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Late 2013 27" iMac, yellow screen issues :(
- Thread starter forceroyale
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So, I received mine today. I was hoping I wouldn't have to post on this thread, but looks like I am a victim of the yellow screen issue.
The question I have is, what is the best way to approach this? Will they simply ship me a same configuration if I take it to the Apple Store? Or will I have to make another order? Because I purchased this with their finance option (which gives me ten days to make the purchase), I won't be able to put another order. Or will the replace the screen?
Jin.
The question I have is, what is the best way to approach this? Will they simply ship me a same configuration if I take it to the Apple Store? Or will I have to make another order? Because I purchased this with their finance option (which gives me ten days to make the purchase), I won't be able to put another order. Or will the replace the screen?
Jin.
No, I did not. I've returned it and will be purchasing another one once the return is processed. As it turns out I do have few more days for the financing option from Barclay. But my second try will probably be the last.
Here are few other things I've noticed about the machine. (though not not directly related to screen anomaly issue) It would not properly reset the NVRAM and PRAM with command, option, p, r at the boot. I don't hear the double chime. Instead, I get the OS X first time start up screen where it prompts me to choose a language. Another issue was that I was getting incredibly slow boot up time when I have a USB 3 storage attached to it. I also tried other Mac to see if the storage was bad, but it wasn't.
Here are few other things I've noticed about the machine. (though not not directly related to screen anomaly issue) It would not properly reset the NVRAM and PRAM with command, option, p, r at the boot. I don't hear the double chime. Instead, I get the OS X first time start up screen where it prompts me to choose a language. Another issue was that I was getting incredibly slow boot up time when I have a USB 3 storage attached to it. I also tried other Mac to see if the storage was bad, but it wasn't.
Well, I got mine yesterday. It has Mavericks box AND it was assembled in the USA.
Unfortunately, it has very noticeable yellow gradient going from cool on top to warm. In addition, it has some bad backlight bleeding on the right corner edge.
So there's some proof that where the iMac is assembled does not equate to yellow free screens. I will pack the iMac back up Monday and ship it off and try my luck again. I think I may go through 3-4 returns/exchanges before giving up.
I can't believe this problem which spans a few iMac generations still exist. Get your act together Apple!
Unfortunately, it has very noticeable yellow gradient going from cool on top to warm. In addition, it has some bad backlight bleeding on the right corner edge.
So there's some proof that where the iMac is assembled does not equate to yellow free screens. I will pack the iMac back up Monday and ship it off and try my luck again. I think I may go through 3-4 returns/exchanges before giving up.
I can't believe this problem which spans a few iMac generations still exist. Get your act together Apple!
I picked up a new 27" iMac last week from Futureshop, and it had a noticeable yellow tint in the bottom fifth to quarter of the screen. I returned the machine, moreso for the eye strain it caused, but I would have returned it for the yellow tint if eye strain hadn't been an issue. If I figure out the eye strain thing, I'd order directly from Apple next time and hope that I get one of the non-tinted screens.
Hi everybody,
I ordered a 27 "iMac in December and I got a screen with a yellow tint, and I have seen immediately because I just next to a 27" late-2011. I sent it back and I got one that has exactly the same worries. So I corrected the problem with the calibration but I'm not happy: (
My iMac was assembled in Ireland.
I ordered a 27 "iMac in December and I got a screen with a yellow tint, and I have seen immediately because I just next to a 27" late-2011. I sent it back and I got one that has exactly the same worries. So I corrected the problem with the calibration but I'm not happy: (
My iMac was assembled in Ireland.
It just looked yellow overall? Unless it's measurably bad, your first concern should really be uniformity. It's not possible for them to guarantee that those two will match, especially given that the 2011 will not look the same as it did on day 1. I suspect the new screen treatment may affect color slightly, but it's a hunch more than anything. Here's a link on color temperature. Most of these things are designed around 6500K or a specific color target of D65. I suggest measuring it native when you run calibration. Give it an hour to warm up, then take the measurement with color temp and gamma either native or 2.2. If it's between 6500-7000K native, you are not likely to get much better. Yellow would typically be lower than that. I think part of the issue is that people on here are somewhat used to cold displays, although some of these seem to be genuine. Using eizo for the links because it's easy to navigate.
http://www.eizo.com/global/library/basics/color_temperature_on_an_LCD_monitor/index.html
Yeah it's not so much an issue of where it is assembled. this isn't a QC issue. It's an LCD displays vary issue. Apple could improve upon that somewhat, but that falls under design, not quality control. It would be interesting to know how yours measures. Keep in mind colorimeters are not 100% dead on, but most are decent. Also how uniform is it?
Just popped by and I'm really surprised to find this thread still going!
After my 4 iMacs with yellow screens I gave up and have now got a 13" rMBP, surprisingly it has the same issue, so rather than return it I arranged a repair and lo-and-behold the replacement screen also has the issue. That's 6/6.
I'm able to tolerate it as I plug into an external monitor (not an Apple one, nor will it likely ever be now). I'm an OSX user so not buying Apple is never an option, but I've no idea what I'll do next time, maybe a Mac Mini?.
I can only conclude that the vast-majority of Apple's displays have the issue, and getting a screen with even colour distribution is lucky at best, impossible at worst.
After my 4 iMacs with yellow screens I gave up and have now got a 13" rMBP, surprisingly it has the same issue, so rather than return it I arranged a repair and lo-and-behold the replacement screen also has the issue. That's 6/6.
I'm able to tolerate it as I plug into an external monitor (not an Apple one, nor will it likely ever be now). I'm an OSX user so not buying Apple is never an option, but I've no idea what I'll do next time, maybe a Mac Mini?.
I can only conclude that the vast-majority of Apple's displays have the issue, and getting a screen with even colour distribution is lucky at best, impossible at worst.
In terms of being more or less yellow, is this against an older screen? I was looking for this link on display drift the other day. Basically a new display is never totally guaranteed to match an older display due to differences in age, and even post calibration differences in aging. Displays with hardware uniformity compensation and some kind of hardware and software that allows for them to be truly calibrated (as opposed to just re-profiled) cost more to build and don't represent the majority of them on the market. There are however far more of them today compared to a few years ago. I think part of the problem is just that these are unfortunately within specified tolerance levels. After two, I would buy something different.
That's more of a design limitation. They cannot afford to reject the majority of these panels, but it's an area where they should devote resources. Other brands have done the same thing.
Yes, unfortunately this thread is still going on because this is still a problem with the current crop of iMacs.
I too had them swapped mine swapped out only to have the same uniformity issue. In fact, every new iMac I have seen in two different Apple Stores also seem to suffer from it.
After the oddest call to AppleCare this past weekend I decided to bring it to the Genius Bar. The person that I spoke with did see what I was seeing and told me they are all like that. He blamed it on being an IPS panel. I told him that my mid-2010 iMac didn't do that and he said the mid-2010 was a slightly different type of panel. I don't know about that but at least someone else had their eyes on it and I wasn't seeing things.
Given the alternatives I decided to keep mine. I am not happy about it but if they are all like this there's little I can do and I guess I can live with it. And I can always do some calibration to mask the problem somewhat if it really gets to me. Hopefully in a couple years when I'm ready for my next upgrade this won't be an issue. In the meantime I can now focus on other things.
For me at least, yes, I am comparing to a previous 27" iMac which did not have this issue. While I was at the Apple Store this past weekend another customer came in at roughly the same time as I did but with an mid-2010 iMac for a HD issue. I watched his boot up and sure enough there were no screen uniformity issues on his (same as my old iMac).
Therefore, I don't believe this is a design limitation but rather bad panels altogether. How bad? Well, not as bad as some but hardly as good as they used to be. Is this an Apple QC problem? Well, they don't make their own panels so from a manufacturing point of view, I guess not. But they should be working with their supplier to either have this corrected in the future or to find another supplier.
Actually, no, I'm a designer so I'm probably more sensitive than most to this kind of thing. I can see it whenever the screen is mostly white, especially on a spreadsheet where you can visually isolate sections and see that cells are different colours. I also notice it when scrolling on a sectioned web page - like http://www.apple.com/imac/ If you follow a horizontal section as it goes up the screen it changes colour.
Saw this thread at work yesterday and was really worried about my imac which i got a couple weeks ago. Went home and looked really hard with my wife and don't think we noticed anything.
It's really difficult to tell because even tilting the screen slightly up/down will make the top or bottom brighter compared to the other side. Had to try to keep our eyes and screens as centered as possible. I think ours is ok.
Is the yellowing really easily noticeable or is there a better way to test? I'm still a bit worried.
It's really difficult to tell because even tilting the screen slightly up/down will make the top or bottom brighter compared to the other side. Had to try to keep our eyes and screens as centered as possible. I think ours is ok.
Is the yellowing really easily noticeable or is there a better way to test? I'm still a bit worried.
Well, my advice would be that if you don't notice don't worry about it.
But... if you are interested... the current iMacs are a bit warmer in color temperature than previous generations so overall you may see a slightly yellow tinge. However, it is most noticeable on the bottom 1/3 of the screen on a white or gray background.
There are a number of ways to see it. But first your iMac needs to be vertical with you sitting directly in front of it. I notice that the yellowing on the bottom of the screen starts to go away if it's tilted back. This fact alone proves it's some angle of view problem.
Anyway, one method involves opening two identical Finder windows with one placed at the top of the screen and the other at the bottom. You will likely see a color difference in the background (in between the files if you are in icon mode) between the one at the top and the one at the bottom.
Another method is to go here and use 000 or CCC and look at your screen from top to bottom.
You can also use the Calibrate utility in OS X (in expert mode) to alter the White Point. The lower the temperature the more yellow the screen. The higher the temperature the more bluish it will be.
By the way, this isn't like "whoa... my screen is yellow!" it's more like "that's darker and yellower on the bottom.". It's sometimes described as a yellow tinge.
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Thanks, I'll give this a try tonight.
Precisely! I noticed that if I tilt the screen back, the bottom becomes closer to my face and gets brighter, the top darker. Conversely, if I tilt the screen down, the bottom gets darker, top brighter.
Doing just a slight tilt even by say 1cm, makes a noticeable difference. So I'm wondering if this is the cause of the 'yellowing' which I don't think is an issue?
I think a real easy test is to open a finder window, then while setting your eyes on the gray part, drag it all the way to the top of the screen, then quickly down the bottom. If you have the yellow gradient issue, you'll immediately notice that the gray on the top is more natural in color and the gray at the bottom seems more yellowish (like a beige color).
For me, the effect is harder to see with an all white background. Anything gray makes it easier to notice.
I had a 2012 iMac before the 2013 one and I swear that one had no color uniformity issues and I completely knew about this issue back then too. The overall color temperature was very warm on it though, but colors were at least consistent throughout. When I got my 2013 iMac, I noticed the issue pretty much instantly. I kind of wished I kept that one now.
For me, the effect is harder to see with an all white background. Anything gray makes it easier to notice.
I had a 2012 iMac before the 2013 one and I swear that one had no color uniformity issues and I completely knew about this issue back then too. The overall color temperature was very warm on it though, but colors were at least consistent throughout. When I got my 2013 iMac, I noticed the issue pretty much instantly. I kind of wished I kept that one now.
I think a real easy test is to open a finder window, then while setting your eyes on the gray part, drag it all the way to the top of the screen, then quickly down the bottom. If you have the yellow gradient issue, you'll immediately notice that the gray on the top is more natural in color and the gray at the bottom seems more yellowish (like a beige color).
For me, the effect is harder to see with an all white background. Anything gray makes it easier to notice.
I had a 2012 iMac before the 2013 one and I swear that one had no color uniformity issues and I completely knew about this issue back then too. The overall color temperature was very warm on it though, but colors were at least consistent throughout. When I got my 2013 iMac, I noticed the issue pretty much instantly. I kind of wished I kept that one now.
I have been torn between a Mac Pro and a 27" imac, and this thread has definitely been pushinge towards the Pro!
I have a questions... Brand new iPhones sometimes are yellow due to the adhesive bonding the screen not having enough time to dry once it's been manuafactured and shipped.
Does anyone have a screen that "got better" over time?
I currenty run a MBA with Thunderbolt Display, so I could dual screen the imac 27"... But if the screens are not going to match, it would drive me pretty crazy!
I think mine has a very minor case of the yellow tint( when I say I think, I mean it could be my mind playing tricks on me since I am looking for it), but it is no where close to being as bad as people have been posting here. Due to it being very minor, I'm not going to play the replacement game since I can tolerate it and hardly ever notice it right now.
I received mine recently like you and after reading this, my bottom 25% looks to be a different tint than the top. But, also like you, could be my mind. And again, like you, I;m not gonna worry about it right now.
Don't displays get better after X days, etc. of use?
Really disappointing. I received my new late 2013 Maxed out 27" iMac on the 2nd of Jan, and immediately upon firing it up, noticed yellowing through out the lower third of the screen, mind you, this was prior to confirming that yellow screen issue with the iMac is a known issue. fast forward to one week later and the yellowing has moved up to half of the screen, it literally looks like a gradient filter has been applied to the screen.. Also noticing; a good amount of light bleeding from the right side of the screen...
As a colorist by profession, my work relies heavily upon the reliability and fidelity of my Apple products. It would be one thing if this was a one off, or rather; an isolated incident, but it isn't. Apple's utter lack of QC over the iMac, is simply unacceptable.
returning for a mac pro.....
As a colorist by profession, my work relies heavily upon the reliability and fidelity of my Apple products. It would be one thing if this was a one off, or rather; an isolated incident, but it isn't. Apple's utter lack of QC over the iMac, is simply unacceptable.
returning for a mac pro.....