Do recent build 27" Imacs still exhibit the grey bar on bottom of screen?

[ejosepha]

I have a week 13 Imac with some yellow cast to bottom third of screen, like many others here. I also have this grey bar shadow running along the bottom of the screen, mostly apparent when hiding dock, or on white or grey backgrounds full screen. I know I will be able to exchange or replace this Imac, but it runs very well, except noisy disk, and the screen has no dead pixels, so I am hesitating given the number of exchanges with either worse screens or almost no real improvement. I just want to know if recently built machines are still being shipped with the grey bar phenomenon. If so I won't run to replace what I have got as yet. I'm in no hurry to end up in an exchange cycle with Apple.
thanks

 

[swee5420]

I have a week 13 Imac with some yellow cast to bottom third of screen, like many others here. I also have this grey bar shadow running along the bottom of the screen, mostly apparent when hiding dock, or on white or grey backgrounds full screen. I know I will be able to exchange or replace this Imac, but it runs very well, except noisy disk, and the screen has no dead pixels, so I am hesitating given the number of exchanges with either worse screens or almost no real improvement. I just want to know if recently built machines are still being shipped with the grey bar phenomenon. If so I won't run to replace what I have got as yet. I'm in no hurry to end up in an exchange cycle with Apple.
thanks

I have 5 replacements, the latest is a week 16, where all the problems are still existing. For me, i will keep the 5th one, since keep on replacing will only be wasting my time. This week 16 also has a noisy HDD which just checked by the apple service provider today, and I will be asking for a swap of the HDD instead of replacing the whole thing. Coz once you go for another replacement of the machine, you will have to bet with everything again, where you might get a machine with some other problem.

 

[ejosepha]

Grey Bar?

Are you saying that in addition to yellow problem, that the grey bar is still evident in your week 16 build? (My noisy HDD is the grumbling of the WD Black caviar in this machine. When I looked at reviews of this HD they basically stated that it was the normal noise--the grumbling when seeking and writing) that it makes. Not sure about your HD noise>

Any other Imac owners with recent builds and their comments regarding the grey bar would be greatly appreciated. My contacts at Apple will surely offer me a replacement but I don't want it to no avail. And when I read that some people are happy with newer build displays, not sure if they are getting problem free displays or not.

 

[tiguanito]

Received my refurbished i7 last Friday: slight yellow tint, but no grey bar (my dock is on the left). Don't know the week number since this is a refurbished, and the screen may have been replaced. The iMac has no other issue (hdd making a "normal" hdd noise, BTW it's the Hitachi 2TB), no dead pixel, no buzzing, etc. except some significant backlight bleed at the bottom-right. Can see it in a dark environment.

I have no picture, but here is the yellowish quantification (after calibration with Spyder3 Elite) :
middle-top: 6523K
middle-center: 6530K
middle-bottom: 6266K
right-bottom:6308K

Not the worst yellow tint I think, but it's still there. Maybe a screen that some of us would qualify as "perfect".

 

[swee5420]

grey bar is definitely there, just not very noticeable, you can only see it if you really look closely, therefore it is not an issue for me.

As for the HDD, it is being checked by the apple service provider, and he could verify it by comparing with another same model imac that mine has more vibration and it is definitely the HDD problem.

For ejosepha, if this is your 1st one, then u can ask for a replacement, at least you get a chance to bet one more time, but if the 2nd is something similar, then forget about replacement again,

 

[swee5420]

Received my refurbished i7 last Friday: slight yellow tint, but no grey bar (my dock is on the left). Don't know the week number since this is a refurbished, and the screen may have been replaced. The iMac has no other issue (hdd making a "normal" hdd noise, BTW it's the Hitachi 2TB), no dead pixel, no buzzing, etc. except some significant backlight bleed at the bottom-right. Can see it in a dark environment.

I have no picture, but here is the yellowish quantification (after calibration with Spyder3 Elite) :
middle-top: 6523K
middle-center: 6530K
middle-bottom: 6266K
right-bottom:6308K

Not the worst yellow tint I think, but it's still there. Maybe a screen that some of us would qualify as "perfect".

I 100% agree with that.

 

[ejosepha]

To: Swee5420 or others?

When you say the grey bar doesn't bother you, is it because your dock is on the bottom? When I place my dock either left or right, and open full word documents, or Safari/Google opening page, I see the shadow at the bottom of the page. It's not awful, but it's there....more on the left side than the right. I preseume you have approximately the same type of shadow running across the bottom, about 1 or 2 inches up from the frame. It appears egregious to me that a screen would have this kind of defect, that's why I'm wondering how prevalent it is and if the more recent screens have exhibited the same effect. Don't want to trade in for more trouble.
Would love to know how many people receiving most recent builds have these problems.

 

[swee5420]

When you say the grey bar doesn't bother you, is it because your dock is on the bottom? When I place my dock either left or right, and open full word documents, or Safari/Google opening page, I see the shadow at the bottom of the page. It's not awful, but it's there....more on the left side than the right. I preseume you have approximately the same type of shadow running across the bottom, about 1 or 2 inches up from the frame. It appears egregious to me that a screen would have this kind of defect, that's why I'm wondering how prevalent it is and if the more recent screens have exhibited the same effect. Don't want to trade in for more trouble.
Would love to know how many people receiving most recent builds have these problems.

The fact is there are still there, at least my week 16 is. So, it is your pick, but i doubt that you will get a better one in your next replacement, as i have tried numerous time with the same hope you have right now. Not to bash your hopes, but just telling my experience.

 

[ejosepha]

Thanks for your update.

Any other input into this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Vitorelli]

Grey bar across bottom imac 27

Hello to all. I´m new to this but here goes:
I live in Portugal and bought a 27" i5 2.8 yesterday. Over a month´s time it is my 6th. I work with Macs since 1992 on a daily bases and have un-boxed many in these 18 years. Never did I have to take one back, ask for a replacement....never! Apple lost all quality control. It´s very simple really. When you sell a few, there´s time to control quality. When you sell many.....well.......guess what? This month really made me re-think the way I thought about Apple. Until a month ago, there was no doubt in my mind that their equipment was the best. The first one had yellow tinge and made a sort of loud humming noise. The second one (kind of unbelievable) wouldn´t stand up. It would simply tilt downwards. Something was loose in there and it would fall forward. The third one....well....the glass protector over the screen was not centered. It went off the aluminum edge about 2 mm. It also had lots of dust and specks on the inside of the glass. The fourth one made a sort of high pitched noise when the brightness was anywhere except max or min. The fifth also had the glass off center and was scratched. This brings me to this one. The sixth. It´s almost perfect. No yellow, no weird noises, hdd super silent, the glass cover is perfect. Only one little problem, the grey shadow across the bottom of the screen next to the dock. After all I have been through............I am definitely going to live with this shadow. It´s enough already. The brown cardboard box has a sticker with the date 21/05/2010. Good luck to all.

 

[catpants]

Yep - still got grey shadows

I have just received my third i7 since ordering initially almost 6 weeks ago (End November 2010).
First had a semi circular shadow on right hand side edge of screen half way down. I now kind of wish I had kept this mac. But like others I felt - why should I sit and stare at this for the next so many years for almost £2k... And it could get worse - who knows??. My Apple care phone conversation with a very nice man in India, who instructed me to do some pointless turning on and off exercises cost me a further £14.00 - just got the bill!
Next model arrived having spent a long time coming in transit and depots - (oh dear) due to extreme snow issues. Brown box a little knocked, inside box had a second seal over previous one that had obviously been opened and box lid had a fold. Not a great start. Im all for recycling paper - but in this incidence - not. Putting screen to blank found what looked like a scratch and what I thought were dead pixels, but having read a bit on forums think it may have been a hair and dust behind glass - who knows, not sure if dead pixels show as white or dark? Anyway alarmed I called again and Apple offered another - but this time with suspicious undertones that I am making it all up. Latest arrived today after spending 5 days over Christmas in transit/depot (ouch).
Turned on, made screen blank and just want to scream from frustration Yes - this one has a shadowy bar right across the bottom of the screen and weirdly the semi circular one half way up right side edge like the first. There's also a slight yellow tinge in the bottom right corner when the screen is switched to a light blank colour. It's all a lot less noticeable with a picture, but, it's there and I know it.
Now what? Better the devil you know? Or another call to Apple Care to be told 'how weird it is that this keeps happening' and try again, or get refund and wait a bit longer?
I also bought an (i5) a year ago in Apple store and that had a fault with the screen with lines appearing periodically - hence leaving it a year to get this.
I've used Macs and Apple products as a designer for years and years and they were consistently great. But reading these forums it is quite apparent that there is something wrong with these screens in the past few years. Maybe it's flat screens? Though my friend bought one three years ago and its been fine . . (.bar the hard drive packing in a year ago costing £350 for a new one and lost data retrieval!)

I guess it's a waiting game as to whether they improve this - but what are you supposed to do in between - put up with it? I wonder if it's better to buy a tower and a screen - like the old days, but again it's a flat screen......and feels a bit backward. Either way I'd absolutely advise buying extended warranty with the amount of problems i've experienced.

 

[bearcatrp]

Apples's quality has gone down tremendously over the years. My 06 24 inch iMac is still running flawlessly and seems after this year, the quality of apple products have gone down hill. I wanted a 27 inch iMac but glad I didn't get one. There should be NO reason for anyone to just live with a defective product. Getting as bad as the PC makers. There more worried about quantity than quality. Why would anyone do 6 replacements? Not worth it to me. I would get my money back and move on to something else.

 

[catpants]

But

Problem is I don't know how to use a PC - nor I dare say do most designers or high end Mac Users. Apple have us over a barrel there.....and PC's always seem to be going wrong / having problems.
I would say that having left my mac on for a couple of days the shadow along the bottom has dissipated somewhat (though still there a bit) and there's a very very feint yellowy cast around the bottom and corners.
I checked out a friends mac they have had for a few years and it was 20 times worse than mine on the left and right, not bottom and it's never bothered them - so maybe just, reading too many forums and expect too much.
Maybe the flat screens have never been perfectly white?
However, the question of whether the shadow and yellow tinge gets worse over time is what bothers me most and what people are saying about dust getting behind the glass!

If anyone reads this i'd be glad to hear if they noticed over a period of time the shadow and yellow tinge they worried about on arrival get worse?

 

[Grolsch30]

Hello to all. I´m new to this but here goes:
I live in Portugal and bought a 27" i5 2.8 yesterday. Over a month´s time it is my 6th. I work with Macs since 1992 on a daily bases and have un-boxed many in these 18 years. Never did I have to take one back, ask for a replacement....never! Apple lost all quality control. It´s very simple really. When you sell a few, there´s time to control quality. When you sell many.....well.......guess what? This month really made me re-think the way I thought about Apple. Until a month ago, there was no doubt in my mind that their equipment was the best. The first one had yellow tinge and made a sort of loud humming noise. The second one (kind of unbelievable) wouldn´t stand up. It would simply tilt downwards. Something was loose in there and it would fall forward. The third one....well....the glass protector over the screen was not centered. It went off the aluminum edge about 2 mm. It also had lots of dust and specks on the inside of the glass. The fourth one made a sort of high pitched noise when the brightness was anywhere except max or min. The fifth also had the glass off center and was scratched. This brings me to this one. The sixth. It´s almost perfect. No yellow, no weird noises, hdd super silent, the glass cover is perfect. Only one little problem, the grey shadow across the bottom of the screen next to the dock. After all I have been through............I am definitely going to live with this shadow. It´s enough already. The brown cardboard box has a sticker with the date 21/05/2010. Good luck to all.

Glad I'm not the only one,

I'm on my 4th imac 27 i5 which i think i will keep now but it also has the silver/grey tinge at the bottom right/left hand side of the screen when you look at a dark background! No yellowing issue that i can see though.

Does anyone know where the macs with serial numbers starting with W8043.... come from?

My last 3 Macs have been a CK04... serial number which i know is from Cork Ireland.

 

[catpants]

No Idea . . .but mine naff models and latest are CK . . . I think they sent your one with dust and scratch onto me . . .
but interestingly do the figures that follow mean month and year?? Like CK0410 mean . . . april 2010

 

[Grolsch30]

No Idea . . .but mine naff models and latest are CK . . . I think they sent your one with dust and scratch onto me . . .
but interestingly do the figures that follow mean month and year?? Like CK0410 mean . . . april 2010

As far as i know CK041 means it was made/assesmbled in Cork in the week of 41 which would be October 2010.

 

[zoran]

this gray shadows issue, is it something that comes up after some time or is it something that can be noticed on the 27"iMac display right from the beggining?

 

[Grolsch30]

this gray shadows issue, is it something that comes up after some time or is it something that can be noticed on the 27"iMac display right from the beggining?

I noticed it right at the start basically unpacked box, switched on, went through the motions and when the main desktop appeared with the stars/ solar system you could see it. More prevelant on a very dark/black background for example you cant miss it when you open its media centre as that is on a dark background, you can see the bottom left and right hand side of the screen being silvery or lighter compaired to the rest of the screen.

 

[zoran]

I noticed it right at the start basically unpacked box, switched on, went through the motions and when the main desktop appeared with the stars/ solar system you could see it. More prevelant on a very dark/black background for example you cant miss it when you open its media centre as that is on a dark background, you can see the bottom left and right hand side of the screen being silvery or lighter compaired to the rest of the screen.

so how did you act after noticing? did you replace it? when did you buy your iMac?

 

[Grolsch30]

so how did you act after noticing? did you replace it? when did you buy your iMac?

I originaly bought my imac in November, with the first one having this issue so just phoned them up and sent them back after their tech guys made me do a resetting sequence on the imac which did not resolve the issue.

The second imac i never got to switch on because as i was unpacking it and trying to take the protective plastic cover off the screen the whole screen started falling out. So phoned them and exchanged again.

The third one well, this one had the same issue plus a very load hard drive with a clicking sound and also a constant high pitch buzzing sound. so phoned up again and sent it back again after trying to reset the machine as per the tech guys instructions.

This one i have now i will still has the issue but its not to bad and everything else seems fine no yellowing or buzzing sound so ive decided to keep it and see how i get on.

 

[zoran]

I originaly bought my imac in November, with the first one having this issue so just phoned them up and sent them back after their tech guys made me do a resetting sequence on the imac which did not resolve the issue.

The second imac i never got to switch on because as i was unpacking it and trying to take the protective plastic cover off the screen the whole screen started falling out. So phoned them and exchanged again.

The third one well, this one had the same issue plus a very load hard drive with a clicking sound and also a constant high pitch buzzing sound. so phoned up again and sent it back again after trying to reset the machine as per the tech guys instructions.

This one i have now i will still has the issue but its not to bad and everything else seems fine no yellowing or buzzing sound so ive decided to keep it and see how i get on.

wow, seems like you've had too many issues, hang on tight there my friend i hope last iMac turns out to be good.
i have mine bought in November too and all seems ok at the time, i hope nonthing appears on the way cause its gonna be a big dissapointment for me