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Is your display having the problem described?

  • iMac 21.5" both grey bars look identical in color

    Votes: 102 8.9%
  • iMac 21.5" the bottom bar looks more yellow

    Votes: 199 17.4%
  • iMac 27" both grey bars look identical in color

    Votes: 311 27.2%
  • iMac 27" the bottom bar looks more yellow

    Votes: 533 46.6%

  • Total voters
    1,145
I think we need to have several or many screens threaded here to get a global view of the quality of the screens on this Imac refresh. The more the better. One screen does not indicate a trend. We need numbers.
 
Do you think I should take the chance of getting another bad one and return it?

I am still puzzled by the picture P1010097.jpg. It looks like it is of a different screen altogether. And even the P1010099 is not too bad.

As per replacement, it might be more difficult now, after the model update (they may want to discourage the practice). All depends on what you are using your computer for, how much time you want to spend and so on. I probably would do it, but then I am lurking around not buying at all to see what will happen with iMac and wasting time as well. But I want computer for digital photography and maybe I am paying too much attention to the screen issue?

Still, there are reports, that some of the screens out there are perfect, so your next one could be the lucky one...

Tom B.
 
I am still puzzled by the picture P1010097.jpg. It looks like it is of a different screen altogether. And even the P1010099 is not too bad.

As per replacement, it might be more difficult now, after the model update (they may want to discourage the practice). All depends on what you are using your computer for, how much time you want to spend and so on. I probably would do it, but then I am lurking around not buying at all to see what will happen with iMac and wasting time as well. But I want computer for digital photography and maybe I am paying too much attention to the screen issue?

Still, there are reports, that some of the screens out there are perfect, so your next one could be the lucky one...

Tom B.

I don't think the update will make it any harder everyone I have talked to at the apple store has said it is the first time they have heard of the problem. It might depend on what manager is there one of them is a dick about it and the other one I talked to was cool.

I don't blame you for not buying, the only reason I keep trying is because I returned a mbp from best buy for credit at the apple store to get the first iMac. So now I can only get store credit and I don't want anything but an iMac. sooooo frustrating
 
My updated 27" core i5 iMac that I got today has no noticeable yellowing - or dead/stuck pixels for that matter :D.

Good to hear! I really think that Apple has made great strides in reducing yellowing since the problem-plagued 2009 models. Any backlight noise at different brightness levels?
 
I own a late 2007 MacBook pro. I ordered a 27" quad core i5, delivery Aug 3rd to Aug 9th. I waited for this refresh & put off buying, in large part, as a result of this thread. I vowed to purchase as soon as this refresh came out without waiting for further "yellow tinge" reports.

My use of my computer is as follows:
Web Surfing
Online Trading
Smart Music-music accompaniment program
Storage-Music & photos
Light photo editing
I may also connect EyeTV and use it as a TV

The only test I am going to do for the "yellow Tinge" is my eyeball test. If I cannot see it with my naked eye, I am not going to look for it!

Everything else I have read about this computer is awesome. I am about to get me some of that.

Keysmark
 
My updated 27" core i5 iMac that I got today has no noticeable yellowing - or dead/stuck pixels for that matter :D.

Could you place a picture of a ~50% grey background for closer look with the Photoshop? It would be good to build some statistical view...

Tom B.
 
I think we need to have several or many screens threaded here to get a global view of the quality of the screens on this Imac refresh. The more the better. One screen does not indicate a trend. We need numbers.

+1

Tom B.
 
New iMac 21.5 here.

Slight yellow tinge in bottom right corner - can only see ion on a white screen, enough to be annoying as I'm a photographer but unsure whether to go through the hassle of taking it to a shop etc.

:(
 
I own a late 2007 MacBook pro. I ordered a 27" quad core i5, delivery Aug 3rd to Aug 9th. I waited for this refresh & put off buying, in large part, as a result of this thread. I vowed to purchase as soon as this refresh came out without waiting for further "yellow tinge" reports.

My use of my computer is as follows:
Web Surfing
Online Trading
Smart Music-music accompaniment program
Storage-Music & photos
Light photo editing
I may also connect EyeTV and use it as a TV

The only test I am going to do for the "yellow Tinge" is my eyeball test. If I cannot see it with my naked eye, I am not going to look for it!

Everything else I have read about this computer is awesome. I am about to get me some of that.

Keysmark

Pretty much an identical situation here - I researched and held out for this refresh hoping they would take care of these issues (this is my first Mac) and bump the specs. I like your philosophy on testing for yellow - I don't want to look for problems if they aren't obvious and negate my patience in waiting.

I am about to get me some of that too.
 
New iMac 21.5 here.

Slight yellow tinge in bottom right corner - can only see ion on a white screen, enough to be annoying as I'm a photographer but unsure whether to go through the hassle of taking it to a shop etc.

:(

Just noticed a dead pixel towards the bottom right as well - is this all enough to warrant a replacement? What is the procedure?
 
Pretty much an identical situation here - I researched and held out for this refresh hoping they would take care of these issues (this is my first Mac) and bump the specs. I like your philosophy on testing for yellow - I don't want to look for problems if they aren't obvious and negate my patience in waiting.

I am about to get me some of that too.

The problem with that is if your looking for it even with just your eyes you will see it. I didn't need anyone to test this new screen for me I could see it as soon as the room I was in got dark. Now maybe if I would have never heard about the yellow screen and didn't look for it then I wouldn't have noticed but if your screen has the yellow tint and are trying to just eyeball it you will see it.

It isn't something that you need a test to see, the test btom does will just tell you how bad the yellow is. I kind of wish I would have kept my first one now It had pretty bad yellow tint but it was confined to the lower left corner of the screen. My new one is pretty dark all the way up the left side but it also has a lighter yellow tint all the way up the middle that is really annoying. I am not even that nit picky I could live with the gray band along the bottom and some yellowing it just sucks to have it right in the middle of the screen. It makes it so no matter where I move my browser I can see part of macrumors looks white and gray and the other part looks like i peed on it haha. Ahhhh I think I'm going to return this one too.
 
Just noticed a dead pixel towards the bottom right as well - is this all enough to warrant a replacement? What is the procedure?

You can exchange or return anytime within 14 days. It's a question of whether they'll waive the restocking fee, since they don't officially recognize a single dead pixel or minor yellowing issue as being a valid replacement reason.

In my experience, they're usually good about replacing w/o a fee at least once, but may depend on the rep/store manager you're dealing with. Do consider, though, that there are other build issues people have struggled with (notably, the high-pitched whine problem) and you may be trading in a minor issue for a more major one. You can keep trading, but eventually you'll get sick of lugging the thing back and forth, and they'll get less friendly about waiving fees.

Personal experience: my first 27" had a bad yellowing issue. They swapped it for one that did have less of a color problem (though not perfect), but with one dead pixel. However it's not in an annoying place, and I've hit my threshold for wanting to deal with this, so it's what I'm keeping.
 
Yeah, this happens with any product. My Canon S90 arrived with a loose top panel. Sent it back, got one with a loose control ring. "Made in Japan" used to stand for something.
 
You can exchange or return anytime within 14 days. It's a question of whether they'll waive the restocking fee, since they don't officially recognize a single dead pixel or minor yellowing issue as being a valid replacement reason.

In my experience, they're usually good about replacing w/o a fee at least once, but may depend on the rep/store manager you're dealing with. Do consider, though, that there are other build issues people have struggled with (notably, the high-pitched whine problem) and you may be trading in a minor issue for a more major one. You can keep trading, but eventually you'll get sick of lugging the thing back and forth, and they'll get less friendly about waiving fees.

Personal experience: my first 27" had a bad yellowing issue. They swapped it for one that did have less of a color problem (though not perfect), but with one dead pixel. However it's not in an annoying place, and I've hit my threshold for wanting to deal with this, so it's what I'm keeping.

Yeah, I totally hear what you're saying. Just when you spend £1000 on something you want it to be perfect...

I've booked an appointment at an Apple store on Tuesday - I'm just going to ask what they think and suggest I swap it for another.

I'm assuming its ok if I take it into a store even though I bought it online?

I'm in England by the way, not sure if it's different to the US policy.

:confused:
 
I just returned home after an hour and a half drive to my nearest Apple store with my brand new i5 27' iMac.

Now for a quick past history, this is my third 27' iMac, all purchased from the same store. The first one had something stuck under the glass; it looked like a screen tear of some sort. The second one had horrid yellow tinge at the bottom of the screen, where it was very noticeable right away. I was really banking on the refresh being the third time's a charm.

Looks like this one has some yellow tinge as well, but it is not NEARLY as bad as the second iMac that I had. In fact, though I'm consciously aware that it's there, it's not distracting whatsoever unless I really focus on it, so this one's a keeper for me. No other issues with the iMac whatsoever, no dog whistling on brightness adjustments, it works beautifully.

I don't think there will ever be a 100% perfect screen of this size. Doesn't the 27' Dell suffer from this to some degree as well?
 
Yeah, I don't think there are any IPS LG screens being made these days without "problems". Go read on the dell U2311h and u2711. They all have their share of uniformity issues. Just have to get one that doesn't bother you.
 
Hell, I noticed a while ago that even my 21' Gateway monitor had a little bit of yellowing on the bottom half of the monitor. :)

I'm done with my unholy quest to find the perfect 100% uniform monitor, this one is great enough for me. Also looks like it's only mainly affecting the leftish side.
 
Thanks for checking out my pics guys. Kavik, the pic u posted is the closest to the way it looks in person I don't know why the yellow in the middle doesn't show up in my pics but it is pretty obvious in person. I guess I'll wait to see what other peoples experiences are, I really don't want to return it and get one that is worse


You're welcome jicka. As you noted above, having yellow tint show up in the middle of a browser window with a white background is pretty hard to miss and is a lot more unacceptable than it being at the bottom or corner of the screen. For some people it's not a big issue, but it was/is a deal breaker for me.
 
I'm assuming its ok if I take it into a store even though I bought it online

In the US, I don't think you typically can, because the B&M stores and online store aren't really the same financial entity. Buy online, return via mail.

I intentionally didn't use my company discount store (online order only) on my i7 so I could return in-store if necessary, which it was. Ultimately not sure that was the best option from a financial point of view (I would've saved $150 or so buying online), but it was certainly the least hassle.
 
Looks good to me. The whites are white and no yellowing.

Only one stuck pixel near the bottom that I cannot see unless I look for it. When I was at the apple store the imacs had good screens too. I did the test on no less than five 27 models and two 21.5's.

Here is mine. A Core i3 3.2 21.5.
 

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Here is mine. A Core i3 3.2 21.5.

I did some Photoshop testing on the first picture (photo.JPG) and the left side of the picture has 5%blue deficiency, as compared with the right side. Also bottom light part of the screen has ~5% red deficiency. There is no horizontal darkening along the low edge of the screen. I guess this screen is not really bad and should not affect most of the applications.

An interesting observation is, that the discoloration seems to be more of the vertical bands type (on the sample of two screens so far).

Tom B.
 
No dock shadow at all there (is this only a 27" phenomenon?). Lately, I've heard reports of more yellow 21.5" screens than 27"-ers. I see a warming towards the left side but it doesn't look too bad.
 
Can you tell if I have the yellow tint?

It is hard for me to see, but maybe my sense of color is bad or something. Do you think I have the issue? This is a Command-Shift-4 capture of my 27" screen using the imac.squeaked.com test.
 

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