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jammur

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 27, 2009
2
0
Canada
I just received a new iMac 5K. Ran a few dead pixel tests, and noticed a dark spot. However, the edges are not well defined. Just under 1mm wide. It looks more like a piece of dust or dirt that might have gotten in the screen. I've attached a cropped image taken with my iPhone. What do you think?
 

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Looks like a dead pixel. I just bought a 5K iMac too and mine had a dead pixel out of the box, I had to return it for a new one. It seems this is a problem they are having.

BTW, mine looked exactly like yours. Single spot and gray.
 
Talk about quality control... :mad:
Sure, stuff happens, what we don't know is how visible that is on the screen during normal usage. Apple ships millions of these and here we are talking about a tiny percentage of iMacs. Don't jump to conclusions that Apple has serious QC issues because in a single thread two people mentioned they had issues (which is a bummer of course).
 
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Oh yeah, I'd return it. Give 'em hell.

This is completely unacceptable. It was unacceptable for me, luckily it resulted in a relatively minor inconvenience for me, but no. Definitely. You have to get a new one immediately, IMHO.

BTW, I'll tell you it's not dirt. There's no dirt in iMacs. In addition to that, I don't know how anything could possibly get behind that glass.
 
Sorry but when they ask premium $, it's only natural to expect premium quality control. And it's not only that tiny pixel, other users have been complaining about grey/yellow areas, non-uniform whites and so on...
 
Sorry but when they ask premium $, it's only natural to expect premium quality control.
And my point is that you're getting it. Even BMWs, Mercedes can roll off the assembly line with a defect. Computers are made by imperfect humans, and once in a while something bad happens.

2 iMacs with dead pixels do not equate to a trend or a serious issue with Apple's manufacturing.
 
Sorry but when they ask premium $, it's only natural to expect premium quality control.

In order to complain about QC, you have to first decide on an reasonable acceptable fault rate. Then apply that rate to the number of units produced.

In a perfect world there would be 0% fault rates, however we do not live in a perfect world.

The closes I know of to a perfect world is a MIL-SPEC world, but even in that world there are accepted fault rates...and much more QC testing.

I know this because I used to live in that damned world! :D


Several years ago I took an iMac in for service under AppleCare for what to me looked like a drive issue. At the Apple store they confirmed the drive issue and said they would put in a new drive. When I went to pick up the unit they informed me of all the other work done. " Other work? " I asked. " Yes, we replaced the HDD, the Logic Board and the LCD Panel. "

You see they could have just replaced the HDD that I complained about, however in their service QC inspection THEY found other issues and resolved them even though I had not mentioned them.

On the other hand I have sent laptops into ASUS, and LENOVO for repairs that came back in worse condition than they went in for.

Apple's QC is up there ..... perhaps your expectations are just too high. Not that this is a bad thing, you just have to keep things in perspective.

:)
 
Several years ago I took an iMac in for service under AppleCare for what to me looked like a drive issue. At the Apple store they confirmed the drive issue and said they would put in a new drive. When I went to pick up the unit they informed me of all the other work done. " Other work? " I asked. " Yes, we replaced the HDD, the Logic Board and the LCD Panel. "

You see they could have just replaced the HDD that I complained about, however in their service QC inspection THEY found other issues and resolved them even though I had not mentioned them.

On the other hand I have sent laptops into ASUS, and LENOVO for repairs that came back in worse condition than they went in for.
This really sums it up. Look people say Apple charges a lot but I always will ONLY buy Macs and love Macs. I hate Windows PCs.

I don't care how much it costs. I'll only buy from Apple no matter what the price.

Just because I'm still up, I took a trip over to the HP site. Man was that embarrassing... but I digress.

So, point is maybe Apple charges what they do... ever considered that maybe there are other factors besides strictly the computer itself that can play a role as a factor in the price (such as design, etc)? (question is not aimed at any one person specifically, necessarily).

Now. I'll name something. The amazing service from Apple. And this is just not now but over the years. I just bought an iMac and like I said it had a dead pixel out of the box. Ok that's fine, I won't throw a fit over it. I bought it from a third party but I took it to the Apple store, they immediately diagnosed the problem, put an order in for the necessary parts, gave me proper documentation, and said they'll fix it free of charge. Never mind I didn't even buy it from that store. But because it was relatively new I was still covered. Great. Now that's very good service. Store I didn't buy the thing from will fix it for free. Good. And I didn't even end up going through them.

And, never mind the fact that the employees at the Apple stores are oftentimes incompetent... who isn't at that level of position. Point is they try to do their job which is provide the type of service Apple expects of their employees, which is better than other positions at the same level... for example.

I recently went into an Apple store and I was mad because the lightning cable I have in my car randomly stopped working. I didn't know why, I bought it, took it out of the box, and just left it in the car to charge my phone. Now. It stopped working. I just went into the Apple store and basically asked the employee what the hell is this and it was unacceptable... I said what are you going to do about it. I talked with him a little and he just gave me a new one. He just gave me it. Then I learned that it was actually from water damage, which would fall under my own fault, but because Apple can work with the customer in certain ways, he gave me the cord anyway. Now maybe I worked the system a little. But try walking into Best Buy and wanting a free cord. You'll get laughed out because part of the employee's job description is they don't HAVE to give a s***. Apple employees at least feel guilty, as incompetent as some of them may or may not be. BTW, never mind that was at an Apple Store I had never even been to. Again, you can't do that with Best Buy or the others. But I'll admit, I've gotten many different free things from Apple stores over the years, like chargers for my MacBook, and other things. In some instances, they'll just give you s***. I think they're supposed to because again, you're paying more. But you have to have a case, and work that pathos appeal.

In addition, they have things like the genius Bar, which is great, and the fact that the phone support is relatively competent compared to other companies.

They already know what Apple products you have before you sit down, and there are a lot of other convenience-based areas that Apple just wins flat out.

So for those reasons, I'm fine with paying a higher price. And just because of this one blip I won't make any accusations on their QC as a whole. I'd wait off on that until there is sufficient evidence.
 
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Apple's QC is up there ..... perhaps your expectations are just too high. Not that this is a bad thing, you just have to keep things in perspective.
This was one major reason why I bought my iMac over a Dell. No knock on the Dells, but I'm happy with how Apple handles its warranty work.
 
One also has to consider how internet Forums like this one are used.

People all over the world buy a product and take it home. They put it to use and it is flawless for their use. Happy as they can be about their selection they go on about their lives and you NEVER hear from them.

A small subset of customers buy a product .... take it home and experience what they perceive as a problem and RUSH to the Internet looking for a solution. I say 'perceive' because in many cases they problem turns out to be user error.

Then there are the Forum denizens and self proclaimed "experts". Their only expertise is based on what they read on the Internet ..... so the go away with a feeling that there is nothing but problems.


Apple Quality Control - Is it 100% perfect, no it is not ... however in my professional experience in an enterprise setting ... Apple's cause the IT teams a lot less headaches. In fact if you are an IT boss and want to reduce headaches, find a way to switch your organization over to Apple, I know I did and I ended up with a lot more FREE TIME on my hands! :D :D :D
 
Apple's cause the IT teams a lot less headaches.
Oh yeah. Oh god yeah. Without a doubt.

Who remembers it just works? Well they do still just work for the most part, and they always have. Macs have always 'just worked' much better than 'Garbage-Cs', for lack of a better term.

The amount of work PCs I've had die over the years compared to Macs is not even funny. One thing I've consistently noticed with consumer level PCs is they just become unusable after a certain amount of time. Like they just stop booting and even being able to function. Obviously for 'gaming rigs', or whatnot, maybe that isn't the case.
 
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