What should I do about my iMac issues?

[Rac10000]

I bought my 27" iMac about 2 years ago (it's a C2D). I currently have Apple Care with about 1 year remaining.

I have 2 ongoing issues with my machine:

1. I have some yellowing/tinting like many others and thus far have decided not to do anything about it.

2. Something is wrong with the fans. Sometimes when I get home from work the fans are going at full speed even though the computer hasn't been used all day and is cold to the touch. I have to shutdown (not restart) for them to go off. This happens probably once every week or so if the computer is not shutdown.

I have been hesitating bring my iMac into a genius bar because it's a real pain to bring it around and I feel like they are going to want to keep my computer for weeks to recreate/fix the issues.

Is there any way they will just swap it out for a new one? What should I do?

 

[All Taken]

Lets ignore the yellow tintning for a moment, you need to re-install your OS, this is something that Apple will want you to do to see if the Excessive fan speed is Software related.

You can install a dashboard widget called iStatpro that tells you fan speed and temperature throughout your iMac, it may indicate CPU usage above normal levels when in idle indicating that a reinstall might solve this.

Second, yellow tint. Apple will replace your screen in warranty, I think the chances of you getting machine are 4 in 100. I'd seriously lean toward a background process causing CPU usage to be excessive.

Happy with a repair or hoping for a current model replacement?

 

[Rac10000]

Lets ignore the yellow tintning for a moment, you need to re-install your OS, this is something that Apple will want you to do to see if the Excessive fan speed is Software related.

You can install a dashboard widget called iStatpro that tells you fan speed and temperature throughout your iMac, it may indicate CPU usage above normal levels when in idle indicating that a reinstall might solve this.

Second, yellow tint. Apple will replace your screen in warranty, I think the chances of you getting machine are 4 in 100. I'd seriously lean toward a background process causing CPU usage to be excessive.

Happy with a repair or hoping for a current model replacement?

Thank you for the tips. I have called Apple Care and have spoke to them about the fan issue. They had me reset the SMC (I think that's what it was called) but it didn't help.

My only issue with the repair is the whole inconvenience of it. Dropping it off, waiting a least a week, picking it up, etc. It's just a big time drain.

Ideally I would just like a swap. I would even be happy with a refurbished machine.

 

[GGJstudios]

Something is wrong with the fans. Sometimes when I get home from work the fans are going at full speed even though the computer hasn't been used all day and is cold to the touch. I have to shutdown (not restart) for them the go off. This happens probably once every week or so if the computer is not shutdown.

If you haven't already done so, install iStat Pro to get accurate readings of your temps and fan speeds, among other things.

If you have increased CPU/GPU temps, launch Activity Monitor and change "My Processes" at the top to "All Processes", then click on the CPU column heading once or twice, so the arrow points downward (highest values on top). Then look to see what may be consuming system resources.

If a drive is constantly active or your CPU utilization is high (possibly with increased temps and fan speed) when you're not running any major apps, you can check to see if Spotlight is indexing by looking at the Menu Bar icon:

(not indexing)

(indexing) (pulsing dot)​

When it's indexing, you may also see increased CPU and RAM usage by the mds and mdworker processes in Activity Monitor.

Your fans are always on when your Mac is on, spinning at a minimum of 2000 rpm (for MBPs) or 1800 rpm (for MBAs, MBs and minis). iMacs have 3 fans with minimum speeds in the 800-1200 range. They will spin faster as needed to keep temps at a safe level. If your your fans are spinning up without increased heat, try resetting the SMC. (PRAM/NVRAM has nothing to do with these issues, so resetting it will not help.)

 

[lexvo]

About the spinning fans: if resetting (SMC) does not help, it might be a defective HDD temperature sensor. If that is the case, there is no other way then to bring it in for repair. I had the same problem a few months ago and my HDD was replaced (thankfully also covered by AppleCare). I have the impression more iMacs encounter this problem.

 

[bumzo1]

Thank you for the tips. I have called Apple Care and have spoke to them about the fan issue. They had me reset the SMC (I think that's what it was called) but it didn't help.

My only issue with the repair is the whole inconvenience of it. Dropping it off, waiting a least a week, picking it up, etc. It's just a big time drain.

Ideally I would just like a swap. I would even be happy with a refurbished machine.

It takes a lot more than that for them to replace it, trust me I just went through it. It took 4 screen replacements, a new video card, and 3 weeks without my computer while still having the same problem, for them to consider replacement. I feel it worked out though, they replaced my early 2009 iMac with a brand new 27" model