27", 21.5" iMac Owners, test your screen for yellow tint issue here

[LifeCoach]

Just received my imac i5 today and I'm really not sure if I have the yellowing issue or not. I think there may be a slight bit but then again my eyes may just be playing tricks on me as I was aware of the issue because I read the forums quite often.

It's possibly I wouldn't have noticed if I didn't read the forums, ignorance is bliss and all that! Guess I'll just need to keep an eye on it.

 

[richiekeys123]

My 6th iMac 27 i7

Just posed this on apple forum too.
OK. This is my 6th (Yes 6th) iMac 27. 1st Flicker, 2nd Yellow at bottom, 3rd Grey shadow bar across bottom, 4th Hard drive vibrating like crazy & had a spanish keyboard, 5th Yellow at bottom and right side and 6th has no airport card installed. Good news though. This 6th iMac has no sign of yellow. It was shipped from Prague and has a VM014 serial number unlike all my others which shipped from Shanghai with W010 type serial number. This is getting crazy now. Can't wait to hear apples response when I call tomorrow. Even the customer service girl said 'holy cow' the last time she looked at my order. On the plus side I have never had to change the batteries in my keyboard and mouse as I don't have them long enough!! You've gotta laugh. I'd ask for a refund if I hadn't bought £500 worth of software. What can you do? I can't afford a mac pro with a 30" screen so I guess I'll have to try for another replacement. (iMac lucky No7). I'd have it repaired but my friend had his repaired and it came back with 3 specs of dust under the screen. Sorry ranting on a bit now... Just thought I'd let you know there is such a thing as an iMac that does not have yellow.

 

[natewsmith]

here is mine.

 

[atiwhs]

Bought the 21.5" version earlier this week. Great for the first day but from the 2nd day day noticed flickering on the start up screen. Also noticed the yellow tint issue discussed but that was more manageable.

Pretty poor all round really, lovely machine but really dissapointed with those aspects. Remain hopeful that those issues may resolved in the next update later this year but from reading around that seems doubtful.

 

[tigereat]

here is mine.

I can tell this 's taken by printing screen not by camera.

this is not going to show any problem that you might have

 

[SoCalRich]

Bought the 21.5" version earlier this week. Great for the first day but from the 2nd day day noticed flickering on the start up screen. Also noticed the yellow tint issue discussed but that was more manageable.

Pretty poor all round really, lovely machine but really dissapointed with those aspects. Remain hopeful that those issues may resolved in the next update later this year but from reading around that seems doubtful.

Just curious, if you knew about the problems with these iMacs, why did you go ahead and buy one anyway??? Just wonderng...

Now, what are you going to do...?

 

[atiwhs]

Just curious, if you knew about the problems with these iMacs, why did you go ahead and buy one anyway??? Just wonderng...

Now, what are you going to do...?

Well I was aware of them but I took a chance and lost.

I'll continue to use my G5 iMac for the foreseeable.

 

[Kalison]

I can tell this 's taken by printing screen not by camera.

this is not going to show any problem that you might have

Yeah, it needs to be a photo.

 

[iSamurai]

my 4th iMac is worse. The grey bar is so bad that it makes the screen look dented.

Yellowing is right at the centre. Left and right seem normal, though bottom is still yellow. Grey bar more prominent than ever. W8014.

I guess the best decision I can make here is to wait for the next revision and just stick with my trusty MacBook for the moment. It's not really productive as I do a lot of photo work and CAD. I use Solid Edge (as required) so basically I need to run it virtually through Parallels Desktop.

I really don't know what to do. Return again? The iMac will have an update in a few month's time so replacing again and again seem to devalue what my money's worth. And also I don't believe Apple will let me return for an unlimited time until I receive an defect-free machine.

Otherwise get a full refund? Buy the new MacBook Pro but what am I going to do with my current MacBook? It's still useable, and unless I sell it, but for a near 3 year old computer I will not get any money. Using it to do what I need to do on the iMac, without a big screen and the specs I don't see that's productive.

I have given up on this iMac model. I guess I shouldn't have sold my 24" iMac last year in anticipation of this one. Thinking back it's like shooting myself in the foot lol. That one had a perfect screen. Even though I like this new 16:9 ratio more, I think having a tint-free screen is better than anything.

So in the mean time it's cheaper for Apple to keep on churning out cr4p like this, but unfortunately not only are they letting down their returning customers but their name, especially quality as well. Seems like Steve Jobs and Apple have lost that magic sparkle and gotten to where Dell, HP, Acer and everyone else are (I've used all these cr4p so I can rightfully say that).

 

[BroodRooster]

imac screen full size
This is my screen, week 11 China, i live in belgium

 

[mdewberry]

my 4th iMac is worse. The grey bar is so bad that it makes the screen look dented.

Yellowing is right at the centre. Left and right seem normal, though bottom is still yellow. Grey bar more prominent than ever. W8014.

I guess the best decision I can make here is to wait for the next revision and just stick with my trusty MacBook for the moment. It's not really productive as I do a lot of photo work and CAD. I use Solid Edge (as required) so basically I need to run it virtually through Parallels Desktop.

I really don't know what to do. Return again? The iMac will have an update in a few month's time so replacing again and again seem to devalue what my money's worth. And also I don't believe Apple will let me return for an unlimited time until I receive an defect-free machine.

Otherwise get a full refund? Buy the new MacBook Pro but what am I going to do with my current MacBook? It's still useable, and unless I sell it, but for a near 3 year old computer I will not get any money. Using it to do what I need to do on the iMac, without a big screen and the specs I don't see that's productive.

I have given up on this iMac model. I guess I shouldn't have sold my 24" iMac last year in anticipation of this one. Thinking back it's like shooting myself in the foot lol. That one had a perfect screen. Even though I like this new 16:9 ratio more, I think having a tint-free screen is better than anything.

So in the mean time it's cheaper for Apple to keep on churning out cr4p like this, but unfortunately not only are they letting down their returning customers but their name, especially quality as well. Seems like Steve Jobs and Apple have lost that magic sparkle and gotten to where Dell, HP, Acer and everyone else are (I've used all these cr4p so I can rightfully say that).

I really feel your frustration.. As mentioned in previous threads I just returned my 5th i5 iMac, and that one had the yellow right down the center of the screen and along the bottom of the screen... I was really trying to live with it, but I think my breaking point was watching a black and white movie on it, and at the end of the film watching the white credits scroll from bottom to top starting yellow and turning white...

I have given up as well, opted for the refund, and will most likely make the jump to the mini/24" ACD within the next two weeks.. The reviews of the minis from folks that own them are really good, and if you go on Amazon the majority of reviews are 4-5 stars.. Just waiting to see if the rumored new MacBook Pros come out in the next few weeks and if they also upgrade the mini at the same time..

At one point my plan was to wait for the next revision of the iMac, but my thinking now is that if they not fixed this issue almost 6 months since the new iMac came out, it is not just an LCD problem and will require some type of re-design of the iMac... I could be completely wrong but it just seems if it was just an LCD panel issue they would have sorted this out by now...

 

[vin]

... I was really trying to live with it, but I think my breaking point was watching a black and white movie on it, and at the end of the film watching the white credits scroll from bottom to top starting yellow and turning white...
I have given up as well, opted for the refund
...

Yes, same here. My 3rd and 4th replacement iMacs have just been picked up by the courier to be sent back to Apple. Tried four iMac i7's (week 9, 10, 10, 14) but all of them were flawed.

I'm getting a refund. Enough of this. The current iMac is "a bag of hurt".

 

[IndustrialSpace]

Yes, same here. My 3rd and 4th replacement iMacs have just been picked up by the courier to be sent back to Apple. Tried four iMac i7's (week 9, 10, 10, 14) but all of them were flawed.

I'm getting a refund. Enough of this. The current iMac is "a bag of hurt".

Someone said their week 14 was much better and actually came from the USA.

I'm confused with all these conflicting reports.

Are the week 14's better or not.

 

[vin]

Someone said their week 14 was much better and actually came from the USA.
I'm confused with all these conflicting reports.
Are the week 14's better or not.

Mine were all manufactured in China and the week 14 model was actually worse than iMac nr 3 (week 10).

 

[IndustrialSpace]

Is there some kind of poll which shows whether units manufactured in China are more problematic than ones from the USA?

Something tells me the ones from the USA are assembled and QC'ed better than ones from the China factory.

It just doesn't make sense that some who have had a history of yellow screens are now receiving good ones.

 

[highflyer]

Richiekeys / iSamurai

How have they allowed you to return so many units and keep getting new ones? Are you in the US or Europe?

I have been dealing with Apple Executive Relations in Europe (Cork Ireland) but after sending me one replacement i7 week 13 which has the grey bar and tint, they are refusing to send any more iMacs. I must choose from one of the two machines on my desk or go for a refund.

None of these options are palatable to me as I need a machine, but interested to hear how you managed to try so many times. Really annoyed with Apple Exec Care as they were great but have now failed at the final hurdle.

 

[TronPlayer]

Is there some kind of poll which shows whether units manufactured in China are more problematic than ones from the USA?

Something tells me the ones from the USA are assembled and QC'ed better than ones from the China factory.

It just doesn't make sense that some who have had a history of yellow screens are now receiving good ones.

The i7 I received from China was a piece of junk and the hard drive crashed on me within a few days. My replacement from a US factory has virtually no problems and also has a quiet WD hard drive rather than the clunky Seagate I had in the other unit.

 

[ascender]

Been using the replacement i5 for about a week now and the yellowing really is very minor so I'm delighted. Unfortunately the brand new machine has:

• Dead pixel in the middle of the screen.
• Screen intermittently goes blank requiring a reboot.
• Intermittent graphical anomalies ranging from garbled text, small squres of colour appearing to the machine completely hanging with the screen a garbled mess.

The new unit also came in a resealed C2D box with stickers over the C2D spec sheet, so I'm not convinced it was a brand new unit as such.

So its going back to the local repair centre tomorrow and we're a machine down again.

 

[BroodRooster]

I dont know what to do, recently bought iMac 27 week 11 and after houres of working i noticed a faint yellow glow in the center of my screen. I asked my girlfriend standing at my back to look at it and she saugh it aswell, i dont have faith in replacements, what to do what to do

 

[iSamurai]

Richiekeys / iSamurai

How have they allowed you to return so many units and keep getting new ones? Are you in the US or Europe?

I have been dealing with Apple Executive Relations in Europe (Cork Ireland) but after sending me one replacement i7 week 13 which has the grey bar and tint, they are refusing to send any more iMacs. I must choose from one of the two machines on my desk or go for a refund.

None of these options are palatable to me as I need a machine, but interested to hear how you managed to try so many times. Really annoyed with Apple Exec Care as they were great but have now failed at the final hurdle.

I know by some time I would exhaust Apple Care to keep on sending replacements. So I thought the best option was to get my money back. Should the quality of the screen improve (or at least become tolerable) I can always make a purchase.

I'm in Australia and every time I phone Apple I am connected to a US person except once this Oz guy tried to be smart and told me to update the firmware before offering a replacement. The US people would always transfer me to Singapore, where they manage Apple Care in the Asia-Pacific region. I tell them about the situation and they seem to understand. Their service is without a doubt superb and have no complications with replacements and refunds. They even allowed me to return the iPod and printer which I intended to claim for the rebates (of course they're still in their boxes).

All replacements I received were sent directly from China, fresh off the production line and couriered immediately to Oz. I do appreciate them trying to get the newest batch for me, but unfortunately getting new models instead of stock in Australia does not mean they're problem free. I guess out of all of them, the 2nd unit had the least yellowing and grey bar. Though I could try to live with it, I thought the issue was resolved and the next replacement would be completely problem free.

I've spent more than a month receiving replacements and sending them back. It's evident that the problem will not end and the yellow-tint seems like a hidden feature if you ask Apple. I'm tired of doing this and can never get any work done. What they should've done is that I get to keep one unit until I receive an adequate replacement so that at least I can do some work on it.

So anyway, I guess if I keep on asking for replacements they would very well one day refuse just like your case.

 

[auero]

I ordered a 27 inch i7 last week and it should be here Thursday. I asked for the serial number when calling and she said the issues should have been resolved so i shouldn't have to worry. It's a week 14 and was built in the US. Well see what happens. If the screen is bad I'm not wasting time exchanging. I'll just go for a MacBook pro or even a Mac pro.

 

[kfscoll]

I ordered a 27 inch i7 last week and it should be here Thursday. I asked for the serial number when calling and she said the issues should have been resolved so i shouldn't have to worry. It's a week 14 and was built in the US. Well see what happens. If the screen is bad I'm not wasting time exchanging. I'll just go for a MacBook pro or even a Mac pro.

Built in the U.S.? I had no idea they were assembling the iMacs in the States. Since the first two digits of your serial number indicate the assembly factory, I guess that's your way to tell for sure.

See here for more info.

 

[alanwong]

So anyway, I guess if I keep on asking for replacements they would very well one day refuse just like your case.

Hi iSamurai, I'm in Australia too! [Sydney]

Got my 2nd iMac and it's got the yellow tinge at the bottom too. Have scheduled a Genius appointment in Sydney CBD on Tue and hoping to get a refund.

Sounds like they haven't offered you a refund yet? Have you tried asking for one?

 

[jeffreyahaines]

I was set to order an i7 quad 27" tonight, but then I saw this thread. I hadn't realized that the issues were still so prevalent. Since I'll be using this station primarily for graphics work, it's crucial I have a uniform screen.

Do I have a chance of getting a machine that's fine, or are all of them screwed up with at least a bit of tinging/dark bars? I'm also stressed about the HD issues. Any recent reports of "perfect" 27" i7s?

 

[tigereat]

My Week 14 iMac still got yellow problem also back-light bleeding. Should I get Macbook Pro instead?