How big of an issue is the iMac Yellow Tinting issue?

[originalvector]

I've been following the huge thread about the yellow tinting issue and it's hard to gauge how big of a deal it is. Seems to be kind of hit or miss for people.

Curious if it's still worth buying an iMac, or better to get an upgraded Macbook Pro and getting a few dell monitors?

If I have to exchange the iMac several times to get a good screen then I'm not sure.... Right now I have a 15" MBP (2008) but thinking adding on the Imac for now, and then a 13" MBP when my current mbp dies.

I am a professional web developer if that helps any

Any thoughts?

Cheers -

 

[Spike88]

Simular topic area at: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/990190/

Approx 2 weeks ago, my old Windows XP machine's internal HDD went bad. Out of the blue, it simply blew. Thus, I had to buy a replacement "and fast". My kids are fighting over 1 computer (HP Laptop) and in their dust, I know it will get damaged as well. Thus, I need a 2nd computer (desktop computer) fast.

If I didn't have to buy a new desktop iMac now, I'd wait 2 months. Thus, waiting for possible new versons of iLife, iWork and for some of the problem pattern areas to "setttle down".

That's my reason for my "buy now" rush...

.

 

[TheBritishBloke]

You'd be surprised how little a problem it is. Most the people here are just gonna complain, people don't post when they have a good one.

Its like the iphone 4 antennagate, that was a big issue so it got publicised largely.

 

[3lionsbecks]

Seriously, it isn't a big issue at all. You're just getting freaked out by a handful of Internet attention seekers. Check with Apple and I'm sure the % of complaints or returns based on this issue is very very low.

Remember people don't come onto forums and make threads about their screens being fine. Its only the few who have issues that scream the
Loudest.

Buy an iMac, you'll love it. If you don't....bring it back!!

 

[hl450]

my 27" iMac has a perfect screen..

 

[symbology]

Seriously, it isn't a big issue at all. You're just getting freaked out by a handful of Internet attention seekers. Check with Apple and I'm sure the % of complaints or returns based on this issue is very very low.

Remember people don't come onto forums and make threads about their screens being fine. Its only the few who have issues that scream the
Loudest.

Buy an iMac, you'll love it. If you don't....bring it back!!

"Internet attention seekers" WTF?

It is true that you will see many more complaints (on a message board such as this) as compared to praise. However, to call those complaining "internet attention seekers" is just plain stupid.

 

[SiMBa37]

I posted this on the other thread but may be worth repeating. MRF has a certain selection bias of people that are troubleshooting problems mixed with people who are actively looking for problems. This does not represent general satisfaction with iMacs.

Go look at reviews on Amazon or Best Buy about last years model and count how many bad screen complaints you'll find. I'll save you the trouble: hardly any. People were generally very satisfied.

 

[Btom]

I've been following the huge thread about the yellow tinting issue and it's hard to gauge how big of a deal it is. Seems to be kind of hit or miss for people.

Curious if it's still worth buying an iMac, or better to get an upgraded Macbook Pro and getting a few dell monitors?

If I have to exchange the iMac several times to get a good screen then I'm not sure.... Right now I have a 15" MBP (2008) but thinking adding on the Imac for now, and then a 13" MBP when my current mbp dies.

I am a professional web developer if that helps any

Any thoughts?

Cheers -

The only hard numbers we have for today are:

1. 21.5" - ~40%;
2. 27" - ~16%.

Until somebody would call Apple and get better ones, that is... (and good luck with that!).

Tom B.

 

[Jamaway]

Seriously, it isn't a big issue at all. You're just getting freaked out by a handful of Internet attention seekers. Check with Apple and I'm sure the % of complaints or returns based on this issue is very very low.

Remember people don't come onto forums and make threads about their screens being fine. Its only the few who have issues that scream the
Loudest.

Buy an iMac, you'll love it. If you don't....bring it back!!

I can assure you I'm not an internet attention seeker.

Since the July re-fresh I have had 3 iMacs and all have had the yellow tinge issue. Working with alot of white background photography, its simply un-workable for me and I have decided to just get a refund now.

I might go into a store to see if I can test the screen before buying but may just have to look elsewhere now unfortunately. A shame because I really wanted to work with this iMac but I just may have been very unlucky.

I think most general user's wont notice and there will be many machines without the issue but it's not like we're making it up. For a machine that starts at £999 and boasts about its display, there shouldn't be this many reports of problems.

 

[3lionsbecks]

The only hard numbers we have for today are:

1. 21.5" - ~40%;
2. 27" - ~16%.

Until somebody would call Apple and get better ones, that is... (and good luck with that!).

Tom B.

Those numbers can't be even close to correct. At worse it's 40% of MRF users that have bothered to even go through the process of the yellow tint test etc....

Whats the % of iMac owners in the world that even visit MRF? I'm guessing it's fairly small.

You really shouldn't be telling people numbers like that in a way that makes it look like 40% of iMac owners with 21.5 inch screens have yellow issues, because it just isn't true.

 

[symbology]

I can assure you I'm not an internet attention seeker.

Since the July re-fresh I have had 3 iMacs and all have had the yellow tinge issue. Working with alot of white background photography, its simply un-workable for me and I have decided to just get a refund now.

I might go into a store to see if I can test the screen before buying but may just have to look elsewhere now unfortunately. A shame because I really wanted to work with this iMac but I just may have been very unlucky.

I think most general user's wont notice and there will be many machines without the issue but it's not like we're making it up. For a machine that starts at £999 and boasts about its display, there shouldn't be this many reports of problems.

How was the refund process? Are you getting 100% of your money back? Any restocking fee?

 

[xraydoc]

In my sample size (n=1), 100% of machines received had perfect screens.
I haven't bothered to test if it's statistically significant, however. But since I only need 1, I'm not going to bother

 

[3lionsbecks]

I can assure you I'm not an internet attention seeker.

Since the July re-fresh I have had 3 iMacs and all have had the yellow tinge issue. Working with alot of white background photography, its simply un-workable for me and I have decided to just get a refund now.

I might go into a store to see if I can test the screen before buying but may just have to look elsewhere now unfortunately. A shame because I really wanted to work with this iMac but I just may have been very unlucky.

I think most general user's wont notice and there will be many machines without the issue but it's not like we're making it up. For a machine that starts at £999 and boasts about its display, there shouldn't be this many reports of problems.

No offense....but I highly doubt that you've gotten 3 defective screens from Apple. A company with the quality reputation of Apple would never have such high % of quality control problems.

I don't doubt you truly believe you have this issue with your screens so I'm not calling you a liar.....I just think you have lost the plot a little. I'm sure that Apple isn't completely sad to lose you as a customer because you will never be satisfied.

Enjoy your HP or Dell or whatever you think is better than the Apple displays.

 

[Jamaway]

How was the refund process? Are you getting 100% of your money back? Any restocking fee?

It was a bit of a pain this last time, I was an hour on the phone being passed around (previous calls have been much quicker) - they didn't argue at all, sympathised (as I'm sure they're trained to do) and as I'm within my 14 day period then they were fine arranging the refund.

On the phone there was no mention of a restocking fee and last week when I was in an apple store they hadn't heard of a restocking fee. I'm in the UK, so maybe the fee is just a USA thing?

 

[3lionsbecks]

"Internet attention seekers" WTF?

It is true that you will see many more complaints (on a message board such as this) as compared to praise. However, to call those complaining "internet attention seekers" is just plain stupid.

Ha ha....looks like I hit a little close to home with you! Don't worry, I don't think you're a bad person....if you want internet attention there's nothing wrong with that.

Relax and enjoy your Internet forum experience.

 

[Jamaway]

No offense....but I highly doubt that you've gotten 3 defective screens from Apple. A company with the quality reputation of Apple would never have such high % of quality control problems.

I don't doubt you truly believe you have this issue with your screens so I'm not calling you a liar.....I just think you have lost the plot a little. I'm sure that Apple isn't completely sad to lose you as a customer because you will never be satisfied.

Enjoy your HP or Dell or whatever you think is better than the Apple displays.

I'm a professional photographer and work with solid displays every working day of my life, all day.

I know when a screen is not right so will be completely ignoring your view. Think what you like, I'm telling you I've had three defective screens and I assure you I know what I'm talking about.

 

[Btom]

....
You really shouldn't be telling people numbers like that in a way that makes it look like 40% of iMac owners with 21.5 inch screens have yellow issues, because it just isn't true.

Ok, these are our own pole numbers. Do you have anything better?

If you know anything about statistics, multiple reports of people exchanging their units 3 - 4 - 5 times are very disturbing.

Tom B.

 

[3lionsbecks]

Ok, these are our own pole numbers. Do you have anything better?

If you know anything about statistics, multiple reports of people exchanging their units 3 - 4 - 5 times are very disturbing.

Tom B.

Ok, first off it's a poll. But that was most likely a typo (I know all about them especially on my iPad like I'm using now)

2ndly.....my opinion on those type of people is clear and free. I think they are attention seekers.

This is my opinion. Thats what internet forums are all about. You have yours i have mine.

Mine just happens to be correct!

 

[Iamthinking]

...I have been seeing this issue since we started getting the 21.5" imacs on campus for our newer labs (we used to get the 24" imacs for the labs and the screens were on the whole very good).

...just opened 4 more iMacs this morning. All had the tint issue. 3 are bad enough to be unusable for any work where color consistency is important (i.e. photography, design, web creation, etc.)


One looks pretty darn good- but only in comparison to the others in this batch. When compared to the 24 inchers, it looks pretty wal-mart (heck, I've got an old lampshade imac that oozes quality from the keyboard to the display and makes these new imacs (well, at least the displays) look like crackerjack box prizes.

I am thinking that the near 50:50 odds in the poll results are actually flattering these new 21.5" imacs at this point.

...then again, according to Amazon, and all the fanbois, perhaps I'm just "internet attention-grabbing" and paranoid- and it's all in my head <g>! I only look at about 100 screens a day, after all. Who am I to judge? LOL

Sign of the times? Let's hope not. Please Apple, ditch LG and pay the extra 50 cents that Samsung (or better) would provide us! I hate wasting time and energy inspecting display issues that should be well-behind us by 2010.

I mean, come on. The display is arguably THE most important feature of a workstation. It's the part that everyone has to "see". Give me a noisy fan or grindy hardrive any day over this issue!


p.s. the one display that is "pretty good", upon closer inspection, has so much dust behind the glass that it is likely, for most purposes, unusable until we can get the dust out.

 

[Dwhite78]

I've been following the huge thread about the yellow tinting issue and it's hard to gauge how big of a deal it is. Seems to be kind of hit or miss for people.

Curious if it's still worth buying an iMac, or better to get an upgraded Macbook Pro and getting a few dell monitors?

If I have to exchange the iMac several times to get a good screen then I'm not sure.... Right now I have a 15" MBP (2008) but thinking adding on the Imac for now, and then a 13" MBP when my current mbp dies.

I am a professional web developer if that helps any

Any thoughts?

Cheers -

it's not an issue. You're far more likely to get a perfect machine then you are to get one with issues.

owner of 2 perfect 2010 refresh 27" i7's

 

[PatriotInvasion]

my 27" iMac has a perfect screen..

Me 2

 

[glxyjones]

Ok, first off it's a poll. But that was most likely a typo (I know all about them especially on my iPad like I'm using now)

2ndly.....my opinion on those type of people is clear and free. I think they are attention seekers.

This is my opinion. Thats what internet forums are all about. You have yours i have mine.

Mine just happens to be correct!

Pretty sure you're acting like a troll and ironically, the attention seeker. My 27" came in last week and I had the a nice dark gray discoloration on the bottom of the screen along with the yellow tint. That was the first Mac product I've ever returned for a replacement.

The bottom line is that such an issue didn't happen on previous iMacs and it does on the current generation. By your estimation, a bunch of forum members on macrumors suddenly became desperate for attention and creating issues in their head?

 

[IndustrialSpace]

No offense....but I highly doubt that you've gotten 3 defective screens from Apple. A company with the quality reputation of Apple would never have such high % of quality control problems.

I don't doubt you truly believe you have this issue with your screens so I'm not calling you a liar.....I just think you have lost the plot a little. I'm sure that Apple isn't completely sad to lose you as a customer because you will never be satisfied.

Enjoy your HP or Dell or whatever you think is better than the Apple displays.

You must be new around here or new to Apple. Do some research before making uniformed comments. Apple has openly acknowledge the issue. It is even in their iMac PATENT!!!! Please do yourself a favor and read the patent for their LED screen. This yellowing (color inconsistency) is normal!

 

[originalvector]

Lol I was hoping to get 20 replies telling me that it only effects a few people. Looks like it is at least a major issue for some who have to returned many.

If I was using it for casual work then it would be easy to attempt it and live with some exchanges but I need color accuracy for the type of work I do.

A Mac Pro is overkill for me so I guess I will just keep waiting and see what happens. A Mac Mini is not enough power for me most likely, and I wanted the 13" MBP for portability. I just hope my 15" mbp can survive a while longer so im not forced into a decision haha

 

[archipellago]

You'd be surprised how little a problem it is. Most the people here are just gonna complain, people don't post when they have a good one.

Its like the iphone 4 antennagate, that was a big issue so it got publicised largely.

rubbish...

ignorance counts for most of the ignores... in fact I don't think I've seen a genuine non yellow iMac...anywhere.