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27", 21.5" iMac Owners, test your screen for yellow tint issue here
- Thread starter tapplox
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I also agree, simply because I had it and did not realize it until doing the test. Given the percentage of people reporting they have it in the poll, it's a lot easier for me to believe that it's a manufacturing thing that affects all machines than some kind of defect in over half of them. Of course, the voters here are self-selecting, but it's still telling. I'm holding mine just because it's perfect otherwise and I don't want to risk dead pixels on an exchange if/when they get it sorted out.
hopeful
This and more recent reports here of calls to Apple support gives me hope that the issue gains more traction officially and that Apple is seriously looking into the problem. Not gonna put up with the idea that this "yellowing" is something I'll have to live with. Look forward to some solution.
This and more recent reports here of calls to Apple support gives me hope that the issue gains more traction officially and that Apple is seriously looking into the problem. Not gonna put up with the idea that this "yellowing" is something I'll have to live with. Look forward to some solution.
I'm scared they may be like this forever. Might be whoever makes this panel makes them this way. I wonder what Apple is doing when they get some production models, and they don't see this?
I wonder the first generation iphones, more than half of them had the negative black through almost the entire run.
I wonder the first generation iphones, more than half of them had the negative black through almost the entire run.
If I'm not mistaken the yellowing is something that happens with the newer batches. In Week 41 it seemed they produced machines without yellowing.
Issue resolved in newest iMacs?
First would like to report that my week 48 iMac does have the tint issue.
It's very very subtle and can be noticed by quickly moving my eyes from the bottom of the screen to the top. The top appears cooler and the bottom appears warmer.
The colour seems uniform along the width of the screen, that is, I'm not seeing it any more pronounced on the left or right.
The change in colour is subtle enough that I can't notice where it begins and ends I can only notice that the very top is uniformly cooler and the very bottom is uniformly warmer.
Just got off the phone with an apple care representative and the call was indeed interesting. They gave me the option of treating it as a DOA and returning the machine within the first 30 days (by December 31st in my case) or having it repaired anytime within my applecare warranty (3 years).
The first option would involve shipping it with a RMA and then waiting the standard time for a new one to ship out (7 to 10 days from the time they receive the defective machine)
The second option would involve me either taking it into the store or having someone come to my home to "try and repair it" in both cases we all know that the result would be the machine being taken away and either fixed or replaced.
Here's where it gets interesting
When I said that in the case of returning it for a new one I was worried about the new one arriving with the same issue she all but assured me that that will not happen.
The conversation went something like this
Me: Lots of people are reporting the issue. It seems quite common. I'm worried about the replacement being defective as well.
Her: We're aware of the issue and have taken steps to prevent it in the newest iMacs.
Me: So you're fairly sure that the new machine will not arrive with the same or worse problem
Her: I'm almost positive.
Me: So what steps have been taken to ensure it won't happen.
Her: We've changed the video card.
She sounded very confident.
So has anyone been told anything similar or does anyone have any information about the very latest iMacs not having the issue?
First would like to report that my week 48 iMac does have the tint issue.
It's very very subtle and can be noticed by quickly moving my eyes from the bottom of the screen to the top. The top appears cooler and the bottom appears warmer.
The colour seems uniform along the width of the screen, that is, I'm not seeing it any more pronounced on the left or right.
The change in colour is subtle enough that I can't notice where it begins and ends I can only notice that the very top is uniformly cooler and the very bottom is uniformly warmer.
Just got off the phone with an apple care representative and the call was indeed interesting. They gave me the option of treating it as a DOA and returning the machine within the first 30 days (by December 31st in my case) or having it repaired anytime within my applecare warranty (3 years).
The first option would involve shipping it with a RMA and then waiting the standard time for a new one to ship out (7 to 10 days from the time they receive the defective machine)
The second option would involve me either taking it into the store or having someone come to my home to "try and repair it" in both cases we all know that the result would be the machine being taken away and either fixed or replaced.
Here's where it gets interesting
When I said that in the case of returning it for a new one I was worried about the new one arriving with the same issue she all but assured me that that will not happen.
The conversation went something like this
Me: Lots of people are reporting the issue. It seems quite common. I'm worried about the replacement being defective as well.
Her: We're aware of the issue and have taken steps to prevent it in the newest iMacs.
Me: So you're fairly sure that the new machine will not arrive with the same or worse problem
Her: I'm almost positive.
Me: So what steps have been taken to ensure it won't happen.
Her: We've changed the video card.
She sounded very confident.
So has anyone been told anything similar or does anyone have any information about the very latest iMacs not having the issue?
It is my sad duty to report the following: the sun still rises in the East. Night still follows day. Service reps still don't know crap.
I'd love to take the word of this lady at face value, but from long experience, I can tell you it's pretty much 100% bollocks. If I reported to you all the crazy things ever said by service reps, apple store sales drones, apple store geniuses etc., it would be a 25 volume of the Book of Absurdities.
Unless the info comes from official on record word, or high level confirmed evidence (like parts numbers), this kind of statements are guaranteed to be wrong. And consider this: swapping out the video cards is a very very major move. IF THAT WERE TRUE, we'd hear about it from multiple sources, not from some one lone phone rep... how come she knows it and spills it, and nobody else has cottoned on to it? Think about it. I can pretty much guarantee you that this is hokum. Alas. I'd love for it to be true though
It's also possible they did a change to fix the screen flickering, and they don't understand yellow is something else.
Yeah, I tend to agree.. From everything I have read on these threads, the problem with yellow tint does not seem to be graphic card related.. I wonder if she was confused and was referring to the flickering issue?
I agree. I spoke to the guys at the Apple Store yesterday when I bought AppleCare and they all knew about the flickering but not the yellowing issue. They said the shipping delay was due to a slowdown (not stop) of production of the 27" iMacs until the flickering issue gets resolved.
I bet most "regular" folks just don't see it. But flickering is hard to miss. I returned my first i5 for flickering and it also had some slight yellowing that didn't bother my husband a bit. The yellowing drove me crazy but he really didn't see it as a problem. When I switched out the first i5 I did mention the flickering but not the yellow tinge because they immediately nodded and swapped it right out.
Hi guys, I got the same issue here. But I found this issue probably related to the glass rather than screen or graph card. The reason is quite simple. I firstly took a screen capture and moved it to the different places on the screen, then took a serial screen capture. The yellowish changed according to the position actually. If the yellowish related to LCD or graph card, it wouldn't change at all.
I tried to upload the pics but the server seems no responding...
I tried to upload the pics but the server seems no responding...
An interesting thing I noticed is that sometimes the Yellow tinge is worse in different times of the day.
I noticed this when viewing youtube videos.
Sometimes the loading bar of a youtube video is more yellowish, but when the tinge seems to disappear the loading bar becomes the correct color(washed red color).
Hard to explain.
I noticed this when viewing youtube videos.
Sometimes the loading bar of a youtube video is more yellowish, but when the tinge seems to disappear the loading bar becomes the correct color(washed red color).
Hard to explain.
Good point,might just be a glass issue, perhaps a film left during the manufacturing of it?
Would just like to point out that she was very clear about the problem and was not in anyway confused about other screen related issues.
She asked me several questions relating directly to this issue. And offered no suggestions of resetting pram or other such runaround nonsense.
Also new video card almost certainly doesn't mean NEW video card. It means that the vid card supplier may have had a bad run of cards and that some steps have been taken by the supplier to resolve the issue.
I don't know if she was right but it seems an awfully specific thing to say if you're not sure. In fact it amounts to nothing more than a lie.
I'm going to wait until just before my 30 days runs out and then have the machine RMA'd. If I get another dud I'll do the same thing again, as many times as it takes to get it right.
She asked me several questions relating directly to this issue. And offered no suggestions of resetting pram or other such runaround nonsense.
Also new video card almost certainly doesn't mean NEW video card. It means that the vid card supplier may have had a bad run of cards and that some steps have been taken by the supplier to resolve the issue.
I don't know if she was right but it seems an awfully specific thing to say if you're not sure. In fact it amounts to nothing more than a lie.
I'm going to wait until just before my 30 days runs out and then have the machine RMA'd. If I get another dud I'll do the same thing again, as many times as it takes to get it right.
LOL, no clue. But it's clear especially when you rotate the same pic.
someone take off the glass may reveal the answer for us?
Screen captures grab what is in the frame buffer of your video card, the LCD just displays what information is sent too it. The tint is always in the same area, which obviously indicates that the lcd panel is defective, it has nothing to do with the glass.
Screen captures can in no way diagnose or demonstrate this problem. Only photographs can do that.
Called Apple today....
Talked to higher level tech support about this today. They were quite aware of the problem and are collecting machines to troubleshoot. The suspicion is a graphics card problem or some problem with it's interaction with the display.
I hope it has nothing to do with the use of white LEDs in the backlight, as opposed to RGBs. This would obviously not be fixable in this revision.
They are sending me a new computer and I'm shipping this one back when that one arrives in a couple of weeks (so thankfully zero downtime).
FWIW, they were very prompt and helpful. He seemed confident that the issue would be resolved and that I would get a tinge free display.
Talked to higher level tech support about this today. They were quite aware of the problem and are collecting machines to troubleshoot. The suspicion is a graphics card problem or some problem with it's interaction with the display.
I hope it has nothing to do with the use of white LEDs in the backlight, as opposed to RGBs. This would obviously not be fixable in this revision.
They are sending me a new computer and I'm shipping this one back when that one arrives in a couple of weeks (so thankfully zero downtime).
FWIW, they were very prompt and helpful. He seemed confident that the issue would be resolved and that I would get a tinge free display.
Another Update...
I picked up my repaired iMac at the Apple Store this evening. I was in a hurry and they were busy, so I couldn't test it there, but the tech assured me that they tested it and couldn't see any yellowing. When I got it home, it was worse than when I sent it in. Ugh. Teachable moment: there are clearly still bad parts in the supply chain.
What really upsets me is that I showed two techs at the store the test pattern that clearly identifies the problem easily, but was told that "we can't look at that if it's not authorized by Apple..."
Seriously?
I'll be calling Apple again this morning. My situation is different, because it would appear that even though Apple MIGHT be addressing this issue with newer builds, I apparently can't get one of these because I bought a refurb. Unless, of course, I wan't to pony up the extra $200 for a new one that, for all I know, could have the same problem.
I'll see what Apple says, but if that continues to be the policy, I will likely return it and just build a PC for now. Plenty of time for other Macs in the future I suppose. Still, its a bummer.
I picked up my repaired iMac at the Apple Store this evening. I was in a hurry and they were busy, so I couldn't test it there, but the tech assured me that they tested it and couldn't see any yellowing. When I got it home, it was worse than when I sent it in. Ugh. Teachable moment: there are clearly still bad parts in the supply chain.
What really upsets me is that I showed two techs at the store the test pattern that clearly identifies the problem easily, but was told that "we can't look at that if it's not authorized by Apple..."
Seriously?
I'll be calling Apple again this morning. My situation is different, because it would appear that even though Apple MIGHT be addressing this issue with newer builds, I apparently can't get one of these because I bought a refurb. Unless, of course, I wan't to pony up the extra $200 for a new one that, for all I know, could have the same problem.
I'll see what Apple says, but if that continues to be the policy, I will likely return it and just build a PC for now. Plenty of time for other Macs in the future I suppose. Still, its a bummer.
Here is where I LOVE amazon.com. They are shipping me a new 21.5 base model free of charge, without charging my credit card again, no questions asked. GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE!!! And, I saved $150 on it on Black Friday. Oh yeah, free shipping and no tax. Did I say I love Amazon?
And, I saved $150 on it on Black Friday. Oh yeah, free shipping and no tax. Did I say I love Amazon? Since I don't have the new iMac at home anymore, I went to the Apple Store to investigate the viewing angle in more detail. It turns out that if you do tilt the screen upwards, the yellow will fade back to white — BUT as this happens, the top of the screen turns Purple, which will be more difficult to notice in grey. Anyway, nobody should be using their iMac in such a way but I thought I should mention this for those of you finding the yellow to be difficult to see.
If you are doing the test, make sure you are looking straight at the screen.
I can almost say with a high degree of certainty that the affected displays do not have uneven backlight bleeding. This is purely a color consistency issue. And it has absolutely nothing to do with the viewing angle. It is there when you look at the screen while your eyes are perfectly aligned.
If you are doing the test, make sure you are looking straight at the screen.
I can almost say with a high degree of certainty that the affected displays do not have uneven backlight bleeding. This is purely a color consistency issue. And it has absolutely nothing to do with the viewing angle. It is there when you look at the screen while your eyes are perfectly aligned.
