iMac Yellow Tint

[iNickk]

Is this generation of iMacs suffering from the yellow tint? I've seen a few threads and read a few things on blogs but i'm not sure if that was for last year's refresh.

I wanted to pick up a 27" base model. Should I hold off for a few weeks?

 

[NannyJordyn]

There are some people who have had this problem with the newest iMacs.
But, if you're picking it up at the store, you can always request getting a look at the iMac in the store, to make sure it's okay. I've heard of many people doing this, to check that there is no yellow issues, or other issues as well.

 

[jgonzo]

Is this generation of iMacs suffering from the yellow tint? I've seen a few threads and read a few things on blogs but i'm not sure if that was for last year's refresh.

I wanted to pick up a 27" base model. Should I hold off for a few weeks?

I have a small amount of yellow tint towards the last 1/3 of the screen. Just got the iMac yesterday. Not sure what I'm going to do about it yet...

 

[ttttaylor]

i just got a 27inch imac less than a week ago, and noticed a few days later that i had exactly the same as the post above me. slight yellow tint in the bottom third.

after spending an hour or so kind of freaking out, i realized it wasn't that bad. i mean, yes it should be perfect, but i don't have a car or a local apple store so the thought of getting this heavy piece of metal replaced... yeah.

anyway the answer is yes the problem is still there.

 

[sw19]

I had a white intel 24" iMac that had the uneven display issue. It was 2 years old and had 3 displays and other components replaced. None solved the problem. Apple replace it with a brand new 2009 Aluminum iMac. Guess what? Same issue. Most people never notice it. Being a graphic artist, I change my desktop to medium gray where you can see the defect in full glory. Now I have it set to blue where it doesn't bother me as much. Being that it's still under AppleCare, I may bring it in.

I guess Apple never solved this issue.

 

[iNickk]

So it's not like the iPhones then? It won't go away over time or get better? I thought that if I held off for a little while it might make the problem less common as the earliest models were more likely to have it. I guess not.

Oh well, i doubt i'll notice it much.

 

[jgonzo]

So it's not like the iPhones then? It won't go away over time or get better? I thought that if I held off for a little while it might make the problem less common as the earliest models were more likely to have it. I guess not.

Oh well, i doubt i'll notice it much.

Not sure if it'll go away with more use or not. I'm going to leave it on for about 24 hours to test. Just hope it doesn't get worse...

 

[kjid]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_3 like Mac OS X; nl-nl) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7E18 Safari/528.16)

So it's not like the iPhones then? It won't go away over time or get better? I thought that if I held off for a little while it might make the problem less common as the earliest models were more likely to have it. I guess not.

Oh well, i doubt i'll notice it much.

Not sure if it'll go away with more use or not. I'm going to leave it on for about 24 hours to test. Just hope it doesn't get worse...

Please post your results of that 🙂

 

[jgo78]

I have a small amount of yellow tint towards the last 1/3 of the screen. Just got the iMac yesterday. Not sure what I'm going to do about it yet...



damn, i have it too. Other than that , the screen is perfect. Mine was BTO and don't really want to have to send it back. It's really not that bad, still much better than my dell 24" u2410. I'll probably keep it.

i just installed my 8gig corsair ram to make 12gb, so far so good.

 

[Warbitrary]

At my local Apple Store, I could detect a very faint yellow tint on three 21" iMacs, but it was so subtle that I don't think it would bother me. It's certainly better than the 2009 and 2010 models I saw, which had obvious yellow coloration at the bottom of the screen.

 

[wangkom]

i just got a 27inch imac less than a week ago, and noticed a few days later that i had exactly the same as the post above me. slight yellow tint in the bottom third.

after spending an hour or so kind of freaking out, i realized it wasn't that bad. i mean, yes it should be perfect, but i don't have a car or a local apple store so the thought of getting this heavy piece of metal replaced... yeah.

anyway the answer is yes the problem is still there.

Mine started out "not so bad" and got worse and worse. I finally took it in. Seriously guys, take your machines in early. Putting up with serious flaws just encourages computer manufacturers to put out low quality products thinking that only a small % of the people with problems will make them pay (as in make them replace it under warranty).

 

[tom vilsack]

take them back! why would anyone spend $1200+ and not expect perfection?

as a apple shareholder i thank you...as a fellow macrumors user...i just shake my head.

 

[Sredni]

My brand new BTO has the same lower thirds yellow tint but also has a slight dingy band running across the bottom when a white background is up. Going to call Apple in the morning. 🙁

 

[jgonzo]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_3 like Mac OS X; nl-nl) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7E18 Safari/528.16)



Please post your results of that 🙂

Well it's been on for about 24 hours now. First shot is with lights off, second with lights on. Still yellowing. Going to call apple this morning...

 

[makingmusic]

I have the late 2009 27 iMac and don't see this or maybe I do. Since it doesn't bother me, I have kept it. Now I'm trying to sell this machine and buy the new iMac. Hope the screen is okay!

 

[jgonzo]

Returned

Well it's going back. Called AppleCare this AM and they are replacing it. Crossing my fingers for the new one... Will report back later. AppleCare was great...no problems and professional.

 

[jgo78]

Well it's going back. Called AppleCare this AM and they are replacing it. Crossing my fingers for the new one... Will report back later. AppleCare was great...no problems and professional.

same with me

how did you take the picture and post it here? I'm new.

 

[teerexx52]

I had a 2009 27" iMac and had the yellowish tint issue. After several exchanges I gave up and sold it. I thought it was safe to go into the water again by now so I picked up a 21.5" new iMac. This one has a cool screen on the left half and a warm screen on the right half. Very seriously noticeable. So, it goes back tomorrow for a refund. My wife even agreed with me on this one and she is far less fussy than me. So disappointing that these kinds of problems still exist or my luck is very very bad🙂

 

[Sredni]

Talked to Apple about mine this morning and I'll be sending it back for a replacement. Unfortunately with BTO models I've got to send mine in before a replacement is sent out. Kinda sucks since I JUST sold my previous iMac and I'll have to go without a work computer for a week. I asked the customer service rep if I could upgrade to the "Non-Yellow Tinted Screen Model" so hopefully the replacement will be good.

Has anyone else gotten a faint dingy brownish band running across the bottom of the screen in about the same spot as the bottom grey bands are on the tint test?

 

[jgo78]

Talked to Apple about mine this morning and I'll be sending it back for a replacement. Unfortunately with BTO models I've got to send mine in before a replacement is sent out. Kinda sucks since I JUST sold my previous iMac and I'll have to go without a work computer for a week. I asked the customer service rep if I could upgrade to the "Non-Yellow Tinted Screen Model" so hopefully the replacement will be good.

Has anyone else gotten a faint dingy brownish band running across the bottom of the screen in about the same spot as the bottom grey bands are on the tint test?

i opted to pay for a new one then when i get that one I will return the worse of the two. Hopefully the second one is perfect.

i don't have any bands running across the screen, just a slight yellowing bottom third of screen

 

[jgonzo]

Has anyone else gotten a faint dingy brownish band running across the bottom of the screen in about the same spot as the bottom grey bands are on the tint test?

Mine has that as well. Very faint though and probably something I could live with if the other problem wasn't there.

 

[wangkom]

take them back! why would anyone spend $1200+ and not expect perfection?

as a apple shareholder i thank you...as a fellow macrumors user...i just shake my head.

Well said. Apple knows they are faulty. The problems you have now will just get worse and worse with time. If you are still in your warranty, just keep on sending them back until you get a non-faulty one.

That is another way of telling Apple that we won't stand for low quality products/parts because it will cost them.

 

[jgo78]

anyone other comments?

 

[cxc]

anyone other comments?

I am still to place my order for the 27" 2011. Having said that I sent back my previous 2009 model once because of a horrendous yellow screen.
The replacement was much better so I kept it. However, it went defective 14 months later and had to be replaced. The replacement panel has been perfect. The replacement took place a few weeks ago so. I have also seen good screens at retailers locally so I am confident that I will (eventually) get a good 2011 iMac.

 

[smiddlehurst]

take them back! why would anyone spend $1200+ and not expect perfection?

as a apple shareholder i thank you...as a fellow macrumors user...i just shake my head.

Speaking as someone who's in this particular dilema, I'll admit Apple's beaten me. I have way too much invested in Apple-based workflow to change quickly so when my MBP finally bit the dust after four years of breaking on a regular basis I decided to go iMac. Ordered a 27" BTO with serious yellow tint, took it to the Apple Store and was told a) yes it's faulty and b) I have to prat about sending it back to Apple On-line (a major pain as I can't be home for them to pick it up during working hours and they can't come to work as I'd need to drop it off in central services which... yeah, not happening).

While at the Apple store I pick up a basic 21" instead, give it a check and it looks okay. Get it home and it still looks okay. Spend a day and a bit setting it up and at night, when the lights go down and the screen runs dimmer the yellow issue rears its ugly head. Now I know I SHOULD go back and switch it but I just don't have time to go through all this crap again. It's a half day to get down to the Apple store, see the Genius and get back home. It's probably two days total for rebuilding the machine. It's a minor fault, I've got a three year warranty, if it really becomes something I can't live with I'll take it in for repair.

Believe me, I wish I had the time to get this sorted properly but, in my particular circumstances, that's not the case. I will, however, be writing to Apple to explain they've probably lost a long-term customer over their quality control.