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Yellow tint issues on new refresh iMacs (mid 2010)

  • 21.5" Looks just about perfect

    Votes: 50 18.3%
  • 21.5" Yellow tint issues

    Votes: 28 10.3%
  • 27" Looks just about perfect

    Votes: 164 60.1%
  • 27" Yellow tint issues

    Votes: 31 11.4%

  • Total voters
    273
This poll needs to stay on the first page, if nothing else than to remind people that the majority of the new 2010 iMacs are just fine.
 
Just got the 27" iMac i5. Screen is brilliant, the machine is running perfectly & silent.
 
I received my BTO iMac 21.5' i5 last week, and, of course, has the yellow tint on the bottom half. There's no need to run bar tests, I notice it on everyday use and the gradient it inflicts on backgrounds really annoys me.

I planned to buy an iMac last year, but I've been reading these forums since then and all I could read was about yellow tint issues, so I did not buy it 'till this year's refresh, although I knew I had a good chance of suffering from it too.

What I really can't understand is that, in a whole year, no one (Apple, technics, etc...) has found an exact explanation for why is this happening, and a solution, and if anyone did, I missed it. So, is it bad LCDs? bad screen fixation? unsolvable issue by design? I can't stand this silence...

I indeed have seen good screens. I went to an authorized shop this weekend and checked the screens. All 27-inchers were flawless, but all 21.5-inchers were yellow. And, from what I read in here, it seems now 21.5-inchers are suffering more from it than 27s. What's going on here? Did Apple start using good screens on 27s 'cause lot of people willing to use it for professional tasks were returning them, and they think they can still fit bad screens in the 21.5s 'cause we don't care?

Of course, I called AppleCare and they offered a replacement, but they did not seem to be familiar with this issue, which I find really unbelievable taking into account the chances I could get a yellow machine if it was a minor flaw. Spoke to an authorized technical service too and they did not know either, btw... The replacement is arriving next Wednesday, I guess it'll be yellow too... but it is worth the shot, I guess... crossing fingers.
 
Why are you assuming that? The majority of 21.5's in this poll are perfectly fine.

Well, 20/52 (38% of flawled screens) does not seem a VERY GOOD rate to me :(That, and that all 21.5s I've seen in stock suffered from it. Oh, and those stories about getting bad screens even after 4 or 5 replacements! Hope I'm lucky enough, tho!
 
Well, 20/52 (38% of flawled screens) does not seem a VERY GOOD rate to me :(That, and that all 21.5s I've seen in stock suffered from it. Oh, and those stories about getting bad screens even after 4 or 5 replacements! Hope I'm lucky enough, tho!

When you were in the store and noticed that all of the 21.5's had a yellow tint, did you mention that to anyone there, and if so, what was their response?
 
my entry level iMac looks perfect to me

I did all the tests and, thankfully, nothing on my new entry-level 21.5 iMac. (3.0 Ghz, 500 GB hd etc.)

I was so pleased that there are none of the problems of the late 2009 model I returned in early March. No high pitched whiney noise, no yellow tint, no backlight bleed and no optical drive/hd issues.

I'm glad I'm went with the iMac :). So after 1 new and 2 refurbs, yeah! This is the first time in over 11 years I bought a stock machine.
 
When you were in the store and noticed that all of the 21.5's had a yellow tint, did you mention that to anyone there, and if so, what was their response?
I explained my case to the apple guy there, and told him that 27s in there were perfect but 21s not.. and one of the things he replied was: "buy a 27 then"... Didn't really feel like pushing more, to be honest... would have been worthless. I'm from Spain btw.

I did all the tests and, thankfully, nothing on my new entry-level 21.5 iMac. (3.0 Ghz, 500 GB hd etc.)

I was so pleased that there are none of the problems of the late 2009 model I returned in early March. No high pitched whiney noise, no yellow tint, no backlight bleed and no optical drive/hd issues.

I'm glad I'm went with the iMac :). So after 1 new and 2 refurbs, yeah! This is the first time in over 11 years I bought a stock machine.

So you could notice a yellow tint in your previous 2009 model and you can't in the new in 2010? That's nice to hear, enjoy your machine!! :)
 
I explained my case to the apple guy there, and told him that 27s in there were perfect but 21s not.. and one of the things he replied was: "buy a 27 then"... Didn't really feel like pushing more, to be honest... would have been worthless. I'm from Spain btw.



So you could notice a yellow tint in your previous 2009 model and you can't in the new in 2010? That's nice to hear, enjoy your machine!! :)

That's right boa, I got the 3.0 Ghz, 500gb entry level iMac.
 
Get up, Stand up ...

So, i received my 2nd 21.5" replacement and i'm fine with it. It does show a slightly warmer tint towards the right lower corner, but it's not that bad. Also, the brightness buzz is gone. The HD does make the same noise, but i can live with it.

Let's hope the tint doesn't get worse..

I hope your not serious about settling with a malfunctioning (HD makes noise and the yellow tint, what will get worse see other threads) machine at that price.

My last replacement is on his way, keep you updated.

I do believe Apple made improvements on 27", yes indeed, but not with the 21.5". Maybe this is a strategy and they make more money on the 27". The 21.5" however a mostly defective. I have had my several replacements, I have checked iMac selling stores. And every time when I compare the 27" with the 21" the difference is just un-freakin-believable.

Un-freakin-believable.
 
I do believe Apple made improvements on 27", yes indeed, but not with the 21.5". Maybe this is a strategy and they make more money on the 27". The 21.5" however a mostly defective. I have had my several replacements, I have checked iMac selling stores. And every time when I compare the 27" with the 21" the difference is just un-freakin-believable.

Un-freakin-believable.
I'm really sad that you're confirming what I thought about the new difference in display quality of 27 vs 21... Hope you're lucky with the one coming, tho, and can bring some hope to us!! Please!!!
 
the 27" i7 2.93 4x2gb 2tb+SSD. Will post results.

(I wanted to pre-post so I'm in the sample pool ex ante, not a guy showing up just to complain. I think there is way to much adverse selection when people check troubleshooting forums to see if there is trouble).

Of course, this ploy could just be a ruse to exploit this! ;)

j/k of course!


Finally had a chance to unpack it. I don't see a yellow tint. Cringed a little on the nebula start up graphics as the lower right corner was black and reflecting the wall behind me... too bad there aren't Matte screens.

I have it sitting next to my G5 and I can't tell the i7 is even turned on based on sound. Relative screen brightness is just ridiculous.

Going to vote it's a winner; haven't done all the tests yet, but I don't see a glaring bad pixel anywhere or hear a rumble. (I haven't loaded anything on the 2TB yet, so not even sure it has spun).
 

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I'm on my 3rd 27"

I'll share my experience...

My 1st iMac I configured with i7 1tb&ssd from Apple.com. It arrived on time but had a screen issue in the lower right area. It was like a mark behind the LCD but in front of the LED backlight. It looked like a small mark covering about 4 pixels. Also it had the fuzzy gray bar horizontally across the lower portion.

I called in to customer service and was told that I would have to get it looked at by an Auth. Apple repair center or the Apple store. They would "asses" if a screen replacement was necessary. I was like... Um it's 1 day old, no you're not tearing it apart... She was like, then return it... I was like... well bitch maybe I will. It was ONLY $3,000 freakin dollars!!!

So I went down to BBuy and looked at their in store display. It looked good. So I bought an i3 there. Got it home and sure as hell if that screen wasn't yellowed! I about fell off the chair. Packed that sucker back up and got an exchange. Brought that machine home (3rd 27") and it has two bad pixels. But the problem is again behind the LCD panel & in front of the LED backlight.

So from my experience none of the three panels are "perfect", but the last one is the closets. So there is still issues with 1) Fuzzy gray lines 2) Yellowing 3) Spots or marks behind the panel but in front of the backlight.
 
Well, 20/52 (38% of flawled screens) does not seem a VERY GOOD rate to me :(That, and that all 21.5s I've seen in stock suffered from it. Oh, and those stories about getting bad screens even after 4 or 5 replacements! Hope I'm lucky enough, tho!

Unfortunately there is nothing about his poll that makes it scientific (I.e random sample) or representative of all new imac owners. What this poll does say is that on an Apple product troubleshooting forum (which is why most people find this site) a large proportion of users experience a yellow tint. Also realize the poll does not guarantee that some people aren't voting more than once.
 
Regarding the screen brightness etc.

My base 3.0ghz, 500gb, 21.5 is just fine.

I am glad I don't have to install Shades, F.Lux etc. as the machine is just fine on 45-50% brightness at all hours. I won't be installing that screen brightness update software from Apple.

So I hope that encourages other myopic folks to consider an iMac. I was really worried that the brightness issue and the resolution would be problems for me (as they have been on other Macs I've tried this year), but both are just fine.

No backlight bleed, yellow tint, dog-whistle whine and my hard drive is really quiet as is the cd-rom drive. This the iMac I know and love, a perfect machine that is easy to use and stress-free.
 
Great here too!

Doing setup and migration (from Tiger) even as I type. The display is perfect--no yellow, no bands, no stripes, no backlight bleed; and if there is a whistle I don't notice it and my wife (who can hear high pitched sounds better than I) hasn't said anything.

BTO in Elk Grove, ordered Wednesday, arrived Saturday. 27-inch quad core i5, 1TB HDD, SSD, 12 GB RAM, Magic Trackpad, external combination 1.5TB HD and FW/USB/SATA hub, external speakers with front headphone jack (Creative Inspire T12), wired keyboard with number pad, wired Mac Pro optical mouse. Also a nice new computer desk.

woot!
 
Sending back 21.5" base model number 2...and counting. Display is horrid. It's like Steve Jobs is taking a piss on the bottom left of each unit as it leaves the factory. Maybe he's trying to tell me to dig deeper and get the 27", which seems to have little to no yellowing since the spring.
 
Got my 2010 iMac i5 from MacConnection and I am happy with it.

This is the (lucky) 7th 27" iMac and the screen is very good compared to the previous 6 i Had(returned).

$1949 - $100 rebate - 4% fatwallet cashback.
 
Received my 21.5 Core i3 3.2GHZ yesterday (build week 24): it is a lemon!! There is definitively a yellow tinge on the bottom right of the screen. Send back tomorrow to Apple and ordered a refund. So this issue is NOT solved (for 21.5)...
 
Are there really GOOD 21.5' displays among the iMacs? cause I can't believe I am so unlucky (nor people that got like 5 replacements and none was fine)...

100% of the 21.5's I've seen so far have the yellow tinge issue... so, one of both: all the bad screens are being dropped in my country, or, by statistics, the results in this poll make no sense.

My 1st replacement has arrived today (2nd Mid2010 iMac I receive), and it has the issue just like the original one, but this time a little greener... The one that we have at the office where I work has the issue too, and also the ones I've seen at the store... I'm getting really tired about this, and I don't have time to play returning machines... I really want this machine, but I really can't understand how these things happen, and why at this point there is no explanation about how to fix it (...or if it can be fixed without having to return your machine infinite times in a leap of faith hoping the next one will come with a nice screen, which most likely will not)...
 
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