After sent to repair at the Apple store, iMac comes back unfixed

[lawlietkm]

I have an iMac 27" 2020 since the release and for weeks now the device kept crashing randomly.

After resetting and everything, I went to the Apple store to try and fix it.

I got it back today, they said that they removed the 2 rams I've installed on top of the base ones, back in 2020, and it's supposed to be working now. But it's not.

I boot it up and it's a grey screen, it keeps restarting and ending up on a grey screen, in a loop.

I'm not sure what to do, I've basically tried everything so far, key combination, reset again and reinstall again and the same problem is still going on. Though now it's not crash anymore it's just completely bricky, can't use it at this point.

I'll call them tomorrow to tell them that but I've wanted to ask for some opinion here meanwhile.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Take it back to the store and tell them it is not fixed. Thoroughly describe the problem just in case they didn't understand it the first time. It sounds like they blamed the "not Apple" part, removed it and gave it back to you. It appears it was NOT that.

Since it boots to a grey screen and then restarting loops, you'll be able to easily show them it was NOT fixed in the recent repair and they should try-try again.

 

[lawlietkm]

Take it back to the store and tell them it is not fixed. Thoroughly describe the problem just in case they didn't understand it the first time. It sounds like they blamed the "not Apple" part, removed it and gave it back to you. It appears it was NOT that.

Since it boots to a grey screen and then restarting loops, you'll be able to easily show them it was NOT fixed in the recent repair and they should try-try again.

The very same store? There is another, less far, because I went two times (to drop and then to pick up) and I had to take cabs each time back and forth, gets pretty expensive for no result lol

But yeah, that's annoying

 

[OrenLindsey]

The very same store? There is another, less far, because I went two times (to drop and then to pick up) and I had to take cabs each time back and forth, gets pretty expensive for no result lol

But yeah, that's annoying

I would try the closer store, just tell them the 1st one didn't fix it. If they try to charge you (They shouldn't but you never know what they'll do), go to the farther one.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

While you can, you might even shoot a quick video of the gray-screen, loop-rebooting a few times just in case you get to the store, plug it in to show them and it boots right up normally with no problem at all (don't you love it when that kind of thing happens?).

Being able to show them the problem very clearly may help them get it fixed this time.

 

[lawlietkm]

While you can, you might even shoot a quick video of the gray-screen, loop-rebooting a few times just in case you get to the store, plug it in to show them and it boots right up normally with no problem at all (don't you love it when that kind of thing happens?).

Being able to show them the problem very clearly may help them get it fixed this time.

Will do that, I've also set up a call in the morning for tomorrow as there is no slot available for either stores until a few days. I may even actually bring it to another approved repair shop that is way more near by? Idk

 

[lawlietkm]

Yeah, I don't know how they could tell me it was fixed because it's clearly not, came for a crashing issue and coming back with a not-even-booting issue

 

[Bigwaff]

I got it back today, they said that they removed the 2 rams I've installed on top of the base ones, back in 2020, and it's supposed to be working now. But it's not.

So if "they removed the two rams" then what "rams" are currently installed?

 

[lawlietkm]

So if "they removed the two rams" then what "rams" are currently installed?

the base one which are 2 x 4gb factory ram, mine were 2x 16gb purchased from amazon

 

[motorazr]

I have an iMac 27" 2020 since the release and for weeks now the device kept crashing randomly.

After resetting and everything, I went to the Apple store to try and fix it.

I got it back today, they said that they removed the 2 rams I've installed on top of the base ones, back in 2020, and it's supposed to be working now. But it's not.

I boot it up and it's a grey screen, it keeps restarting and ending up on a grey screen, in a loop.

I'm not sure what to do, I've basically tried everything so far, key combination, reset again and reinstall again and the same problem is still going on. Though now it's not crash anymore it's just completely bricky, can't use it at this point.

I'll call them tomorrow to tell them that but I've wanted to ask for some opinion here meanwhile.

Memory isolation is time consuming and sometimes confusing. I imagine the tech working on it didn’t properly complete memory isolation testing. Need to verify that it is indeed a stick (or sticks) failing, not the slot — and confirm which configuration your slots require (1&3 vs 1&2) for pairs. I don’t remember for that iMac.

Good luck

 

[BellSystem]

Memory isolation is time consuming and sometimes confusing. I imagine the tech working on it didn’t properly complete memory isolation testing. Need to verify that it is indeed a stick (or sticks) failing, not the slot — and confirm which configuration your slots require (1&3 vs 1&2) for pairs. I don’t remember for that iMac.

Good luck

Ya because all the techs they have now are iPhone swap ding dongs. Mac repair is a dying art. I imagine modern Service Source uses emojis and has 3 steps…1) reboot (duck emoji), 2) update (sigh emoji), 3) replacement of entire device (toilet emoji). They probably had to Google ram stick.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Record a video showing the gray screen before you take it back to Apple.

 

[TechnoMonk]

Shoot a video, email Tim Cook. Stick to facts and be concise, but firm on this is not Apple service you expect. I would hate to waste time, cab fare and all the inconvinience.

 

[wilberforce]

It's a long shot, but take out the Apple RAM and put in a single stick of the other RAM, in a slot that the Apple RAM are not in. This is just to eliminate the chance that the issue is with the RAM or the slots

 

[circatee]

Curious, what hardware did you connect, once you got it back home?

PS: I've not read all the responses. But, wondering if it is a hardware (external storage, or something like that), that is really causing the issue. I would be surprised that Apple simple removed the non-OEM memory, and did not boot the unit up to confirm it got to the login screen. Rather, really rather odd...

 

[motorazr]

Ya because all the techs they have now are iPhone swap ding dongs. Mac repair is a dying art. I imagine modern Service Source uses emojis and has 3 steps…1) reboot (duck emoji), 2) update (sigh emoji), 3) replacement of entire device (toilet emoji). They probably had to Google ram stick.

Well I wouldn’t go that far.

Ram isolation is time consuming as I mentioned, which translates to expensive. Some teams may lack the expertise to handoff ram isolation between however many techs have time to poke it for 5 minutes between tests.

For what it’s worth, Apple also won’t swap a lot of things at this point. They replace chunks of phones, but a lot of my devices they’ve insisted on repairing and replacing only if that catastrophically fails, which is hasn’t. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I suspect a mixed bag of skill per store at this point, more so than 2001-2016 (when portables became logic board swaps for most issues) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Shirasaki]

The very same store? There is another, less far, because I went two times (to drop and then to pick up) and I had to take cabs each time back and forth, gets pretty expensive for no result lol

But yeah, that's annoying

Maybe those Apple stores you visit just don’t have competent technicians. Not in my case where I live (Sydney), but yeah, having to visit multiple times to fix a large electronic device like iMac gets exhausted and old quite fast.

Ya because all the techs they have now are iPhone swap ding dongs. Mac repair is a dying art. I imagine modern Service Source uses emojis and has 3 steps…1) reboot (duck emoji), 2) update (sigh emoji), 3) replacement of entire device (toilet emoji). They probably had to Google ram stick.

LMAO.
A couple days ago I visited one Apple Store in CBD to rerun my iPhone 15 pro max, saw a frontline staff trying to help an old man figuring out why a ringtone is missing from his iPhone. During my entire return process (10 min), they managed to not solve the problem and still struggling.

Possible cause? Ringtone was loaded separately (not bought from iTunes Store) some time ago and he didn’t have iCloud backup enabled. Ringtone was purchased by a different Apple ID. He misremembered the tone. Ringtone was taken down by Apple so he could not download again.

I really wanted to step in and help those struggling staff who seems to not know where the third party ringtones resides. It was a pain to watch tbh.

 

[lawlietkm]

Curious, what hardware did you connect, once you got it back home?

PS: I've not read all the responses. But, wondering if it is a hardware (external storage, or something like that), that is really causing the issue. I would be surprised that Apple simple removed the non-OEM memory, and did not boot the unit up to confirm it got to the login screen. Rather, really rather odd...

I connected nothing but a keyboard

But the fix summary says "software repair level 1"

 

[lawlietkm]

The phone support didn't help much again besides offering to take an appointment to a store again

 

[jlc1978]

A couple days ago I visited one Apple Store in CBD to rerun my iPhone 15 pro max, saw a frontline staff trying to help an old man figuring out why a ringtone is missing from his iPhone. During my entire return process (10 min), they managed to not solve the problem and still struggling.

Possible cause? Ringtone was loaded separately (not bought from iTunes Store) some time ago and he didn’t have iCloud backup enabled. Ringtone was purchased by a different Apple ID. He misremembered the tone. Ringtone was taken down by Apple so he could not download again.

So what was the cause? You've listed a bunch of possible causes, none of which can be solved in store except perhaps the Apple ID issue.

Troubleshooting isn't always easy. I get friends who ask me to help with their problems because for some reason they think I am a techie. Often, trying to figure out the solution is hard because they don't know anything beyond "it doesn't work..." or have forgotten passwords/user IDs. I especially like when a friend or family member says "It worked yesterday" and when I ask "What did you do?" the say "nothing;"but went in and changed a bunch of settings and now other things are broken.

At least they were trying to help for a third party issue.

I really wanted to step in and help those struggling staff who seems to not know where the third party ringtones resides. It was a pain to watch tbh.

Why didn't you? I'm sure they'd be glad to have someone solve the person's issue.

 

[motorazr]

I have an iMac 27" 2020 since the release and for weeks now the device kept crashing randomly.

After resetting and everything, I went to the Apple store to try and fix it.

I got it back today, they said that they removed the 2 rams I've installed on top of the base ones, back in 2020, and it's supposed to be working now. But it's not.

I boot it up and it's a grey screen, it keeps restarting and ending up on a grey screen, in a loop.

I'm not sure what to do, I've basically tried everything so far, key combination, reset again and reinstall again and the same problem is still going on. Though now it's not crash anymore it's just completely bricky, can't use it at this point.

I'll call them tomorrow to tell them that but I've wanted to ask for some opinion here meanwhile.

Also, holding command + v at startup is verbose mode — depending where it fails in the startup sequence that might help see what was happening when it shuts off and provide clues if there is something else occurring.

May also be that they never booted it to your OS but it passed testing, and the internal operating system or partition is too damaged from all the shutdowns / restarts to boot. In this case, erase and install from internet recovery or a n external disk would solve.

Let us know what is determined

 

[lawlietkm]

Also, holding command + v at startup is verbose mode — depending where it fails in the startup sequence that might help see what was happening when it shuts off and provide clues if there is something else occurring.

May also be that they never booted it to your OS but it passed testing, and the internal operating system or partition is too damaged from all the shutdowns / restarts to boot. In this case, erase and install from internet recovery or a n external disk would solve.

Let us know what is determined

Installing from internet with option + D seemed stuck, and all the erase and reinstall I've done never helped so far :/

I'm going to bring it to Apple tomorrow again

 

[MacManager123]

when booting, hold down "d". This will take you to hardware diagnostics and should identify your problem. Take a picture of the results and show it to the guys at the apple store.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

It's time to do some "diagnosing" of your own.

First, did the shop give back the two DIMMs they took out?

I will assume the iMac has the 2 factory-installed DIMMs in it?

What I would try first is to REMOVE, and then RE-SEAT the two factory DIMMs.
Carefully wipe the contacts while you have them out.

Then try booting again.

Do the problems persist?

OK, then let's do this:
REMOVE the factory DIMMs and set them aside for the moment.

Now, put in the 3rd-party DIMMs where the factory DIMMs were.

Try rebooting.
Do the problems persist?

The iMac has an SSD inside, is this correct?

Have you tried "a safe boot"?
(power off, hold down (and KEEP holding down) the shift key as you press the power on button and the iMac boots).

A safe boot skips loading extensions and 3rd-party stuff.
Does this change anything?

 

[Shirasaki]

So what was the cause? You've listed a bunch of possible causes, none of which can be solved in store except perhaps the Apple ID issue.

Im not that customer so I don’t know much beyond the obvious. Those causes I list all can lead to the loss of that ringtone on that iPhone.

Why didn't you? I'm sure they'd be glad to have someone solve the person's issue.

A while ago I was trying to help one struggling customer, and I received a warning + got kicked out of Apple Store because of that.

I never bother again.