Resolved 2020 27" iMac fan suddenly goes full throttle for a few minutes (about once a day)

[drama]

Wow that's sneaky. Please update us when the investigation is done. Does that mean you paid more than you should have originally?

I am second owner of this iMac and I got it with big discount thanks to fan issue (first owner warned me about it). I took risk to buy and repair device - and got lucky.
But first owner was charged for this Mac as i9 Mac. But I really don't get it. Ok, reseller sold i9 Mac, but he installed i9, so what's the point? My guess is that seller sold Macs with refurbished parts (marked as new). iMac's box also had label with i9 specification and correct serial number. But service employees told me that label is not original. What's also strange is that Mac was new and in sealed box initially.
Reseller organization is closed right now with many bad reviews, pointing that there was fraud with Macs distribution.

 

[drama]

I hope you eventually get an i9 back, but in case that is refused or impossible: the i9 in the 2020 iMac is not greatly better than i7, and in many cases the i9 will throttle while the i7 does not.
More important is that your GPU does not also get downgraded.
Check this comparison, for example (although admittedly MaxTech do not tell the whole story):

I agree that i7 has its advantages, so I am satisfied with result anyway, also because that there were no other downgrades, especially GPU as you mentioned.

 

[drama]

I don’t think that’s the point here. Drama was charged more by reseller for buying the i9 and got i7 after the repair. Something is fishy here, but anyway you must have an invoice which proofs what you have been charged for. The law is on your side, so good luck and nerves.

Yes that's true. But I don't have any invoices or documents for this Mac, so even now situation has good outcome after all, really. I'll just keep watching the investigation out of curiosity.

 

[RoboCop001]

I am second owner of this iMac and I got it with big discount thanks to fan issue (first owner warned me about it). I took risk to buy and repair device - and got lucky.
But first owner was charged for this Mac as i9 Mac. But I really don't get it. Ok, reseller sold i9 Mac, but he installed i9, so what's the point? My guess is that seller sold Macs with refurbished parts (marked as new). iMac's box also had label with i9 specification and correct serial number. But service employees told me that label is not original. What's also strange is that Mac was new and in sealed box initially.
Reseller organization is closed right now with many bad reviews, pointing that there was fraud with Macs distribution.

Definitely sounds like fraud and something sketchy going on. But sounds like you had a good outcome for yourself, that's great. I have the same model as you now have and the performance has been great for my design work (and sometimes video).

I get the feeling this fan issue has happened to quite a few people. Glad you were able to get that fixed!

 

[tiguanito]

I started to have this issue a couple of months ago, on my 2020 iMac 27". The fan goes full throttle at > 2700rpm when the CPU is mostly in idle and temperatures are normal (~ 40C). I can see a speed of 0 rpm when that happens, and the diagnostic reports "there may be an issue with the fan. PPF004 and PPF003 codes). Went twice to the Apple Store (with videos showing the issue) but they couldn't repro the issue and told me to re-install the OS. Did it complete SSD wipe and re-install, and the issue is still there.
I'm going to make a 3rd appointment with the Apple Store and will ask them to replace the fan and/or logic board. I'm going to pay for the repair, so would like to find out first if I really need to replace them.
Has anyone replaced the logic board , or the fan only ?

 

[Brachaci]

Hi tiguanito,

I had the same problems as you did, with my 2020 iMacl. The logic board replacement helped and ever since that the fan issue didn't reappear.
Here is the cutout from the service repair protocol. There is no Apple store in Slovakia, so I had to visit the authorized service for the repair. However they replaced the logic board within a warranty so I didn't have to pay for the repair.
The protocol is in Slovak of course but the highlighted sentence says that the logic board was faulty and replaced.

 

[jazzer15]

I started to have this issue a couple of months ago, on my 2020 iMac 27". The fan goes full throttle at > 2700rpm when the CPU is mostly in idle and temperatures are normal (~ 40C). I can see a speed of 0 rpm when that happens, and the diagnostic reports "there may be an issue with the fan. PPF004 and PPF003 codes). Went twice to the Apple Store (with videos showing the issue) but they couldn't repro the issue and told me to re-install the OS. Did it complete SSD wipe and re-install, and the issue is still there.
I'm going to make a 3rd appointment with the Apple Store and will ask them to replace the fan and/or logic board. I'm going to pay for the repair, so would like to find out first if I really need to replace them.
Has anyone replaced the logic board , or the fan only ?

I am having this issue on my 2020 i7 iMac also and trying to figure out what is going on. There is no obvious reason why it is happening. Did you ever get yours sorted? What would a new logic board cost?

 

[tiguanito]

I am having this issue on my 2020 i7 iMac also and trying to figure out what is going on. There is no obvious reason why it is happening. Did you ever get yours sorted? What would a new logic board cost?

I had it repaired at Apple Store, $644 with tax for the new logic board. I used the Citi Costco card insurance to get it reimbursed with the extra warranty.

 

[jazzer15]

I had it repaired at Apple Store, $644 with tax for the new logic board. I used the Citi Costco card insurance to get it reimbursed with the extra warranty.

Thanks. That's an interesting thought. I should check and see if my credit card has insurance. The bigger pain is going to be bringing them the computer and trying to have them reproduce the problem. It can go weeks and be fine and then it will do it every couple of hours.

 

[tiguanito]

Thanks. That's an interesting thought. I should check and see if my credit card has insurance. The bigger pain is going to be bringing them the computer and trying to have them reproduce the problem. It can go weeks and be fine and then it will do it every couple of hours.

They couldn't reproduce the issue in the store. I brought it 3 times, they ran some overnight testing, did the factory reset and full re-install, etc. And they eventually agreed to replace the logic board.