TWO iMACS in a row that have image retention

[macmee]

I'm back to annoy you with another thread about my image retention nightmare with my 27" 2014 riMac

I'm now beginning to regret buying this baby two years ago, because of how repetitive and time consuming this problem has become for me.

I didn't think modern displays could get image retention, so I was shocked when my 2014 riMac developed really bad image retention. I was reading posts on macrumors and it seems like this isn't a rare issue. Apparently it's not super common but a lot of users on the forum have complained that their imacs or macbooks eventually develop image retention, and a few people got to the point where they were *returning* their mac*books* if the internal display was an LG panel instead of a samsung panel.

Anyway, I fought with apple, drove out of my way into the city and lugged this huge imac around and finally, after the retention got so bad that apple could no longer deny it was an issue, they agreed to replace my screen.

10 days later I get my iMac back and I am overjoyed. Yet almost immediately I'm horrified to see that the new panel they've given me *also has retention*..... it's not as bad as the original display, however the original display started off just like this where there was a little bit of image retention which progressively got worse and worse and worse.

So here I am, having bought an iMac for over $3,000 which is marketed on apple.com/imac in HUGE LETTERS as "Retina. In colossal and ginormous." and I've gotten two in a row where this couldn't be further from the truth. I've spent countless hours talking and convincing apple of a problem, despite having apple care, driving in and out of the city, reinstalling OSX (to prove that it wasn't software related, and when I took the imac in to finally get repaired since its my work computer).

And now that the second display also has retention I have to AGAIN go through this entire process of convincing Apple that there's a problem (JUST LOOK AT THIS!), I have to lug this giant thing around some more, and I have to go 10 more days without my work computer. And this is all assuming they'll even give me a *third* display.

I'm dumbfounded here. This thing was expensive. Apple care was expensive and I *assumed* that it would protect me against problems like this. In the end there's an obvious hardware problem that I've had to fight to get fixed, and in the end is still broken anyway.

Also what are the odds that I got 2 displays with image retention in a row? I know this isn't a super rare problem but I didn't think it was *that* common. It makes me believe that there's probably a larger amount of imacs with this issue than we think, and that it will just take time for the screens to wear down, and perhaps some consumers don't realize they have retention because it primarily occurs when you switch to a dark grey or dark blue screen after having been viewing a white screen (like safari or textedit).

TLDR; expensive mac + apple care, lots of BS dealing with apple, they replace 1 damaged screen with another damaged screen

 

[redheeler]

I had the issue appear on there different panels with my late 2014 iMac 5K. My advice is to give it some time, then bring up the problem again. If my experience is anything to go off what you're experiencing is a quite common issue, but Apple will eventually make it right.

 

[macmee]

I had the issue appear on there different panels with my late 2014 iMac 5K. My advice is to give it some time, then bring up the problem again. If my experience is anything to go off what you're experiencing is a quite common issue, but Apple will eventually make it right.

did you eventually get a panel with no retention at all?

 

[redheeler]

did you eventually get a panel with no retention at all?

They simply replaced the entire iMac with a new late 2015 unit, this happened the 5th time I brought it in and showed the image persistence was still present. At one point I was a little worried the new one was also developing the issue, and it may show it very slightly if I run the checkerboard test, but it doesn't seem to have gotten any worse.

There is still a minor issue, and that is a noticeable dark dust speck inside the screen; I know someone on here did get his panel replaced for that. It shows that iMac display panels are sadly quite a gamble for someone picky about display quality, you never know what problems a brand new panel might have.

 

[macmee]

They simply replaced the entire iMac with a new late 2015 unit, this happened the 5th time I brought it in and showed the image persistence was still present. At one point I was a little worried the new one was also developing the issue, and it may show it very slightly if I run the checkerboard test, but it doesn't seem to have gotten any worse.

There is still a minor issue, and that is a noticeable dark dust speck inside the screen; I know someone on here did get his panel replaced for that. It shows that iMac display panels are sadly quite a gamble for someone picky about display quality, you never know what problems a brand new panel might have.

My fear is that I will get a panel that develops the retention after my apple care expires and then I'll have an expensive unsellable paperweight down the road!

also: you say they replaced your unit with a 2015 one - what year was your original?

 

[redheeler]

also: you say they replaced your unit with a 2015 one - what year was your original?

Late 2014, so the same generation as yours I'm assuming. My original thread (Retina iMac Image Retention) is actually in the "Similar Threads" section here.

 

[macmee]

Late 2014, so the same generation as yours I'm assuming. My original thread (Retina iMac Image Retention) is actually in the "Similar Threads" section here.

Oh yikes. I don't live close to an apple store and have to go through an authorized repair place near me so I don't know if they'll ever consider giving me a replacement, although if they're using a different technology panel in the 2015's then I'll definitely push for one.

How long did you wait inbetween going back to apple to push for replacement screens each time? This second screen I have now had retention problems right from the start.

 

[kerrikins]

Oh yikes. I don't live close to an apple store and have to go through an authorized repair place near me so I don't know if they'll ever consider giving me a replacement, although if they're using a different technology panel in the 2015's then I'll definitely push for one.

How long did you wait inbetween going back to apple to push for replacement screens each time? This second screen I have now had retention problems right from the start.

Have you tried calling in rather than going through the authorized repair place? There has to be a way for you to show them the problem even if it's not as good as going into the store. I would not be happy if I got a replacement with the same issue. That's something that occurred to me after I got mine home (just got it today!) - it'll be a pain if I ever need to take it in to be serviced.

 

[Kudos6612]

Dude Apple will replace until you are happy. I highly doubt you got 4 displays in a row bad.

And you are also complaining you are getting retention in the 2015 model? Let's see some pics you may be seeing stuff that is not there.

 

[flyinmac]

Image retention is the reason I stopped buying iMacs.

The design is the perfect recipe. Heat generating components all right behind the screen to bake the image into the screen.

Every one of my iMacs have had this problem (except the CRT style ones).

So I stopped buying them when I switched to the Mac Pro.

All of my iMac machines did great, until I actually put them to work hard. Then they'd heat up and burn the image into the screen.

In my usage, no amount of time would reverse the permanent damage. Apple couldn't work it out either, so they'd replace the screens.

My last round with them, I just gave up, and put the machines in for repair one last time and sold them with the new screens.

If you stress the iMacs hard, you will have the image retention.

If you work a machine hard like I do, then you should get a machine that isn't an all in one with an LCD.

I haven't had that problem since switching to the Mac Pro and external monitors.

 

[macmee]

Have you tried calling in rather than going through the authorized repair place? There has to be a way for you to show them the problem even if it's not as good as going into the store. I would not be happy if I got a replacement with the same issue. That's something that occurred to me after I got mine home (just got it today!) - it'll be a pain if I ever need to take it in to be serviced.

yeah I called and talked to a senior technical advisor and he seemed sympathetic toward me and said he'd talk to the repair place I took it to and said they shouldn't have given it back to me still with retention, but I'll have to reformat my mac, take it back to the repair store, stay there until I can prove to them there's a problem, have them replicate the problem and send proof to apple, have apple authorize and ship a third display, have them install the display. I'm going to try and convince *someone* to just order a display and call me when it's in to install because I use this for work and already lost it for 10 days during the last screen replacement and atm I have no alternative mac to use.

Dude Apple will replace until you are happy. I highly doubt you got 4 displays in a row bad.

And you are also complaining you are getting retention in the 2015 model? Let's see some pics you may be seeing stuff that is not there.

http://imgur.com/a/MKbay

2014 model, maxed out cpu and gpu model

chrome is not even open in these photos, but you can see that it is burned into the fullscreen windows with the dark backgrounds

Image retention is the reason I stopped buying iMacs.

The design is the perfect recipe. Heat generating components all right behind the screen to bake the image into the screen.

Every one of my iMacs have had this problem (except the CRT style ones).

So I stopped buying them when I switched to the Mac Pro.

All of my iMac machines did great, until I actually put them to work hard. Then they'd heat up and burn the image into the screen.

In my usage, no amount of time would reverse the permanent damage. Apple couldn't work it out either, so they'd replace the screens.

My last round with them, I just gave up, and put the machines in for repair one last time and sold them with the new screens.

If you stress the iMacs hard, you will have the image retention.

If you work a machine hard like I do, then you should get a machine that isn't an all in one with an LCD.

I haven't had that problem since switching to the Mac Pro and external monitors.

Yeah I often use xcode and run the i7 hot. Maybe this hurts the screen over time?

 

[Jack Burton]

Well, this thread completely scared me off of the upcoming iMac for any heavy work that I have planned.

It's an updated mac pro or back to windows...

 

[flyinmac]

yeah I called and talked to a senior technical advisor and he seemed sympathetic toward me and said he'd talk to the repair place I took it to and said they shouldn't have given it back to me still with retention, but I'll have to reformat my mac, take it back to the repair store, stay there until I can prove to them there's a problem, have them replicate the problem and send proof to apple, have apple authorize and ship a third display, have them install the display. I'm going to try and convince *someone* to just order a display and call me when it's in to install because I use this for work and already lost it for 10 days during the last screen replacement and atm I have no alternative mac to use.



http://imgur.com/a/MKbay

2014 model, maxed out cpu and gpu model

chrome is not even open in these photos, but you can see that it is burned into the fullscreen windows with the dark backgrounds



Yeah I often use xcode and run the i7 hot. Maybe this hurts the screen over time?

Each new screen I got was perfect and worked fine for days until I resumed working on my audio and video projects.

Each time I resumed my work, the machines would get hot, and the screens would become permanently damaged within an hour.

In my situation, I'd end up with the image so clearly burned in, that the Windows, icons, text, the minimize/maximize/close buttons, everything, would remain etched in extreme detail on the screen.

It would look like someone traced an outline image (minus color filling) around every minor detail on the screen with a sharp razor blade.

It was amazingly detailed clarity.

You could see it even after the machine was turned off for days.

The first time I had it happen, I talked to the local service center. And he said that was impossible.

So I arranged for him to come to my place and see. And he was shocked. He immediately ordered a replacement screen. And apologized for not believing me.

Unfortunately, my experience was the same on all subsequent screen replacements and later generation iMacs that I tried in hopes of the issue being resolved.

Since the screens would only become damaged when I resumed my video and audio work, the only consistency I could find is that when you work the machines hard, they get hot, and heat causes the images to be cooked into the screen.

On any typical day, I have my CPU's maxed out at 100% across all cores for 10 to 15 hours a day. Consistent, not fluctuations.

So clearly I need a machine that can handle that without destroying the screen I rely on. So iMacs aren't for me.

iMacs are great web browsers and light work machines. But if you'll be working them hard, expect it to have screen problems.

 

[macmee]

Well, this thread completely scared me off of the upcoming iMac for any heavy work that I have planned.

It's an updated mac pro or back to windows...

I don't want to scare you away from iMacs. My G4 iMac still works and my 2010 iMac was great too.

It could just be bad luck that I got 2 modern iMacs in a row with image retention. Or I guess it could be what flyinmac said too.
[doublepost=1478553548][/doublepost]

Each new screen I got was perfect and worked fine for days until I resumed working on my audio and video projects.

Each time I resumed my work, the machines would get hot, and the screens would become permanently damaged within an hour.

In my situation, I'd end up with the image so clearly burned in, that the Windows, icons, text, the minimize/maximize/close buttons, everything, would remain etched in extreme detail on the screen.

It would look like someone traced an outline image (minus color filling) around every minor detail on the screen with a sharp razor blade.

It was amazingly detailed clarity.

You could see it even after the machine was turned off for days.

The first time I had it happen, I talked to the local service center. And he said that was impossible.

So I arranged for him to come to my place and see. And he was shocked. He immediately ordered a replacement screen. And apologized for not believing me.

Unfortunately, my experience was the same on all subsequent screen replacements and later generation iMacs that I tried in hopes of the issue being resolved.

Since the screens would only become damaged when I resumed my video and audio work, the only consistency I could find is that when you work the machines hard, they get hot, and heat causes the images to be cooked into the screen.

On any typical day, I have my CPU's maxed out at 100% across all cores for 10 to 15 hours a day. Consistent, not fluctuations.

So clearly I need a machine that can handle that without destroying the screen I rely on. So iMacs aren't for me.

iMacs are great web browsers and light work machines. But if you'll be working them hard, expect it to have screen problems.

Urgh. This sounds very similar to my experience. I would put the thing to sleep and wake up some days and still see the retention.

I just looked on ebay to see if I could sell this thing and there's virtually no maxed out 2014 iMacs being sold atm in Canada so I don't even know if selling it is a viable option

 

[flyinmac]

I don't want to scare you away from iMacs. My G4 iMac still works and my 2010 iMac was great too.

It could just be bad luck that I got 2 modern iMacs in a row with image retention. Or I guess it could be what flyinmac said too.
[doublepost=1478553548][/doublepost]

Urgh. This sounds very similar to my experience. I would put the thing to sleep and wake up some days and still see the retention.

I just looked on ebay to see if I could sell this thing and there's virtually no maxed out 2014 iMacs being sold atm in Canada so I don't even know if selling it is a viable option

The iMac G4 has its computer away from the screen. So it would be fine. I found the G5 iMac to be the first with this problem.

Apple again stays with that design instead of recognizing the problem.

Microsoft got it right in their new all in one by putting the computer in the pedestal of the studio computer instead of in the screen.

Several generations of this same iMac design, and Apple still can't get it right.