Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Did your iMac got dust in the screen or you know someone with this issue?

  • Yes

    Votes: 103 42.7%
  • No

    Votes: 57 23.7%
  • I didn't even know this is an issue

    Votes: 81 33.6%

  • Total voters
    241
Yes, to both my 2011 27" and my daughter's 2010 27"...hoping not to see this problkem persist/return with my brandie-new 2019 27" i9.
Eh, you probably will in the 2019 iMac, but not for several years, and at most you'll get a small amount in both bottom corners.
 
Today I just tried to clean that smudges on my mid 2017 27 inch iMac, then realized it is something under the glass. Then I searched for solution and found this video showing relatively simple procedure of cleaning this dust.


Then I called official Apple service and they told me the screen can not be cleaned it must be replaced, the price is around 650 Euro.
Then I sent them this video and they agreed it should be possible, either way display is going to be scraped, why not try to clean it.
The worst thing about it is that no one knows for how long the new display will stay clean, it could be the same after just one year.

Then I called two other services and they both told me they only replace the screen, it is a very delicate job trying to open it and clean so no one does that.
They also told me iMac should be cleaned every year so it does not collect too much dust and displays stay clean all the time.

This is not a cheap device, and this is unsolvable problem as I can see.
 
Not if you keep a tidy house. 😀
Not True. We have a tidy house. No pets, expensive filters for mold, pet dander, smoke particles, pollen and dust mite debris for allergen protection etc. in our A/C Heating due to my health condition. After a little over a year on my brand new iMac I got the smudges under the screen. I believe it's a defect on the computer.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 762999
I have the same issues on my 2019 iMac, have it for around 8 months. In both bottom corners. I don't have an apple store in my town but hopefully the reseller can fix it for me.
 
I don't have smudges, but I have mura effect on my iMac 27 2017. One little bright spot, but it's annoying. I can't find anything about this problem in iMacs, only MacBooks. Anyone have mura on iMac?
 
I don't have smudges, but I have mura effect on my iMac 27 2017. One little bright spot, but it's annoying. I can't find anything about this problem in iMacs, only MacBooks. Anyone have mura on iMac?
Oh God, not another defect on the 27 inch iMac. I haven't seen any on my iMac so far. Apple needs to take all their 27 in iMac's back to the drawing board before selling anymore with these defects. If you pay good $$$$ for a product the customer doesn't need to have all these problems. If a customer has these defects already Apple should fix it for FREE even if your AppleCare runs out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: gjr74
I don't have smudges, but I have mura effect on my iMac 27 2017. One little bright spot, but it's annoying. I can't find anything about this problem in iMacs, only MacBooks. Anyone have mura on iMac?
This has happened on iMacs since at least 2009, and is still present today on all iMacs, but is very rare to have on the retinas currently.

It is a lot more common to experience this issue on the older LCDs, the 2009-2011 iMacs. The 2012-2019 iMacs do experience this too, however it is not as common unless you have gone inside of the LCD -- I find that once you go inside of the slim LCDs to clean the dust out of them, or whatever reason you decide to go in there for, these spots do appear.

For certain, this issue is to do with the backlight assembly and can be fixed simply by just replacing the whole backlight assembly or which ever layer the defect is happening on, but my assumption is to do with pressure being put on the backlight assembly and the different layers inside of it, could be from dust, or even from bugs getting inside of it (I've seen quite a few of them).
 
  • Like
Reactions: maciek1422
This has happened on iMacs since at least 2009, and is still present today on all iMacs, but is very rare to have on the retinas currently.
...

Thanks for information that I’m not the only one with this problem. I have not open iMac so I think it’s production defect or maybe really some bug. I don’t know how long I have it, because it’s visible only on bright plain backgrounds, so maybe I have this spot from the beginnin. I don’t have applecare, but I will try to call Apple, maybe they will do something with that... As I know whole screen is glued together so there is no option to replace backlight assembly, right?
 
Thanks for information that I’m not the only one with this problem. I have not open iMac so I think it’s production defect or maybe really some bug. I don’t know how long I have it, because it’s visible only on bright plain backgrounds, so maybe I have this spot from the beginnin. I don’t have applecare, but I will try to call Apple, maybe they will do something with that... As I know whole screen is glued together so there is no option to replace backlight assembly, right?
It is possible to replace the backlight assembly, but it is not an easy job at all. But yeah.. It is only visible on light coloured/white backgrounds I've noticed too.
 
It is possible to replace the backlight assembly, but it is not an easy job at all. But yeah.. It is only visible on light coloured/white backgrounds I've noticed too.

So I probably must live with that, unless Apple will make an exception and fix it.
 
Not True. We have a tidy house. No pets, expensive filters for mold, pet dander, smoke particles, pollen and dust mite debris for allergen protection etc. in our A/C Heating due to my health condition. After a little over a year on my brand new iMac I got the smudges under the screen. I believe it's a defect on the computer.
Not sure of your location i.e. if you are in the states? I live in the U.K. which is an altogether damper and cooler climate, so dust isn’t an issue. However, the U.S. has many states which are quite arid and I do wonder if this is a contributory factor.
 
Not sure of your location i.e. if you are in the states? I live in the U.K. which is an altogether damper and cooler climate, so dust isn’t an issue. However, the U.S. has many states which are quite arid and I do wonder if this is a contributory factor.
Now you have me thinking. I live in the Virginia Beach area so during the summer months we always have the air conditioner on. In the winter we heat with electric. But looking where my computer was shipped from when I bought it new I'm wondering if that could be a factor. It was shipped from Mexico and probably built there also since I bought it customized. Wondering what the surroundings were where it was built?
 
I had the same problem with those clouds of dust under the screen, so the solution is t open it clean the dust and finally take the good thermal foil tape (metallic) and tape it all over and around and don't miss any spots around.
This is the only solution, be careful to clean it and air blow any dust particles before closing.
How to do it, you know it.
 
I have a 2011 27inch iMac and that has been OK so far. My other 207 24inch iMac exhibited this sort of problem in the top left corner. It almost looked like an airflow mark. I did a SSD upgrade and after taking off the glass the image on the bare screen was perfect. The problem was on the back of the glass screen so I thought it was dust created by the airflow going in the bottom and out the top. However the "dust" would not rub off easily, looks like it was kind of bonded to the back of the glass. Managed to get it off with some strong cleaner and now the screen is back to normal.
 
Luckily mine only has very small amounts in each bottom corner. It's just really disappointing that this has been going on for years and it's still not fixed.
 
Luckily mine only has very small amounts in each bottom corner.
That's the way it started on my screen. When I first noticed it, it was about a quarter of an inch both lower corners. Day by day it grows like a fungus inside the screen. When I took it in for screen replacement it was about 2 inches and growing. If you have AppleCare take it in for repair.
 
I've had this happen on my iMac Pro. Apple replaced the screen and now it's happening again 6 months later. Are people here speculating that it's fungus?! I assumed dust. Any good advice? I will be taking it to Apple for repair (again) after Covid lockdown.
 
Sorry to hear people are still experiencing this dust issue. It is just not good enough Apple and I hope they will launch a repair program because people should not be paying for a screen replacement when it is a design flaw. This is an issue since 2012 FFS!

My 2019 iMac has been on for 24/7 since May 2019, no dust so far. I doubt Apple have fixed the issue though... I have got AC+

I keep my office clean and tidy, dust free is impossible... Anyone having this issue on their 2019 iMac?
 
Last edited:
Last week I brought my iMac 21.5" 4K 2017 from home to my office in the textile factory I work. Since it is a textile factory there is quite a lot of dust and on top of that, the office I work in has many plants(more than 15 different flowers and stuff) and I guess at night when the ventilation is not working, the air get very humid. This morning I noticed two black spots on both lower corners of the screen. So the problem seems still to be here with newer models.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.