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The New iMac Display Problem?

Usually with any internet forum problems i take reports with a pinch of salf, and always have - fail rate of 360's, PS's, freezing issues with computers etc.

However this one I have witnessed first hand, without trying to provoke it, within 15 minutes of using it in the apple store - this concerns me. £1700 in the U.K. is not something I can part with easily
 
Hi all,
my 27" iMac show flickering two times during the weekend, and the problem disappears each 2 times after a reboot.
Now it is 2 days the mac works well, I don't know if is better to give it back or keep it.
Any suggestions?
 
Well it would seem this problem is happening quite a lot now... which is a shame I was hoping to pass it off as just a bad luck thing, any chance this could just be the GPU acting up since it is a different card than normally used? hopefully the 4850 and the quad cores wont have this problem.

my 27" iMac show flickering two times during the weekend, and the problem disappears each 2 times after a reboot.
Now it is 2 days the mac works well, I don't know if is better to give it back or keep it.
Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

I would personally just hold onto it for a while and see what happens, watch the forums and see if a solution or anything is found before you mess around with taking it back etc. But that is just my opinion and I really hate taking stuff back because of all the hassle it usually causes.
 
I certainly wont hang on to mine if it has the screen problem demonstrated in this thread. With the amount of $$$ the iMac costs, we shouldnt have to deal with a bad screen. I'd just return the defective unit and wait until Apple irons out the problem. It's really not a hassle to return something. It WOULD be a hassle for me to keep something that i am unhappy with..

Anxo said:
I would personally just hold onto it for a while and see what happens, watch the forums and see if a solution or anything is found before you mess around with taking it back etc. But that is just my opinion and I really hate taking stuff back because of all the hassle it usually causes.
Click to expand...
 
Flickering

Is the flickering problem being seen on both of 21.5in Imacs(different graphics cards)?? I was thinking of getting the low end one this weekend but now I am considering the upper end one, unless it's happening to both.
 
Set up my new 27" iMac a few hours ago and I've yet to see any sort of flickering problem. I'm watching it VERY closely! If anything changes you can be sure i'll post in this thread. I'm going to try to replicate the original poster's problem by turning down the brightness and before going into sleep mode.

-jay
 
jczaja said:
Set up my new 27" iMac a few hours ago and I've yet to see any sort of flickering problem. I'm watching it VERY closely! If anything changes you can be sure i'll post in this thread. I'm going to try to replicate the original poster's problem by turning down the brightness and before going into sleep mode.

-jay
Click to expand...

Can you tell us if it feels to be getting high temps as well? Kind of curious if that could be the problem...
 
Put my hand on the top of my 27" today as I was plugging in a USB mouse and keyboard for boot camp install - it was HOT...

Had mine running since Friday morning, except for some reboots during boot camp install - no issues at all with mine ::knock on wood::

Can't get over how much I love it --- a slight difference trying to run VMWare on my MBA and my new iMac :)

I like it so much just ordered a Quad Core as my second machine, now the wait begins.
 
No problem !

Dear all,
I have personally tested two 27 iMacs according to your instruction at the Apple in my university.
These iMacs were alright. They are working perfectly.
Also, the new magic mouse sucks, it is a gimmick.

By the way, I'm also one those waiting for my quad core iMac!:):):):)
 
To those playing with their new 27" imac's , CONGRATULATIONS!

I just have 1 question/favor to ask. Those of you who are having flickering problems, can anyone try installing windows xp via bootcamp, and install all the necessary drivers and see if its still flickering. Seriously im worried if this is a hardware problem it might not be an easy fix. If its just SL or Mac Driver problem, then we know it will be fixed.

IF it works fine in XP, and no flickering then i click on BUY NOW for my iMac :D
 
biggy52 said:
To those playing with their new 27" imac's , CONGRATULATIONS!

I just have 1 question/favor to ask. Those of you who are having flickering problems, can anyone try installing windows xp via bootcamp, and install all the necessary drivers and see if its still flickering. Seriously im worried if this is a hardware problem it might not be an easy fix. If its just SL or Mac Driver problem, then we know it will be fixed.

IF it works fine in XP, and no flickering then i click on BUY NOW for my iMac :D
Click to expand...

That is a very good idea! If I actually had one of the 27 inchers I would have done that right now. Though it does mean you will have to run XP for a few days, which is unfortunate on a new iMac!
 
avihappy said:
That is a very good idea! If I actually had one of the 27 inchers I would have done that right now. Though it does mean you will have to run XP for a few days, which is unfortunate on a new iMac!
Click to expand...

Im sure the misfortune of running XP for the greater good of mankind is something a SuperHero would not mind doing :D

But seriously if Apple is *NOT* talking about these problems, i guess its upto the users to filter the problems till we find the exact thing that is causing it...

Any SuperHero here with a MacSignal
 
biggy52 said:
Im sure the misfortune of running XP for the greater good of mankind is something a SuperHero would not mind doing :D

But seriously if Apple is *NOT* talking about these problems, i guess its upto the users to filter the problems till we find the exact thing that is causing it...

Any SuperHero here with a MacSignal
Click to expand...

The MacSignal has been lit!

macsignal2.png
 
I asked this in another thread, but figured this one will be more active. I'm currently looking to buy my first imac-- either the 27 or 21.5, i have yet to decide. I definitely don't want to deal with these sorts of problems, and i was wondering how long bugs like this usually take to get sorted out in the Apple world? Also, after the problem is fixed, do they let us know in any way or do we just have to take a shot and buy one and pray it works?
 
biggy52 said:
Im sure the misfortune of running XP for the greater good of mankind is something a SuperHero would not mind doing :D

But seriously if Apple is *NOT* talking about these problems, i guess its upto the users to filter the problems till we find the exact thing that is causing it...

Any SuperHero here with a MacSignal
Click to expand...

Running XP will only prove that SL is at fault and that it is software. If a failing system runs fine on XP then this is SL/drivers are at fault. This in a way is your best outcome cause this is easy to fix.

If you want to isolate this as a hardware issue you a better off.

1. Running it as Display only, that will lower the heat greatly, and eliminate the GPU so if it is a display issue this will identify it. A bad outcome cause the display has a hardware issue, firmware upgrades do not fix this.

2. Stress the System, play GPU/CPU intensive game. If it is a heat issue with will not take long for it to start overheating and fail. Not a good outcome, means these babies suffer from heat.

Ready this thread my concern is that this issue happens for people just using the system under normal circumstances and not stressing it running games etc. So if anyone could try 1 or 2 that would help.
 
MH01 said:
Running XP will only prove that SL is at fault and that it is software. If a failing system runs fine on XP then this is SL/drivers are at fault. This in a way is your best outcome cause this is easy to fix.

If you want to isolate this as a hardware issue you a better off.

1. Running it as Display only, that will lower the heat greatly, and eliminate the GPU so if it is a display issue this will identify it. A bad outcome cause the display has a hardware issue, firmware upgrades do not fix this.

2. Stress the System, play GPU/CPU intensive game. If it is a heat issue with will not take long for it to start overheating and fail. Not a good outcome, means these babies suffer from heat.

Ready this thread my concern is that this issue happens for people just using the system under normal circumstances and not stressing it running games etc. So if anyone could try 1 or 2 that would help.
Click to expand...

I have all 4 of my fingers crossed (2 hands 2 legs) and hoping that the XP runs smoothly on these new iMacs so we are sure that its only a driver/software glitch.

Its a nice idea to run via display port , this way we'll know if its only the screen that has problems. But i heard that the display port only works when you have already booted into SL, hence if its some sort of a driver glitch or software issue with SL, i think the problem might still persist...i might be wrong.

I dont know why, but i dont think heat could be the issue, someone in the another thread showed their temps screen, they dont look so high its just that everyone is used to the plastic back of the previous imacs, which wasnt conducting heat , hence felt cold. Unlike the newer iMacs which have aluminum backs, i guess if its getting hot at the back, its a good sign that its atleast transferring all the heat away from the motherboard .... dont you think?

Again i'm speaking all this from the air, i have never used a mac before :D. And i dont want to stay in the same boat forever. I need to take the Leap!
 
It's fair to say that the aluminum back would transfer heat unlike the plastic, but I'd suggest you take a walk down to an apple store and rub your hand around the imac, get a feel for yourself. I'm no professional at the temp things should run at safely, but it alarmed me!
 
it has happened on my uMB on occasions. I'm not too fussed, as I just bump up the brightness and all is well:)
 
ElPinko said:
It's fair to say that the aluminum back would transfer heat unlike the plastic, but I'd suggest you take a walk down to an apple store and rub your hand around the imac, get a feel for yourself. I'm no professional at the temp things should run at safely, but it alarmed me!
Click to expand...

I wish i had an apple store in my country :(. I live in a place where the 27" iMac is going to cost me over 3400 USD ... So no apple store for me.

But yes if it does feel very warm, its because the aluminum is working like a giant heat sink for the inner components of the iMac. Its just that there is nothing between your hand and the HEATSINK. Hence it feels hot.
 
biggy52 said:
I wish i had an apple store in my country :(. I live in a place where the 27" iMac is going to cost me over 3400 USD ... So no apple store for me.

But yes if it does feel very warm, its because the aluminum is working like a giant heat sink for the inner components of the iMac. Its just that there is nothing between your hand and the HEATSINK. Hence it feels hot.
Click to expand...

fortunatly I work less than 2 minutes from Apples Regent Street shop so regular visits is not a problem.

While I understand heat transference is to be expected, I would argue that plastic would feel hot based on the temperature the imac throws out, but only in certain areas of the board, which points to individual components running very hot

Its just annoying, I've been sitting on my money letting it grow, waiting for the imac refresh, and now I can afford the i5 so i have to wait until November and suddenly this starts happening, I wouldnt even be reading about it if I already had the iMac...
 
ElPinko said:
fortunatly I work less than 2 minutes from Apples Regent Street shop so regular visits is not a problem.

While I understand heat transference is to be expected, I would argue that plastic would feel hot based on the temperature the imac throws out, but only in certain areas of the board, which points to individual components running very hot

Its just annoying, I've been sitting on my money letting it grow, waiting for the imac refresh, and now I can afford the i5 so i have to wait until November and suddenly this starts happening, I wouldnt even be reading about it if I already had the iMac...
Click to expand...

Aside from Copper, Aluminum is the second best metal to transfer heat, hench why alot of CPU coolers use it. The new Imacs will be alot hotter then the plastic ones. You can argue that the new imacs should run cooler then the old ones cause the aluminum back will remove more heat from the GPU/CPU but will be very hot to touch. Off to the apple store now to see how hot they are...
 
Well, *****... After a night of running without a problem, I've witnessed this screen flickering problem firsthand. It doesnt appear to be a heat issue as my machine was COLD after waking up from sleep mode this morning. After experiencing the problem I manually put my iMac to sleep and woke it up again and am yet to see the problem happen again. Seeing the issue with my own eyes, I am tempted to say it looks like a OS/software/driver issue. I was also reading that 10.6.2 supposed to fix a screen flickering issue with the MBP's? Could this be related? I wish there was a way to boot the screen into some sort of test mode like a white screen to see if the issue crops up. I also wish i had a displayport cable to see if the issue occurs when my MBP is connected to the screen. My gut feeling is that this is a software issue.

-jay

Here's a video from youtube that shows the problem on a MBP. This is almost exactly what i am seeing on the iMac!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJMuYneBLLE
 
The initial flashes in that youtube video are exactly what I saw, except mine were white not black and ran through the middle of the screen not the top. That's actually quite relieving if that issue was resolved with a firmware update.

Also interested to hear from all the people who have decided to try and feel the imac heat, atleast then we can get an informed discussion on the situation.
 
First time I experienced the problem was while watching some youtube clips... the distortions were kindda purple and green. But since I've only experienced it with white/black flickers.

Also happens right after start up while the machine is cold.
 
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