There seems to be a defect with the screens of certain iMacs, says MacNN. More and more users are reporting an issue where weird pink lines appear on the LCD and get progressively worse as time goes on.
From MacNN:
“It started out a 1 pink line, Then about 2 weeks later another 2 lines appeared. Every now and then when I start up they are gone but seem to fade in after about 5 minutes.”
Sadly for these owners, the issues seem to start just after the 1 year warranty expires. Some of the affected users have started a petition. It reads:
We, the undersigned, request that Apple Inc. officially acknowledge and address the defect in their LCD Displays. The defect causes vertical lines (cyan/yellow/pink) to appear cutting through the screen and multiplying as time goes by. Unfortunately, the problem starts to appear right after the end of the one year warranty. This problem has been filling up the Apple’s online discussion forum and with no possible solution. We are the loyal Apple fans and would love to see Apple show its appreciation by stepping up to this issue.
Customers with this issue who consult an Apple are being quoted prices of “more than $700,” says MacNN.
If this happens to you, the first thing you should do is check to see if the credit card you used to purchase the computer has extended warranty protection. If it does, you may not have to wait around for Jobs to read this blog.
iMac LCD screens failing en masse [MacNN](Thanks, Mike!)
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A petition? You mean there are intelligent mac users out there instead of just fanboys? Also,
@RvLeshrac:
lqtm.
@DIRTLEG
It’s not a cinema display, since they don’t have iSight camera’s built in. It’s either the last Intel model of the iMac, which was replaced with the aluminum iMac just a few months back, or a G5 iSight iMac (fall 2005)
@balthisar:
You should assume the product will fail before you *want* to buy a new one for the same reasons you save money for retirement, gamble on health insurance, and make backups.
Sure, the product will likely last a while. But what happens when it doesn’t? Are you going to have enough money to replace it in four months? Six months? Can you afford to lose the data?
If it is a simple repair, can you fix it yourself? Can you take it to a local shop? Do you need to ship it across the country? What is the average cost to repair it?
People ask questions like these when buying a car, why aren’t they asked when buying a PC?
@RvLeshrac I simply asked the question a long time ago, why should I trust anyone but me to build my computer for me or do the maintenance?
But…shouldn’t it “just work”?
I had similar problems with my iBook a few years ago. The screen died about a month after the warranty expired and I was quoted $825 to fix it. Since the laptop wasn’t worth that much, I decided to take it apart and attempt to fix it on my own.
Sure enough, there was a Samsung sticker with a part number right on the screen. I ordered it direct from Samsung for $175 and it was identical to the original with the exception of the little Apple sticker.
Hopefully some of the tech savvy users here may be able to do something similar with thier iMacs.
I also wouldn’t plan on getting anything back from Apple. Keep in mind that this is a company that intentionally makes iPods expensive to fix, so people just buy new iPods.
@RvLeshrac: I guess that’s where we see differently. It’s a pain to have to have replace things (like, the aforementioned PowerBook, I never bothered), but it’s not out of reach if I’ve got to.
I guess I have good luck; I never have significant problems with things failing within their useful lifetime. Ball joints and tie rods are a fact of life, as are hard drives. Engines and LCD screens are not.
My LCD TV failed prior to my expectations — you’re right — but Sam’s took it back even though it’d been 13 months. Could I have paid full price for another one? Yeah, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.
Rather than lucky, I now kind of feel that you shouldn’t buy anything you depend on if you can’t replace it. That is, only by a Chrysler if you’re prepared for a new transmission, otherwise stick to Honda/Ford/Toyota/etc.
The exact same thing happened to my HP pavilion laptop. I chalked it up to being a refurbished model or maybe leaving it on for too long. Looks like Apple computers aren’t much better than PCs after all…
@Rusted: Me too. I build everything I can.