Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iMac 5k backlight bleeding
- Thread starter KaiDombrowski
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
If it bothers you, return it for a replacement. If the next one has more or the same bleed, keep exchanging it. It took me 5 replacements until I got one with zero backlight bleed (except for unavoidable IPS glow). You may not be as lucky as me though, so you may have to live with some amount of bleed.
Yeah had to do that with my 2008 iMac but was pretty lucky since. I'm willing to accept some backlight bleed but I'm just curious to know what's "normal" with those new 5k iMacs.
Just noticed this on mine near the top-left and bottom-right corners. A bit concerned, not sure if this will bother me in the future. Only shows up with near-full brightness. I wonder if any other Retina iMac owners have experienced this issue...
I checked a different 5k iMac today. That one had no visible backlight bleeding. I guess mine is going back 
Mine was noticeable whenever the background was dark (mostly while watching movies and playing games).
You would be able to spot some backlight bleeding on all LCD displays when sitting in a dark room looking at a black image in the screen but the one on my iMac was shockingly strong.
You would be able to spot some backlight bleeding on all LCD displays when sitting in a dark room looking at a black image in the screen but the one on my iMac was shockingly strong.
If you haven't noticed it so far, then why you would you need to check?
Still waiting for delivery ...
Backlight uniformity and good black level has never been a strong point of IPS and I am sure that those who are wowed by how marvellous their iMac screens are have either (a) got lucky and got a good one, or (b) are not that critical and/or have never seen an Eizo or NEC for example.
The reality is many iMacs have poor screens when it comes to backlight uniformity. There's a reason a 27" Eizo ColorEdge costs as much as a whole iMac! First of all they use only the top binned panels and then they add sophisticated electronics. The iMac cannot offer all that at the chosen price point, and putting a 5k panel in there makes it even more of challenge.
You just have to hope that you get an acceptable one, or put up with keep replacing it until you do, or until Apple gives up on you and refuses.
The reality is many iMacs have poor screens when it comes to backlight uniformity. There's a reason a 27" Eizo ColorEdge costs as much as a whole iMac! First of all they use only the top binned panels and then they add sophisticated electronics. The iMac cannot offer all that at the chosen price point, and putting a 5k panel in there makes it even more of challenge.
You just have to hope that you get an acceptable one, or put up with keep replacing it until you do, or until Apple gives up on you and refuses.
Just got a new 5K in the office and if has the exact same issue as the OP. I'm not talking about a slight leak in the corner, but it's significant on the whole edge on the right hand side.
I had the same problem with (4) machines from December 28, 2014 - February 10, 2015. The screen is completely unacceptable, especially if you are a graphics designer, video editor or gamer where you work with dark backgrounds. The screen bleed problem is very distracting to look at.
In my opinion, this system needs to be revisited by engineers. It's not right to put the customer through this hassle of exchanges, delays and inconveniences where these issues should have been noticed/fixed in pre-production by Apple Quality Control Engineers.
In my opinion, this system needs to be revisited by engineers. It's not right to put the customer through this hassle of exchanges, delays and inconveniences where these issues should have been noticed/fixed in pre-production by Apple Quality Control Engineers.
Last edited:
Did you seriously just resurrect all these old threads and post the same message in each? One would have been fine.
That sort of thing should at least get you a warning.
Which model did you get? You went through 5 replacements? Like advance replacements or you had no computer while you waited?