eyes are drawn to it, but it's not an emergency fix for me unless it becomes worse. I look forward to the retina display on the new iMac.

Cheers!

A mid 2010 iMac I bought this summer has this issue. I actually thought it was normal until I saw this thread. The LCD looks to be at fault all right. I wonder what could be causing it...

I have started having the same problem with my 27 inch late 2009 i7. Does anyone know how much this would cost to fix and if it is worth it? I have been considering upgrading and I usually give my prior computer to my wife when I do, but I don't want to give her a problem computer.

I have to say that I am dissapointed. This is my first Mac, and when I bought it my biggest concern was that if a component goes bad it isn't easily replaced or fixed. All of my previous PCs have run without any problem (other than operating system issues) much longer. My sister in law is currently using my old Dell that is probably about 12 years old now and the hardware has not had a hint of a problem. My wife's computer is a Dell that is over 8 years old and runs great (again, except for Windows OS quirks from time to time). I purchased the iMac a little less than 4 years ago and I started having this issue about 6 months after Apple Care expired. Hmmm.

Until now, I bought alot different Models.

Apple should care about this Problem because, in my opinion, almost everyone has that problem.
Some lines are strongen, some not.
The iMacs I bought were all faulty. Always the GPU, but with a good reflow, everything worked again with no problem.
Right now i own 3 iMacs from 2009 and 2010 and any of them has the same ****ing problem. Lines all over the Display. What are they telling us? It happens sometimes and this fault is not a predetermined breaking point?
This problem is heavy! Not everyone will see this lines because many people sit a half meter away from the display so our eye couldnt see it. But if you look clearly and concentrate you will see the lines!
Till now i got no way to repair that! I ordered other LCDs and replaced almost every part in the iMac. PSU, Backlight PSU, LVDS Port replaced, GPU replaced. Nothing helped!

I have this issue on my late 2009 iMac as well. I had the LCD panel replaced right before my AppleCare expired and the issue disappeared for some time but eventually came back. Worth noting I had to go back twice, first time they tried to replace just the front panel glass? Not sure why they thought that would resolve it. Second time they switched out the LCD panel.

It's definitely the LCD panel itself and I believe it's caused by exposure to heat and that degrades the panel somehow.

I rarely shut down my iMac or put it to sleep and I believe that contributed to the issue reappearing fairly quickly after the LCD replacement.

At the time I still had a hard drive which we know run quite hot. Now I have only an SSD in the machine so I wonder if the issue would come back if I were to get a new LCD panel although not willing to do it at this point.

I hope this info is useful.

same problem for me as well
dont know when it first occurred but it hasn't been for too long

i7 27, late 2009

Its just me or you all have in common the gpu?
Maybe radeon is the problem like always

acciogabby said:

I bought my iMAC a little over three years ago and am now getting many vertical lines on my screen. They are transparent and only can be noticed with certain color backgrounds. They occur over the entire screen and seem to be getting more prominent. I am not covered by apple care and the closest store is 2 hours away. Not wanting to pay the fee for the phone call, I will probably take it in when I am in another city visiting. Just wondering if anyone else has these lines, what was the cause? I have attached a photo to explain. Please help!

Click to expand...

Hi, I know is a long time, but did you found out what was the problem?

thanks

DukeLuong said:

Hi, I know is a long time, but did you found out what was the problem?

thanks

Click to expand...

Pro


Probably related to fauly GPUs due to overheat problem, almost all iMacs i've met from 2009 to 2011 had similar issues.

DukeLuong said:

Hi, I know is a long time, but did you found out what was the problem?

thanks

Click to expand...

iAreku said:

Pro


Probably related to fauly GPUs due to overheat problem, almost all iMacs i've met from 2009 to 2011 had similar issues.

Click to expand...

Well one year after I noticed this issue, my iMac crashed and the screen would go crazy every time I turned it on (crazy colours etc).
Send it in for service, changed the graphics card (almost just in time before going obsolete) and they sent it back. The iMac is as it was before, works fine, the lines are still there.

I guess its the panel.

Holy crap!

First off all, thanks for answering.

I read throughout the thread and it seems that vertical lines could be a graphic card, lcd panel, vertical sync cable or heating problem. But I need to confirm with someone that have the exact same lines pattern as my screen (see attached picture) to narrow it down a bit more. What I know about the iMac is that the previous owner replaced the Optical Drive with an SSD Disk and to avoid using the Optical Drive by mistake he sealed the opening with tapes. I mention the tape here because when I remove it, I can feel the hot air coming out of the opening so I guess it is also used as heating exhaust.

So anyone with the exact same line pattern, please let me know.

thanks

Sounds to me like a cable issue. I had a monitor that would exhibit the same issues if the cable was wiggled.

I have same problem on Apple LED Cinema Display 2012. The problem doesn't disappear with different videocards and Macs (tried on macbook and mac pro)

I have exactly the same lines on two Imacs i currently have. (2009 and 2010)
First of all this lines are not gpu related. I had a chance to swap everything from a working machine (no lines at all) and came down to a conclusion that this is only lcd issue.(also because ppl with cinema displays have the same issue it kind of narrows it down to lcd ?)
Also this issue shows up only on older imacs (2006-2010)
2011 models do not have this issue.
At first i thought it has something to do with vsync cable. but i did experiment with it on a machine without this issue and it has nothing to do with vsync cable. YOu can unplug it at all on a working machine and it will not develop this lines
Iim still working on explaining why in the hell the lcd fails on us this way....

Finally the issue had been resolved.I can confirm it is the LCD.
Replaced it and no lines.