Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Just ordered the BIG ONE. Please, no image persistence issues!
- Thread starter accentaudio
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Whelp, I am happy to report back that so far my new iMac seems to have little to "image persistence". I will say however that when I ran the test that there was a slight "ghosting". I only hope this does not get worse over time or with heat... Here's to hoping.
You will notice if image persistence happen, which is rare...and if so, apple will replace your screen. So stop worrying. Running the screen through some stress test to know if something can be noticed under special circumstances that are not noticeable with normal use is just pointless. If you are desperate to find a problem, you will always find one.
Agreed, if you use it as you normally would and don't notice anything then you're good to go. I avoid such tests because they're not real work examples and it will just increase my stress for no good reason.
I see too many members here doing that to their apple products and they just continually replace them until they get a perfect product, which it will never happen because we're not perfect. Enjoy the computer and don't sweat the small stuff.
Agree to disagree with your very passive attitude. I shipped the iMac back to Apple today because yes indeed it does have "image persistence". After 4 years this is simply not acceptable. It does NOT happen on all 4k/5k panels by other manufacturers, as Apple would like you to believe. I had an open finder window last night on my desktop for 30 minutes and when I closed it there was "ghosting" as if it was still there. Pathetic really! This is 4 machines in a row over a 3 year span that ALL do this (NOT RARE). I do not subscribe to ducking my head in the sand because I am not a "fan boy". When an issue exists, it exists. Looking away does not make it not there. And to somehow say that this isn't "NORMAL" usage is just plain foolish. Many, many people have to set at their desks all day long working with a static window in one place ie. a chat window or something. If you did that for 4-8 hours straight on ANY of these iMac computers and then close that window you WILL see a faint ghosting left, especially when using a plain gray background (which is the standard test). Apple, nor anyone else can ask a user to let their screen sleep every 15 minutes or so, or let the screensaver come on. C'mon, that is ridiculous. Some people have to work all day long at their computer. Many of you in denial will not see this issue because you simply don't want to... Believe me that many letters are going to fly out of my place soon to Apple about this. This is beyond ridiculous at this point! I am so disappointed in Apple, and apparently I am not the only one, as reflected in their stock as of late... If there were more like me willing to put out foot down about these sort of issues and keep bringing them to Apple's attention, they would be forced to fixed them. That is our job as end users to hold the company accountable whose products we are using. This makes for better products. I have been an Apple user for 20 years and I really find it sad the amount of blind Apple worshipers who think they can do no wrong. I love Apple products and want to help them to be a better company. Being an ostrich does no such thing. Really it is kind of laughable to me, because I know that some of you on here are just simply scared to run the marco checkerboard test... You don't want your bubble's popped. LOL
I haven't noticed any image persistence during normal usage on my late 2015 Retina iMac so far, after having to deal with it appearing several times on my late 2014. I have noticed a dark speck inside the screen, but that's something I can live with as it's not worth taking it in again. As mentioned above, getting a perfect panel is pretty much impossible, but I agree the quality control for the 5K panels could be better. Apple is probably getting them fairly cheaply for the amount of pixels they have, and from LG, which also made panels for the mid 2012 15" rMBP and those were infamous for image persistence right out of the box.
Perhaps the iMac is not the best machine for you. If you're upset and unhappy, as it seems given the content of your post, then vote with your wallet.
[doublepost=1462301708][/doublepost]
I work from home and I have certain windows open all the time, I close them after hours of having them open, and I have zero problems.
Sad to say but I think its along the lines of what @iMcLovin If you look hard enough for a problem, you will find it.
I never said you shouldnt return it if you have a problem with it. If you have a browser window or any window that creates a big contrast on the screen and you see image retention of any kind, of course you should have it fixed. My 2012 iMac got image retention after 2 years of usage, and I returned it in for repair instantly. But what you mention with a finder window is in fact normal usage like I said, which means you got a defect screen. And 4 times in a row, then you are really unlucky. I owned 3 imacs I have experienced it once on my 2012 imac. And I work all day long as an artist on my screen so Im dependent on a proper screen that works 100%. What I was trying to say is that if you receive a new iMac and stress test it over and over desperately trying to find retention Im pretty sure you might get traces of it, or on any screen for that matter. I tried the checkerboard test on my previous screen after I felt there were something wrong with it, and it was a good and obvious way to prove it. But to sit with the checkerboard test trying to find something that hasn't showed up in any way thats like chasing trouble.
Last edited:
the way I see it: most people just don't see the image retention because they have a desktop picture... mine also suffers from this phenomenon, I wrote about it back in november 2015 ->
iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015) Image Retention
iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015) Image Retention
This was a brand new CTO iMac that I just had this issue with. Again, agree to disagree. I am inclined to believe they ALL do it. I am not so unlucky as to have had 4 iMacs do this over a 3 year span, all different year models. Do I look for IR with each new iMac? You bet I do! You would too. I think they all do it to varying degrees. I won't tolerate ANY degree for that amount of money. There is no excuse for it. It needs to be fixed permanently. I also think some people need to get their eyes checked!
It was always noticeable for me simply entering Launchpad and before 10.11 Mission Control with the desktop background blurred. Haven't noticed it on my current one so far.
Exactly! It's there, but they don't see it for their fancy wallpaper. Switch to an all gray background and watch it jump out at you! That goes back to what I said about ignorance being bliss. Not for me. If I spend $3000 on a machine, that screen better be flawless. I'm convinced this is an LG panel thing because Apple is being cheap and fighting with Samsung. The older iMacs that had Samsung displays do not do this. Incidentally 4K and 5k monitors by Samsung and ASUS do not exhibit this. Coincidence? I think not. And Apple tries to convince its users that this is "normal" behavior for these types of displays. No it is not!
How much cash money was this? Mega congratulations. This sounds like a mega beast of an awesome computer. I hope you love and enjoy it everyday.
That's not true. I own a 27" 2015 model and it doesn't do it. I ran the test several times, not a trace anywhere.
My Macbook Pro, on the other hand, has quite a severe case of it.
Sorry, just don't believe that. Not when I have had 4 machines now that all do it to varying degrees. They were all different year models too. No one has that bad of luck. Maybe I just have really good eyes. I'm sure there is faint ghosting on yours as well. Maybe just not enough that you notice. Especially if you aren't leaving a finder window open on your screen for a good 15 minutes with a plain gray desktop background. If your screensaver comes on or your display goes to sleep the "test" is invalid.
Hahahaha. I have really good eyes, too. I am sorry that my machine doesn't come with a defective screen. Please go on and continue to believe whatever you choose. That's your prerogative.
So I just got a 2nd late 2015 iMac and low and behold it too has the plague of image persistence. I cannot freaking believe it! 5 years running now this issue is still around and has not been fixed by Apple. They call it "normal" behavior, but it is not normal. I have had many many other IPS displays from other companies and they don't do it. I'm actually awestruck that they haven't addressed this. I'm starting to lose all faith that the post Steve Apple will ever be anything like it was while under his command. The execs at the top now don't seem to give a rip what their customers say or want. Everything seems to fall on deaf ears. This kind of QC issue would NEVER have gotten ignored for this long under Steve. I'm beginning to wonder who is really even running the show at Apple. Who is in charge of seeing that issues like these get resolved?
And who is going to compensate for my lost work hours that I will be forced to put aside and the public transportation cost or the burned gas in my car to take the defective machine to Apple service center?
And actually replacing the screen is not enough in this type of defects. The fair thing is to replace the whole machine cause from what I've gathered this is not a screen issue rather than a general design flaw of the whole computer.
Yeah well that's the downside of an all-in-one computer. Also another reason why I consider getting a pc as my next computer were the screen and machine is separate and I can replace whatever breaks without sending the whole thing in for repair....I don't even have an Apple Store in my country so the repair can take 2-3 weeks
I had 3 iMac G5 systems back when they were the newest thing on the market.
I found that all 3 of them did have image persistence. But eventually realized it was a heat issue.
Each of the 3 machines were fine until they were used for working with analogue audio. The software I was using stressed the G5 and heated up the systems. And permanently etched the image onto the screen.
Even with the computers off, you could still see the exact image outlines of everything that was previously on the screen. It looked like it had been traced into the plastic surface with a razor blade in extremely perfect detail.
Apple replaced the screens because the image would never go away. Even sitting for days, the image was still burned in.
I learned never to use imac's for tasks that cause them to heat up.
My desktop systems with separate screens (such as my Mac Pro) do not have this same problem even working on the same projects. Probably because my heat generating CPUs and GPU isn't sitting inside the monitor.
I found that all 3 of them did have image persistence. But eventually realized it was a heat issue.
Each of the 3 machines were fine until they were used for working with analogue audio. The software I was using stressed the G5 and heated up the systems. And permanently etched the image onto the screen.
Even with the computers off, you could still see the exact image outlines of everything that was previously on the screen. It looked like it had been traced into the plastic surface with a razor blade in extremely perfect detail.
Apple replaced the screens because the image would never go away. Even sitting for days, the image was still burned in.
I learned never to use imac's for tasks that cause them to heat up.
My desktop systems with separate screens (such as my Mac Pro) do not have this same problem even working on the same projects. Probably because my heat generating CPUs and GPU isn't sitting inside the monitor.
At this point I must ask; you have previously bought 5 iMacs and you say that all of them had these image retention issues. Why on earth did you get yet another one? Whether it's that you're just unlucky, have a 100/20 vision or whether the majority of iMacs really do come with this defect, why give Apple your hard earned cash yet again? I don't understand it, to be perfectly honest. Once okay, twice, well, okay. But six times in a row with the exact same result?
As I said previously in this thread, my 5k iMac does not show these issues. Why that is, I don't know. I do have a rMBP and this device does have the image retention issues, so I'm not blind to it. Either way, if I spotted these image retention issues on my expensive new iMac, I'd certainly not go out again and pay Apple one more penny of my hard earned cash unless they resolved this issue once and for all.