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mid-2011 imacs 27" & 21" yellow tinted screen thread
- Thread starter jgonzo
- Start date
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I finally took my iMac to the Apple Store for them to diagnose. The tech took one look at the bottom of the screen and told me that they would replace the display within 5 days. I get it back on Tuesday, I hope. I'll report back with the status. He also ran a couple of diagnostic tests and everything else checked out perfectly! No bad drivers or other stuff that the apple care tech mentioned.
One of my close friends is an Apple employee, who receives three 15% friends and family coupons per year. She was kind enough to let me login in the Apple Employee Store one day, and it turns out that they receive another 7% discount on refurbs (beyond the standard 15% discount available to us civilians). Long story short, I ordered a 27" i7 (3.4/4GB/1TB/1GB) through her... and:
First one: Moderately yellow screen
Second one: Rumbling Hard Drive + black 'shadow' near dock, but good screen
Third one: Horribly yellow screen (worse than the first one)
In the span of two weeks, and three different models, I had just about the worst luck. Truthfully, after the third model, I gave up and returned it, and resolved to myself that I would go for one of the new Macbook Airs or the 21.5" model. Urgh. I had previously a 24" iMac and macmini refurb with no problems whatsoever. Seriously, very disappointed in Apple & the refurb team...
First one: Moderately yellow screen
Second one: Rumbling Hard Drive + black 'shadow' near dock, but good screen
Third one: Horribly yellow screen (worse than the first one)
In the span of two weeks, and three different models, I had just about the worst luck. Truthfully, after the third model, I gave up and returned it, and resolved to myself that I would go for one of the new Macbook Airs or the 21.5" model. Urgh. I had previously a 24" iMac and macmini refurb with no problems whatsoever. Seriously, very disappointed in Apple & the refurb team...
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So I am about to purchase a BTO 27" iMac, I am quite nervous to be honest, hearing all these horror stories...
If I get a defective screen, is it better to return it online and get a replacement or having the screen just replaced at my local Apple store?
How does the return exchange process work if I buy online, how long will it take for me to get my replacement and how long will I be without my Mac?
Please help me relax, I love the iMac but don't want to invest in a lemon.
-Frank
So I am about to purchase a BTO 27" iMac, I am quite nervous to be honest, hearing all these horror stories...
If I get a defective screen, is it better to return it online and get a replacement or having the screen just replaced at my local Apple store?
How does the return exchange process work if I buy online, how long will it take for me to get my replacement and how long will I be without my Mac?
Please help me relax, I love the iMac but don't want to invest in a lemon.
-Frank
How many threads are you going to post your paranoia on?
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1202541/
IMO, most people who are asking other people's opinions on their screen shouldn't be posting here in the first place...If it isn't annoying to you when using it normally (without doing this whole test thing under specific conditions) then it's fine. People on here tend to over blow things and make the whole situation sound worse than it actually is.
I agree, at this price point this shouldn't be happening, but if you're someone planning on buying an iMac who's stumbled onto this thread/forum, don't let it change your opinion. Going on here and asking for a "perfect" screen is like going to a hospital and asking for someone healthy. To be honest, most screens posted on this thread seem perfectly fine to me, and to get paranoid over something like this is ridiculous.
I agree, at this price point this shouldn't be happening, but if you're someone planning on buying an iMac who's stumbled onto this thread/forum, don't let it change your opinion. Going on here and asking for a "perfect" screen is like going to a hospital and asking for someone healthy. To be honest, most screens posted on this thread seem perfectly fine to me, and to get paranoid over something like this is ridiculous.
You're missing the point. Fact is, the Yellow Tint issue isn't as bad as people are making it out to be. Remember the reception issue drama with the iPhone 4? It's not nearly as bad as people are making it out to be.
My point is, if you do have an iMac you're not happy about, gladly return it for a refund or exchange it. DON'T ask people if your screen is good or "bad" if it doesn't bother you, because you'll just be wasting your time.
I disagree. I think that the people who are saying "the yellow issue isn't that bad, and it's rare" were simply blessed with yellow-free iMacs. If I had a perfect iMac, I'd also think that the complainers (like me) were just being picky or were part of a very small group.
I had three different iMac screens at home, and checked out another eight panels or so in various stores. Out of that group I saw four that were really bad and a couple of more which had some yellow but were more tolerable.
It's less noticeable if you've got the brightness on maximum. If you want to check it out for yourself, go look at a bunch of 27" imac screens with brightness at 50% (not an artificial test -- this is how you'll very often be using it within your own home), with an iTunes playlist window (alternating dark and white lines) filling the screen.
I had three different iMac screens at home, and checked out another eight panels or so in various stores. Out of that group I saw four that were really bad and a couple of more which had some yellow but were more tolerable.
It's less noticeable if you've got the brightness on maximum. If you want to check it out for yourself, go look at a bunch of 27" imac screens with brightness at 50% (not an artificial test -- this is how you'll very often be using it within your own home), with an iTunes playlist window (alternating dark and white lines) filling the screen.
I think I have some slight yellowing on the bottom ride side of my monitor.... I'm relaly on the fence about what to do.... what do people here think?
(my caveat with exchange is I ordered online with 2 GB vram and I can't just swap one out at a store because I don't think they carry them.)
http://jtmck.us/images/screen.jpg
(file was too big to embed, taken with iPhone4)
(my caveat with exchange is I ordered online with 2 GB vram and I can't just swap one out at a store because I don't think they carry them.)
http://jtmck.us/images/screen.jpg
(file was too big to embed, taken with iPhone4)
Theres some yellowing on both sides of the screen, but if it doesn't bother you on a day to day use, then it's a keeper
Don't worry about these, most LCDs are gunna have uneven backlighting, yellowing, etc. It's just the nature of technology.Similar story here. First refurb had a yellow screen and rumbly drive, second one had obvious black shadow and rumbly drive.
Third one has yet to be ordered. Thinking about walking away entirely at this point. Time and patience have run out.
If i buy my imac online BTO and i decide to replace it 3 or 4 times in the look for satisfaction, how would the return proccess be? could i take it to my local apple store? or how do i send it back. also what is the return policy if i buy applecare later on without the imac? would i still be able to replace it if ti comes defective? thanks!
Received my BTO imac 27 inch a week ago. the yellow tint issue wasnt a great deal in the beginning but it has gotten worse (to my eyes) as days passed. Brought back to the reseller and they told me that they would need to wait for the apple person to come and write up a detailed diagnostic report before they can replace me with a new one. The apple mechanic is not gonna come in the next day or two. So I will have to wait, first for him to come, second for him to acknowledge that there's an issue with my screen, and third to custom build my order. I assume that'll take another 2-3 weeks.
Now my new iMac is opened and stored in their back room and god knows what will they do to it.
Never knew buying an apple could be this stressful.
p.s. i reside in Hong Kong. There's no apple store here yet.
Now my new iMac is opened and stored in their back room and god knows what will they do to it.
Never knew buying an apple could be this stressful.
p.s. i reside in Hong Kong. There's no apple store here yet.
That stupid grey bar test has caused havoc as people who never would have had an issue with their screens if it wasn't for threads like this, have become obsessed and I guarantee have spent hours on that test page, moving the window, standing up and sitting down to look at all the angles, squinting, closing one eye, turning lights on and off, pestering friends and partners to come in and look as well etc etc. It's like a form of OCD now for many it seems. You can change how the screen looks by simple raising and lowering your eye level for instance.
They're huge screens, if you look hard enough and obsess, you're going to start seeing faults. It's like a PC version of hypochondria!
Apple's own fault for marketing products as superior in every way when they are not. Both my mac and my iPad looked like a Chinese man had p****d in the corners whilst putting it together. Plus the HD rumbles loudly. You don't have to look hard to penetrate the thin layer of varnish on these polished turds unfortunately.
I agree to an extent.
The first iMac I opened in-store last night had such a prominent grey bar that 3 sales associates admitted that they would not consider purchasing it. The head genius came out and attempted to tell me that it was normal, showing me some of the display models on which I had to squint at to see any discrepancies. On he model I was 'purchasing' however, I could see the grey bar from across the store. I nearly lost it when he said, "But how often do you work on things on the bottom half of the screen?" After he left, the sales associates straight out told me that they disagreed and that it wasn't right.
The second one we opened was much better. It's still there, but much less prominent, especially if you're not looking for it.
So the problem definitely varies in severity.
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There's no question that there are displays that have had issues. I am not denying for a second that there aren't. What I'm focusing on is the unfortunate group of people who would never in a million years have heard of this issue and were happy with the Mac and then stumbled upon this infamous test. Being rational and realistic, if you never noticed the issue prior to taking the test, if you can use Safari iTunes etc without noticing it, then your Mac is fine! Just enjoy it and use it as it's meant to be used. Seriously, you could drive yourself banana's obsessing on this.
The screen is a very, very complicated one. In Apple's patent application for this, they mentioned the difficulties with uniformity of colour in large screens
Apple's patent application was an attempt to remedy this funnily enough, and their use of an array of LED tiles and multiple backlight diffuser sheets are used. As some experts have said, it would appear plausible that even a slight distortion in those sheets could cause the fluctuations. This could happen during assembly or even during shipping.
The bad news on that is that this is Apple's patent so the screen is actually different to Dells Ultrasharp for instance. So this means this technology is here to stay on these current iMac's unless it goes through a major revision. So that means in reality, it's a complete lottery in terms of getting the 100% "Perfect" screen. Some will be worse, a lot worse then others and of course Apple must fix those.
But for the rest, if you can't notice it at all in day to day use of the Mac, don't torture yourselves by obsessing on that test! The screen is a very tricky piece of equipment and I personally believe it is the increased production rates that have caused the issues, could well be in shipping as well. The first builds of those 09 Macs (the first edition of the unibody) were all perfect, I think it was wk 39-42 builds.
Lots of Macs shipped in containers, they're being stacked, offloaded with forklift trucks etc etc. I suspect the screen is very, very sensitive, especially those diffuser sheets.
Put away the grey bars if you can't see this in normal practice and enjoy the machine and Apple will do something with the next generation. I'm afraid that's the way I see it.
The screen is a very, very complicated one. In Apple's patent application for this, they mentioned the difficulties with uniformity of colour in large screens
Apple's patent application was an attempt to remedy this funnily enough, and their use of an array of LED tiles and multiple backlight diffuser sheets are used. As some experts have said, it would appear plausible that even a slight distortion in those sheets could cause the fluctuations. This could happen during assembly or even during shipping.
The bad news on that is that this is Apple's patent so the screen is actually different to Dells Ultrasharp for instance. So this means this technology is here to stay on these current iMac's unless it goes through a major revision. So that means in reality, it's a complete lottery in terms of getting the 100% "Perfect" screen. Some will be worse, a lot worse then others and of course Apple must fix those.
But for the rest, if you can't notice it at all in day to day use of the Mac, don't torture yourselves by obsessing on that test! The screen is a very tricky piece of equipment and I personally believe it is the increased production rates that have caused the issues, could well be in shipping as well. The first builds of those 09 Macs (the first edition of the unibody) were all perfect, I think it was wk 39-42 builds.
Lots of Macs shipped in containers, they're being stacked, offloaded with forklift trucks etc etc. I suspect the screen is very, very sensitive, especially those diffuser sheets.
Put away the grey bars if you can't see this in normal practice and enjoy the machine and Apple will do something with the next generation. I'm afraid that's the way I see it.
Would agree with you, if it's an issue that theoretically ONLY showed up on a test page and not in day to day use. But if the problem shows up on the grey bar test, there's probably an 80% chance that you WILL notice it in day to day use as well. I can certainly notice the yellow in mine in daily use.
Did they let you keep your machine, when they sent you a new one? so you can compare the two....and if you decide to keep the original can you send the replacement back?
-Franky