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2011 refreshed iMac 27" i7 Screen Issues

G

ggboy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 11, 2011
1
0
Hi Everyone.

Last week I bought a brand new iMac 27" 17 3.4ghz the same day they were released here in Japan. It was a lot heavier than I imagined it would be, so I struggled all the way home with it on the trains.

I got it out, turned it on, and proceeded to install all my stuff.

It wasn't until I changed the wallpaper to a solid color that I noticed a slight discoloration at the bottom of the screen. Starting about 2cm from the bottom, and about 3cm thick, was a patch of slightly darker screen which ran right along to the other side of the screen. To begin with I tried to ignore it (not wanting to believe that my iMac wasn't perfect.

Today I took it back into the Apple Store to get it replaced. I showed them what was wrong with it, and they went to get me a new one. While they were gone I checked all their display models - they were both perfect.

They put the swap through the computer before opening the box (I thought that was stupid), only to find that it also had a distinct line along the bottom of the screen - although not as bad as the one I returned.

I pointed it out, but was told it would have to be sent for repair/to get looked at. I resisted, saying that I hadn't even left the store, why would they send it for repair. They got a second iMac out and set that up next to the 1st one. It too had the line along the bottom of the screen.

The Apple Store employees said "We can't just take them all out of their boxes. You can choose one of these two, send one for repair, or get your money back". I chose the second one - the lesser evil. It isn't that obvious if you don't know what you are looking for - but it isn't perfect. For that sort of money I expected a perfect screen!

As for not being able to take them all out of the boxes? They shouldn't be selling them anyway! Of course they should take them all out.

Why have Apple not sorted this problem out?? They've had these issues for years!!

I'm sad to say that my opinion of Apple has dropped a little after this.
 
Unfortunately, same here. 27" i7, BTO with 2GB of VRAM, HORRIBLE yellow screen issues. I didn't even go looking for it, viewing the BBC news web site the white background looked like it was on two different screens top and bottom. The top a nice, if anything slightly blue-tinted, crisp colour. The bottom a horrible warm yellow. Took it to a local Apple store and they confirmed it was faulty just on boot, clearly visible on the grey background.

Of course I'm now having to deal with Apple On-line services to get it returned (which they've already screwed up once by logging it as a replace rather than refund and starting the build process on the replacement) which is a major pain. The lesson: always buy via the local Apple store if at all possible as they can't do anything but repair stock bought on-line.
 
Wow. Not again.

I hope that this is a non-wide spread issue.
I was a victim of the first batch and the 2010 models. Got sick of it and now use a 21.5 in dual screen mode with a 27 Cinema Display. No problems.

Have a 21.5 2.8 i7 with SSD on order. If the screen is not perfect who cares. I don't use it for my main screen anyway.

Hope this is resolved soon. :(
 
iamthedudeman said:
Wow. Not again.

I hope that this is a non-wide spread issue.
I was a victim of the first batch and the 2010 models. Got sick of it and now use a 21.5 in dual screen mode with a 27 Cinema Display. No problems.

Have a 21.5 2.8 i7 with SSD on order. If the screen is not perfect who cares. I don't use it for my main screen anyway.

Hope this is resolved soon. :(
Click to expand...

I might care, if only because if they're "allowed" to sell at subpar quality, it will become a trend.
 
Yep. The 2011s are still bad. Watch Out.

Well, I am on my second 2011 iMac, ready to head to the local Apple Store tonight to exchange for a third. In a week...

I bought a 21.5 inch unit in the cheapest configuration last Wednesday. I took it home, set it up, brought up Gmail, and noticed some severe changes in the consistency of the white on the site, especially in the bottom right corner. I came straight to this forum, performed the yellow tint test, and confirmed that I had the issue. I made a Genius Bar appointment for last night, and as soon as the Genius booted up my machine he saw the yellow tint immediately and sent someone to the back to grab me a brand new iMac.

Now, of course, I had them boot up the new machine in the store so I could check the screen, and I quickly performed the test again and everything SEEMED OK. I got back home, set the new machine up, opened System Preferences, and saw the nasty yellow tint again. This time, it was harder to pick up on quickly because the tint was now more evenly distributed across the bottom 1/2-1/3 of the screen, as opposed to being contained in just one corner.

I've got another Genius Bar appointment tonight for yet another new machine. I'm not spending $1200 on a brand new iMac and just simply living with a bad screen. When Apple advertises it as one of the main features of the product, it really should be free of defects like this.

I love Apple, and I love the iMac, but if I don't get a decent display soon, I'm just going to have them refund my money and go the Mac Mini route. Ugh.
 
Screen complaints..are here again?

NutsNGum said:
In the words of John Hurt in Spaceballs.

"Oh no, not again."
Click to expand...

Sometimes the more things change.......the more they stay the same. Seems lots of people have been confronted with the screen color issues in the past. And now it is on some of the new stuff. How can that be, I would think it would be checked out better before going to market. I am glad to have the older iMac with a good screen, at least for now.
 
I have heard someone suggest it could be a result of polarizing of the screen or some such thing. And that under certain lighting conditions all imacs will have it.

I only noticed it on mine when I ran the test page and compared. Otherwise I wouldn't have seen it. However under different lighting conditions such as the overhead light off and just light from the window on an overcast day there is no more discoloration.
 
When demoing a 2011 27" iMac in the Apple Store here in New York, I noticed the dark/grey tint effect a few CM from the bottom of the screen, that proceeded vertically upward another inch and a half before transitioning back to normal, this dark area that ran from one side of the screen horizontally to the other was behind the dock, so I didn't notice it at first glance. I made the background all white, and hid the dock, seeing if the machine suffered from the yellow tint issue, which it did not, thankfully, but this grey band disturbed me.

I will be purchasing a 2011 iMac 27" within the next month or so, I hope these issued will be worked out, if not, I will be exchanging until I get a perfect display, no way I am spending 2 grand and getting a faulty piece of hardware!

-Franky
 
Seems like this thread is going off-track, because the original issue was slight LED brightness variation, not yellowish tint.

Well, I got the same effect as what original poster described above. It does have "horizontal" type of stripe on the bottom. Over the period of few days it got substantially better as the screen warmed up. I was kind of contemplating at first whether I want to send it back or keep it, but meh... I use Macs everywhere, I have Mac at work and I have 27" Cinema Display, it is not exactly perfect either. Seems like LED technology for larger screens hasn't gotten to the point of absolute perfection, because even my uber expensive Samsung LED TV (2011) has the slight brightness variation if I just display some solid color on the screen. Ah, well... This sucks but like I said once the screens "warms up" the issue becomes a lot less apparent.

People who use Macs are so used to perfect design decisions that every slight technology drawback is a cause for serious concern :) I know that first hand hehe.
 
ggboy said:
Hi Everyone.

Last week I bought a brand new iMac 27" 17 3.4ghz the same day they were released here in Japan. It was a lot heavier than I imagined it would be, so I struggled all the way home with it on the trains.

I got it out, turned it on, and proceeded to install all my stuff.

It wasn't until I changed the wallpaper to a solid color that I noticed a slight discoloration at the bottom of the screen. Starting about 2cm from the bottom, and about 3cm thick, was a patch of slightly darker screen which ran right along to the other side of the screen. To begin with I tried to ignore it (not wanting to believe that my iMac wasn't perfect.

Today I took it back into the Apple Store to get it replaced. I showed them what was wrong with it, and they went to get me a new one. While they were gone I checked all their display models - they were both perfect.

They put the swap through the computer before opening the box (I thought that was stupid), only to find that it also had a distinct line along the bottom of the screen - although not as bad as the one I returned.

I pointed it out, but was told it would have to be sent for repair/to get looked at. I resisted, saying that I hadn't even left the store, why would they send it for repair. They got a second iMac out and set that up next to the 1st one. It too had the line along the bottom of the screen.

The Apple Store employees said "We can't just take them all out of their boxes. You can choose one of these two, send one for repair, or get your money back". I chose the second one - the lesser evil. It isn't that obvious if you don't know what you are looking for - but it isn't perfect. For that sort of money I expected a perfect screen!

As for not being able to take them all out of the boxes? They shouldn't be selling them anyway! Of course they should take them all out.

Why have Apple not sorted this problem out?? They've had these issues for years!!

I'm sad to say that my opinion of Apple has dropped a little after this.
Click to expand...

The reason why they haven't seriously addressed the issue is that too many people compromise. Read around in these forums and you'll see a lot of people that post that they have the yellowing problems but they aren't going to take it in for replacement.....
 
Display brightness low with yellow tint

I purchased a new BTO 27" iMac in April 2011 and it was very bright but had some faint yellow tint in the bottom third of the screen and more noticeable on the left corner. I didn't really notice until I called in when the new iMacs were released and I asked for the new model. They sent a return label and shipped out the new iMac after i paid for it. (two currently on cc). I booted up new one and I immediately noticed that screen on the new one was significantly dimmer and had a much more yellow tint. It was side be side with the one ordered in April, which is how I noticed the brightness level and heaver yellow tint. I called apple and they apologized and stated that they would ship me out the third iMac and sent me a new return label. This is ridiculous. This is my first experience with a mac and I'm not happy about it. Both iMacs were purchased in 2011 one in April and the second on May 3rd. I hav efound this issue goes all the back to 2009??! Is there any hope?
:confused:
 
My imac is getting delivered today, I hope I dont have any issues, cant afford to have business down and I'm tired of working on my 15" Macbook Pro.
 
Ambient light sensor

bobbyjo said:
I purchased a new BTO 27" iMac in April 2011 and it was very bright but had some faint yellow tint in the bottom third of the screen and more noticeable on the left corner. I didn't really notice until I called in when the new iMacs were released and I asked for the new model. They sent a return label and shipped out the new iMac after i paid for it. (two currently on cc). I booted up new one and I immediately noticed that screen on the new one was significantly dimmer and had a much more yellow tint. It was side be side with the one ordered in April, which is how I noticed the brightness level and heaver yellow tint. I called apple and they apologized and stated that they would ship me out the third iMac and sent me a new return label. This is ridiculous. This is my first experience with a mac and I'm not happy about it. Both iMacs were purchased in 2011 one in April and the second on May 3rd. I hav efound this issue goes all the back to 2009??! Is there any hope?
:confused:
Click to expand...

The 2011 iMacs have an ambient light sensor that might be affecting your display as far as the dimness. It can be disabled in the Display Preferences.
 
I realize this is an older thread but thought I'd post anyway. I recently purchased a 27 iMac refurb that was built in May 2011. It too had the dark band across the bottom of the screen and "pee stain" on the right side. Of course I returned it (fortunately no cost to me). I maybe I shouldn't be surprised as this was a refurb so somebody bought it new and returned it.

Anyway, does anyone know if later models still have this problem? I may wait a few months and order another machine to try...Unless I get impatient and just a upgrade my PC instead.
 
I've just had my 6 week old iMac replaced because of an issue with a grey band at the bottom of the screen and a possible graphics card fault...

... the new one also has a slight grey band - but not as bad as the first one...

what can on do but cry :(
 
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