Hello,
I purchased iMac 17.1 in maximum possible configuration (32gb ram, R9 M395X, etc.) when it came out in late 2015. It has never been moved from the table and I have had no problems until recently. It is still under AppleCare which is to expire in early November.
Approximately two months ago, my iMac started freezing in a specific pattern. It would be frozen for a few seconds, then normal for a few, and then frozen again - repeating until restarted. I play a few games on it (most Blizzard games, Portal) and this issue was occurring exclusively while playing Hearthstone. Since it is just a card game, I thought it was not overloading the iMac much and assumed it was a problem with the game itself. This led me to make this comment explaining the issue further on its forums a bit over a month ago: https://us.battle.net/forums/en/hearthstone/topic/20767567812
However, since then the same issue began occurring outside of Hearthstone, mostly when playing other games, but sometimes even just watching a video. As time passes, this freezing occurs more frequently and with a worse frozen-unfrozen ratio (about 10 seconds frozen and 2 unfrozen, which makes it almost impossible to navigate to normal shut down, so I usually shut down the iMac manually.)
Of course, I did PRAM/SMC resets, reinstalled macOS, etc. I waited for Mojave whether it could fix it by any chance, but the same thing happened just a few hours after.
It feels like a hardware problem; especially as it occurs during a heavier workload, as it is getting worse and more frequent over time, however, the key issue -- which prompted me to make this thread -- is that the hardware diagnostic tool (when pressing D on boot) finds no hardware problem.
I went to the Apple Store twice to consult this in person, and they said that I just should to reinstall the macOS (which I did obviously.) Now, I asked the Apple Support about it over chat, and they were also adamant that if the diagnostic tool does not find a problem, it is not a hardware issue.
It would be quite inconvenient for me to travel with the iMac to the Store and to be without it for a few days, since I work on it from home. Since the problem is real and I can't find any solution myself, bringing it to the store seems like a clear thing to do. However, I am very afraid that based on the mentioned two visits to ask about it, and based on the chat with Apple Support in online, it is my understanding that if I bring it, they will run the same diagnostic, which will come out clean, and they will give it to me back. I was told on the chat that they do have advanced diagnostic tools, but if the one I did does not detect a problem, it is not a hw issue.
Can anyone please give me any advice? Based on my description, does it seem feasible that it is a software issue? If so, any proposed solution? Is the hw diagnostic tool reliable enough to rule out a hw issue?
Thank you very much for your time,
Simon
I purchased iMac 17.1 in maximum possible configuration (32gb ram, R9 M395X, etc.) when it came out in late 2015. It has never been moved from the table and I have had no problems until recently. It is still under AppleCare which is to expire in early November.
Approximately two months ago, my iMac started freezing in a specific pattern. It would be frozen for a few seconds, then normal for a few, and then frozen again - repeating until restarted. I play a few games on it (most Blizzard games, Portal) and this issue was occurring exclusively while playing Hearthstone. Since it is just a card game, I thought it was not overloading the iMac much and assumed it was a problem with the game itself. This led me to make this comment explaining the issue further on its forums a bit over a month ago: https://us.battle.net/forums/en/hearthstone/topic/20767567812
However, since then the same issue began occurring outside of Hearthstone, mostly when playing other games, but sometimes even just watching a video. As time passes, this freezing occurs more frequently and with a worse frozen-unfrozen ratio (about 10 seconds frozen and 2 unfrozen, which makes it almost impossible to navigate to normal shut down, so I usually shut down the iMac manually.)
Of course, I did PRAM/SMC resets, reinstalled macOS, etc. I waited for Mojave whether it could fix it by any chance, but the same thing happened just a few hours after.
It feels like a hardware problem; especially as it occurs during a heavier workload, as it is getting worse and more frequent over time, however, the key issue -- which prompted me to make this thread -- is that the hardware diagnostic tool (when pressing D on boot) finds no hardware problem.
I went to the Apple Store twice to consult this in person, and they said that I just should to reinstall the macOS (which I did obviously.) Now, I asked the Apple Support about it over chat, and they were also adamant that if the diagnostic tool does not find a problem, it is not a hardware issue.
It would be quite inconvenient for me to travel with the iMac to the Store and to be without it for a few days, since I work on it from home. Since the problem is real and I can't find any solution myself, bringing it to the store seems like a clear thing to do. However, I am very afraid that based on the mentioned two visits to ask about it, and based on the chat with Apple Support in online, it is my understanding that if I bring it, they will run the same diagnostic, which will come out clean, and they will give it to me back. I was told on the chat that they do have advanced diagnostic tools, but if the one I did does not detect a problem, it is not a hw issue.
Can anyone please give me any advice? Based on my description, does it seem feasible that it is a software issue? If so, any proposed solution? Is the hw diagnostic tool reliable enough to rule out a hw issue?
Thank you very much for your time,
Simon
