iMac 2020, 5700XT - graphical glitch?

[NLLV]

As the problem seems to occur without using a second monitor I would be tempted to test the machine for a few days on it's own and see if the issue manifests itself, it could be a sign of something more serious.

If return policy is the same in Kentucky as Yorkshire you have 14 days in which to send it packing just because after a couple of Tequilas you decided you don't like the way the Apple logo had a bite out of it.

I may get a pummelling for this, but I'll say it anyway... my personal experience of Apple support is that it's fair and efficient. I've had various reincarnations of Apple desktops, laptops and phones over the last twenty years, the 2020 iMac is only the second device I've had issue with.

I would suggest getting as much time in front of your new iMac as possible when it arrives, it really is a great computer, you'll enjoy it. If you don't see the issue be happy and keep it; but consider dropping some cash on AppleCare sometime soon to give yourself piece of mind... irrespective of ticket price, things can go wrong... and if they do in this instance AppleCare is a small price to pay to cover parts and labour up to three years down the line.

In my opinion.

Absolutely great reply.

I am actually in las Vegas Nevada and Kentucky is where the UPS hub for... Well all of UPS globally is so the Mac goes there before here.

Over the years muling over the idea of a Mac purchase I always said "yes but that price excludes the applecare which is mandatory for these things."

I mentioned it before maybe not in my reply to you but this isn't my first Mac.

My first was a second revision iMac (when Apple put the core2 duo in them).

That one had thermal issues which Apple fixed and then permanent red lines on the screen which Apple didn't fix.

Since then I looked at Apple as a rich kids status symbol and used PC and Android (I still use android... Sorry Apple but my Samsung works too well for my youtube work.)

Now I switch to Apple based on the fact that I need to edit video and these are the "best" machines, and I shouldn't have to spend time worrying about hardware only to stumble on this.

It hurts Apple, not gonna lie. Reading these complaints hurts real bad.

What's also crazy? All the Apple stores in las Vegas where I live? Closed because of covid.

 

[NLLV]

Then you would probably be a BMW, Mercedes or Range Rover owner. All of them much less reliable than a $25k Kia.

And I wouldn't for a second make excuses for them either.

 

[NLLV]

Btw. Why did ZERO of the tech review youtube channels have these problems?

I am certain a few had the same maxed out video card.

Strange?

 

[miguelcoma]

Btw. Why did ZERO of the tech review youtube channels have these problems?

I am certain a few had the same maxed out video card.

Strange?

Probably because they only spent a few hours, maybe a day or two, testing the machine before uploading their videos. Looking at this thread, it looks like to some people the problem only manifests itself after a longer time.

 

[Nermal]

Btw. Why did ZERO of the tech review youtube channels have these problems?

I am certain a few had the same maxed out video card.

Strange?

One of them had the issue occur in their video but they didn't mention it. When someone asked about it in the comments, the reviewer said something like 'yeah I noticed that but forgot to mention it'.

 

[sunman42]

Big Sur is currently not compatible with the 2020 iMac.

Sorry, but do you have a source for that? The only Apple statement about iMacs is "iMac models from 2014 or later." Thanks.

 

[sunman42]

beta 6 / beta 7...? So which is it? And is this the fix to the issues? If so I guess us Catalina peeps are screwed. ?‍♂️

I believe that what the "resolved" issue is, is the lack of support for the 2020 iMac 27 prior to beta 6 of 10.11, rather than any statement about the graphics issues. This should make it possible for someone with the affected config to install beta 6 or later of the Big Sur to see if the issue persists.

 

[ArPe]

Btw. Why did ZERO of the tech review youtube channels have these problems?

I am certain a few had the same maxed out video card.

Strange?

They never dig deep. They skim the surface and then return the machine to the store. They are only interested in getting that video uploaded as fast as possible otherwise other tubers will get the most traffic.

 

[CL14715]

They never dig deep. They skim the surface and then return the machine to the store. They are only interested in getting that video uploaded as fast as possible otherwise other tubers will get the most traffic.

Tally Ho Tech (youtuber) is on the Apple discussion board stating his machine has the issue.

 

[nkurtar]

Anybody planning to install Big Sur developer beta 8 seeded today?

 

[ADGrant]

Anybody planning to install Big Sur developer beta 8 seeded today?

No way, I am not installing Big Sur until I have too for Xcode support.

 

[ADGrant]

Because dropping over $3,500 on something isn't enough? I spent more on this iMac than I ever have before on any previous Mac. Apple's prices are going up while quality is going down. That's not a winning combination.

Personally I would never buy a Mac or iPhone without Apple Care though in the case of the iPhone, accidental damage worries me more.

 

[CL14715]

Anybody planning to install Big Sur developer beta 8 seeded today?

I am installing it right now. Might as well use this iMac as a guinea pig to see if it fixes the display issue. If not it is going back. If it bricks it's going back. Win win!

Aside from that, being that all new iMac models have the T2 chip and all are powered by AMD graphics processors, why would only the 5700XT have the issue. What driver or firmware would only screw with that one and why? I have limited knowledge so I son't understand why the GPU would run any different driver wise than the 5700, which doesn't have the issue.

 

[sunman42]

Consider that the vast majority of Mac users may not be savvy to search for Mac websites. Many Mac users are non-tech people.

Also, this website, if it had a heart for its users, would place this issue on their front page, in order to find out if there is a wider population of people struggling alone, and not aware there are others. (... the hand that feeds ...).

Note also, that the only way to find this forum article is to search for the word "glitch". Many people out there might use different words to search, and hence not find this forum article.

Well, if we believe the PC fanboi party line, we're just stupid, rich people with far more money than sense and that's the only reason we buy and use Macs.

We know better, however, and I'm guessing somewhere between 99.9 and 99.99% of the owners of brand, spanking new 2020 iMac 27s with the 5700XT know how to type "2020 iMac graphics issue" or something of the sort into their browser bar and follow up a link or two.

 

[sunman42]

[snip]

Seems AMD Navi always had bad drivers in macOS (and Windows?) Maybe they'll get it right eventually. Maybe there's a firmware change required to fix voltage of something in the GPU...

Always is usually a very long time. It appears from this article on Techspot:

Gamers are ditching Radeon graphics cards over driver issues

As I planned and was beginning to run our next big graphics card benchmark test, I felt I had to shift gears to discuss AMD's driver woes...

www.techspot.com

that:

(1) most of the complaints about 5700XT-based cards on Windows machines were over completely black screens at unexpected times, an issue not seen on the 2020 iMac 27 (or at least not yet reported here), and

(2) that as of seven months ago, those issues had been resolved, to the point that Steve Walton wrote:

As for me, I’ve been using the Radeon 5700 XT in my main rig for about 4 months now and in that time I’ve only had a single system lockup which forced a hard reboot and I don't even know if it was related to the graphics card. For the first few months I coupled the Radeon with a Core i9-9900K, and then recently moved to Threadripper with the 3960X and a fresh install of Windows 10, no issues as yet.

He goes on to say that (apparently two) 5700XT cards used at his home for gaming have shown no problems.

Of course, I doubt that any of the PCs involved had 5K Retina displays.

 

[NLLV]

Probably because they only spent a few hours, maybe a day or two, testing the machine before uploading their videos. Looking at this thread, it looks like to some people the problem only manifests itself after a longer time.

True, however there are now anecdotes of people stating it starts on the setup screen. More than one.

 

[CL14715]

True, however there are now anecdotes of people stating it starts on the setup screen. More than one.

I would be one of them.

 

[iMi]

Because dropping over $3,500 on something isn't enough? I spent more on this iMac than I ever have before on any previous Mac. Apple's prices are going up while quality is going down. That's not a winning combination.

Funny you mentioned the cost. I had to go back and check what I paid for 2017 and 2012 models before. Couldn’t find 2012 anymore but the 2017 was around $2,400 and it was the higher end model with a bumped CPU and GPU but stack storage. I just paid for similar over $3,000. Storage upgrade seems to be the difference for part of it, but still seems comparatively speaking prices are higher.

 

[NLLV]

I am installing it right now. Might as well use this iMac as a guinea pig to see if it fixes the display issue. If not it is going back. If it bricks it's going back. Win win!

Aside from that, being that all new iMac models have the T2 chip and all are powered by AMD graphics processors, why would only the 5700XT have the issue. What driver or firmware would only screw with that one and why? I have limited knowledge so I son't understand why the GPU would run any different driver wise than the 5700, which doesn't have the issue.

Because you need different software (drivers) to work with different hardware, so if the AMD drivers were not perfected by apple for the 5700 XT then it means that just that one model of hardware will have problems whereas the others will perform just fine.

 

[CL14715]

Because you need different software (drivers) to work with different hardware, so if the AMD drivers were not perfected by apple for the 5700 XT then it means that just that one model of hardware will have problems whereas the others will perform just fine.

I get that but why? What's so much different about the 5700XT over the 5700 that requires such a rework?

 

[CL14715]

Also, I have updated to Big Sur beta 8 and have not seen the glitch since. I will keep everyone updated. I had them pretty regularly on the replacement so not seeing them since the update is maybe promising.

 

[CL14715]

Scratch that, it just happened again.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

Sorry, but do you have a source for that? The only Apple statement about iMacs is "iMac models from 2014 or later." Thanks.

It was straight from Apple’s read me file from an earlier beta. It’s compatible with the 2020 models now.

 

[NLLV]

I get that but why? What's so much different about the 5700XT over the 5700 that requires such a rework?

I am not technically able to say myself, but consider that each offer different literal hardware. The compute units will be different, the physical ram on the card different, and offer subtle hardware changes as well.

That alone means individual software needs to be written for it.

 

[neuralengine]

Still occasionally seeing corner issues on the 5500XT (pic attached). Definitely no white lines though, 3 weeks in.

I think a few times I’ve seen a faint white overlay over the whole screen after logging in which seems to go away on its own after a few seconds. It makes the whole display appear a little washed out – it’s so subtle and so inconsistent that I’m not 100% sure I’m not imagining it but I have to admit I’m a little bit on high alert for graphics issues. Anyone else notice this?