Has iMac had much issues later year models?

[micke1967]

Hi Im a regular pc user and has been for years. However I have also worked a lot with unix and so lately I feel the urge to move into buying a mac...
Espacially since it have some unix in its os core..

And even though the new iMac scares me some being thin whcih could give heating issues potentially...And also have a new solution for the screen with everything glued onto tjhe screen directly-new unproved solution...
I might actually still want one...

However reading this forum I see every now and then claims that iMacs havent really had so high quality...or in other words people seem ti had issues..with screens and similar...

So what is true about that?? I realize that often on blogs you see people that are extreemly bot happy-or on the other tip of the scale...while the vast majority of people often dont publish anything...so its hard to get a balanced view...

But since there should be a lot of experienced mac people here I hope to get some input on this...

If the iMac has to much issues may I be better of with a macbook pro 15" perhaps?? even though Id rather go with iMac...
Anyway hoping for some input for a hopefully soon to be mac owner..
best regards

 

[bmcgrath]

You'll always find the problematic issues for computers come up on forums. People come here to talk about the issues to try resolve.

What I can say is that my iMac (late 2011) which I purchased in Jan of this year has been working flawless. It's on 24/7 and gets pushed quite often. Be that photo editing or gaming.
Heat on my iMac doesn't ever seem to be a problem. It definitely get's hot for sure but not to levels where I am getting worried.

As for the new iMacs, I'm quite certain Apple have done extensive testing with the new design to ensure heating doesn't become a problem. It's not like they came up with a thin design and then decided to ship it without testing it.

 

[spcdust]

2009-2011 models have suffered from block smudge / blotches in the screen requiring screen replacement. Can personally vouch as I have had a screen replaced in a 2009 iMac, a 2011 iMac and we have had two screen replacements on iMacs at my work - all iMacs located in separate environments. It's a deign flaw and only occurs over time - it's well documented on Apples own forums. Whilst Apple officially deny there is any issue they will do a screen replacement without question, the last time they didn't even switch on my iMac to check, just booked it in. Hopefully the 2012 screen may have addressed the problem as they seem to have isolated screen from innards but only time will tell.

My personal experience is that virtually all the iMacs in recent years have had, to a greater or lesser extent, their own set of issues, as the iMac is very limited in user serviceability I would recommend the purchase of AppleCare.

 

[nuckinfutz]

I've seen very little issues that aren't HDD related. My mothers Seagate drive went belly up and now Apple's replacing thousands of drives (Thanks Seagate)

But other than that here 27" iMac is a model of stability.

 

[bobright]

2009-2011 models have suffered from block smudge / blotches in the screen requiring screen replacement. Can personally vouch as I have had a screen replaced in a 2009 iMac, a 2011 iMac and we have had two screen replacements on iMacs at my work - all iMacs located in separate environments. It's a deign flaw and only occurs over time - it's well documented on Apples own forums. Whilst Apple officially deny there is any issue they will do a screen replacement without question, the last time they didn't even switch on my iMac to check, just booked it in. Hopefully the 2012 screen may have addressed the problem as they seem to have isolated screen from innards but only time will tell.

My personal experience is that virtually all the iMacs in recent years have had, to a greater or lesser extent, their own set of issues, as the iMac is very limited in user serviceability I would recommend the purchase of AppleCare.

This is awful reading lots of posts like this, you feel as if you have to buy AppleCare or be assed out. I too am coming over from PC have never purchased extended warrantys, took care of my machines and all have lasted 5+ years easily most still going.

 

[spcdust]

2009-2011 models have suffered from block smudge / blotches in the screen requiring screen replacement. Can personally vouch as I have had a screen replaced in a 2009 iMac, a 2011 iMac and we have had two screen replacements on iMacs at my work - all iMacs located in separate environments. It's a deign flaw and only occurs over time - it's well documented on Apples own forums. Whilst Apple officially deny there is any issue they will do a screen replacement without question, the last time they didn't even switch on my iMac to check, just booked it in. Hopefully the 2012 screen may have addressed the problem as they seem to have isolated screen from innards but only time will tell.

My personal experience is that virtually all the iMacs in recent years have had, to a greater or lesser extent, their own set of issues, as the iMac is very limited in user serviceability I would recommend the purchase of AppleCare.

Just to further qualify my post, apart from the screen issue (which is a bit of a biggy) the 2011 iMac is a great machine. As far as screen issue goes, when it happens I'll just get Apple to swap it out for the three years that AppleCare covers it.

----------

This is awful reading lots of posts like this, you feel as if you have to buy AppleCare or be assed out. I too am coming over from PC have never purchased extended warrantys, took care of my machines and all have lasted 5+ years easily most still going.

Agree, I never buy extended warranties but with the nature if the iMac it has made sense for me. One thing is that the Apple after sales service is exemplary.

 

[micke1967]

hi first of all thanks for all input...however coming from the pc world and wanting to switch to mac...
its rather shocking in deed to hear that I would be wise to buy applecare since the iMac is more or less likely to have issues needing to be sent in for repairs...
in Sweden applecare costs about 500us dollars for 3 years so its not cheap either...

Maybe I was a bit naive but I was under the impression that one of the reasons apple being able to have high price computers was besides design image and so on..was that they actually had high quality on their hardware...

I mean I have often heard from Mac people the slogan: it just works....
But really reading more and more Im really starting to wonder...

Now Ive hade some 5-6 pc:s in my life and I cant say that they have been flawless..but my home pc:s did never need to go to the repairshops...they died of old age..all HP or Dells...
My work computers however is more maintenance...right now I have a HP8730 EliteBook high spec...and I have had the dvd replaced 4 times...the screen 3 times...the keyboard once...but then thats a laptop and in my work I travel..alot so its more understandable..

For my home usage I mainly use my computers for music (I play the guitar) so garageband would be great...and also see movies and stuff...and also the usual home fix with photos home movies..occasional converting of mkv-movies into avi-movies...but really not much gaming and such...
And also a somewhat future proof computer that could last for at least 5 years of keeping up in upgrades and such...

So I guess I really saw iMac as a real treat...however now I start question that...
However I guess Ill keep reading and above all await some real reviews on the new iMac...

Just another question as well...would a macbook pro retina be a better choice??more reliable??
And finally also-is it very common that you would buy applecare with iMac??
What happens if you doesnt and the screen is broken in say 2 years depending on that it was manufactured badly??would apple then not help you??

Anyway many thanks for your input on this...and as you surely notice I actually wanna be somewhat persuaded that iMac really is a high quality product well worth buying...
best regards micael in sweden...

 

[AppleInMyBlood]

This is awful reading lots of posts like this, you feel as if you have to buy AppleCare or be assed out. I too am coming over from PC have never purchased extended warrantys, took care of my machines and all have lasted 5+ years easily most still going.

The chances are you'll have no major problems at all, but AppleCare is nice to have just in case. I haven't seen any stats, but in my experience Macs seem much more reliable than PCs (I've owned both and have many friends with Macs--I virtually never hear a peep out of them about any problems). Perhaps it's largely due to the OS, but the hardware is also very well put together. Customer satisfaction, both with the products themselves and the customer care, is pretty much off the charts for Apple (they lead by a significant margin).

 

[spcdust]

hi first of all thanks for all input...however coming from the pc world and wanting to switch to mac...
its rather shocking in deed to hear that I would be wise to buy applecare since the iMac is more or less likely to have issues needing to be sent in for repairs...
in Sweden applecare costs about 500us dollars for 3 years so its not cheap either...

Maybe I was a bit naive but I was under the impression that one of the reasons apple being able to have high price computers was besides design image and so on..was that they actually had high quality on their hardware...

I mean I have often heard from Mac people the slogan: it just works....
But really reading more and more Im really starting to wonder...

Now Ive hade some 5-6 pc:s in my life and I cant say that they have been flawless..but my home pc:s did never need to go to the repairshops...they died of old age..all HP or Dells...
My work computers however is more maintenance...right now I have a HP8730 EliteBook high spec...and I have had the dvd replaced 4 times...the screen 3 times...the keyboard once...but then thats a laptop and in my work I travel..alot so its more understandable..

For my home usage I mainly use my computers for music (I play the guitar) so garageband would be great...and also see movies and stuff...and also the usual home fix with photos home movies..occasional converting of mkv-movies into avi-movies...but really not much gaming and such...
And also a somewhat future proof computer that could last for at least 5 years of keeping up in upgrades and such...

So I guess I really saw iMac as a real treat...however now I start question that...
However I guess Ill keep reading and above all await some real reviews on the new iMac...

Just another question as well...would a macbook pro retina be a better choice??more reliable??
And finally also-is it very common that you would buy applecare with iMac??
What happens if you doesnt and the screen is broken in say 2 years depending on that it was manufactured badly??would apple then not help you??

Anyway many thanks for your input on this...and as you surely notice I actually wanna be somewhat persuaded that iMac really is a high quality product well worth buying...
best regards micael in sweden...

It's tricky, on one hand the build quality of Apple products is high, on the other there have been issues and some would say the quality control has slipped in recent years. This may not be so much of a problem if the iMac was more easily user serviceable, some people are happy to work on their iMacs but I personally think it's not for the faint hearted.

My views are from my personal experience, others will swear blind that there are no issues and it all works perfectly, My input is to try and offer a realistic view. Saying all that the iMac is a pleasure to use, as is OSX and I could never see myself having a Windows based machine as my primary home computer (although I do bootcamp into Windows on my iMac for casual gaming).

 

[old-wiz]

For any computer, regardless of whether it's a Mac or a windows box or a Linux box or a Unix box, there will be x percentage of users who will have things that break (in the day or in the night) and y percentage of users who have nothing break.

The x percentage people tend to post more than the y percentage people.'

If you count the number of machines in the millions, and take a failure rate of even 3%, it's still a lot of machines, but the other 97% are fine.

 

[spcdust]

For any computer, regardless of whether it's a Mac or a windows box or a Linux box or a Unix box, there will be x percentage of users who will have things that break (in the day or in the night) and y percentage of users who have nothing break.

The x percentage people tend to post more than the y percentage people.'

If you count the number of machines in the millions, and take a failure rate of even 3%, it's still a lot of machines, but the other 97% are fine.

Your point is a fair one and I would generally agree with you....however my personal experience is 4 separate iMacs with the same screen issue from different environments, plus I forgot to mention that my father-in-laws 2009 iMac has the same problem but he just hasn't got around to taking it in for the screen replacement.

 

[micke1967]

Hi again thansk for your opinions...
about applecare...
How important is it to have that??
Meaning will apple not otherwise correct a screen that suffer from faults in manufacturing??
Or will you not get any support from apple without it??
And are you supposed to buy that every year?
If you dont have applecare is it very expensive to get things fixed at apple then??or will they simply not even do it?
best regards

 

[Omne666]

Your covered like most electronics for 12 months. You can even wait 364 days before buying the apple care and it'll be cool with apple.

I'm onto my 4th mac, the last 2 being iMacs, and not one issue. After the warranty expires, I have been known to crack the case and explore its innards. my first I upgraded the hdd to a 1.5Tb I had lying around from a Drobo I'd already expanded up. That machine still is running fine as a media server elsewhere.

Like was said earlier, a percentage can have problems, but I've had mine, converted most of the family off windows onto iMacs, and no issues to date.

Lol, I just bought a new 27" iMac like 3 weeks ago, despite knowing a new model was around the corner, simply because the current model is so damn good. Regret not waiting? Not one bit, though I may upgrade this one before the AppleCare runs out, which would be a first for me.

 

[Tankmaze]

2009-2011 models have suffered from block smudge / blotches in the screen requiring screen replacement. Can personally vouch as I have had a screen replaced in a 2009 iMac, a 2011 iMac and we have had two screen replacements on iMacs at my work - all iMacs located in separate environments. It's a deign flaw and only occurs over time - it's well documented on Apples own forums. Whilst Apple officially deny there is any issue they will do a screen replacement without question, the last time they didn't even switch on my iMac to check, just booked it in. Hopefully the 2012 screen may have addressed the problem as they seem to have isolated screen from innards but only time will tell.

My personal experience is that virtually all the iMacs in recent years have had, to a greater or lesser extent, their own set of issues, as the iMac is very limited in user serviceability I would recommend the purchase of AppleCare.

This. Happen to mine, and i've checked the imac on the apple reseller demo unit and also a friend of mine. All of them got this dust seeping thru behind the lcd

 

[old-wiz]

Hi again thansk for your opinions...
about applecare...
How important is it to have that??
Meaning will apple not otherwise correct a screen that suffer from faults in manufacturing??
Or will you not get any support from apple without it??
And are you supposed to buy that every year?
If you dont have applecare is it very expensive to get things fixed at apple then??or will they simply not even do it?
best regards

Apple hardware warranty is 12 months from date of purchase. Apple care extends this to 36 months total. After 36 months AppleCare is gone and you cannot re-purchase.

You can get repairs done by Apple for several years. Depending on what's broken it can cost anywhere from $ 0 to $ 2000...

I have 4 Macs currently running, plus 2 more PPC versions that are in the cabinet. I purchased Applecare on an iBook, but after that I didn't bother. There are arguments both ways. Some say it's very important, others say it's a waste of money. For me, I saved enough on AppleCare to buy another MBP if I wanted to.

 

[28Gauge]

My mid-2011 27" iMac that I have had for a year has almost been flawless. The only problem to date is 1 stuck pixel.

 

[micke1967]

hi
thanks for all answers on this...however had hoped for a few more..espacially from you guys that actually had NO problems with your iMacs...
Cause I guess and hope that its rather unusual with quality issues-or?

So I have heard never buy first generation of a Mac....

So is the new iMAC a new generation??
How long should one wait to order one if being wise??
Im thinking that Ill await the first real reviews...
best regards micael