As topic...why MacRumors dosen't publish a news about new iMac screen flickering issue? There are many users out there reporting this problem. I think it could be usefull to make some pressure to Apple and get an official response about this issue.
I have the issue too - on my i7 I just got Friday
White horizontal bands intermittently (granted, not very frequent) and then twice it has blacked out for 1 second. Much like when Vista/7 asks for UAC control.
Trying to figure out how best to approach this. Seems like a hardware issue to me since it's affecting some but not others, and I have done a full reinstall etc etc..
I thought this was fixed with 10.6.2?
Is this a big enough deal to wait for a new graphics card option in 2010? I can wait until January to buy but boy do I ever want one of these beasts!
try in May!
they won't be updated till at least then. These machines will stay current for a while
As topic...why MacRumors dosen't publish a news about new iMac screen flickering issue? There are many users out there reporting this problem. I think it could be usefull to make some pressure to Apple and get an official response about this issue.
I thought this was fixed with 10.6.2?
Exactly, I thought this place was about integrity and objectivity.
try in May!
they won't be updated till at least then. These machines will stay current for a while
ok perhaps it is the cards, but the reality is not ALL of the folks with 27 inch imacs have the problem... it is only a subset (including, sadly, me) so therefore to me that points to a *hardware* flaw or everyone would be having the issue and to the same magnitude. instead it looks like perhaps 10-20% have the problem and some folks have the problems only once every few days while others like me see it constantly. while apple or ati may develop a workaround the reality is i want a working computer day 1, and those apparently exist so my computer is being returned.
I am suggesting that if this is GPU hardware related Apple will at least quietly update within a few months.
They had a number of occasions of 3-5 month product cycles. Generally a 10 months.
kfscoll said:At least that'd be my logic when dealing with a PC.
As topic...why MacRumors dosen't publish a news about new iMac screen flickering issue? There are many users out there reporting this problem. I think it could be usefull to make some pressure to Apple and get an official response about this issue.
The fact that some are having the problem and others aren't doesn't necessarily prove that this is a hardware issue. Installed programs, environmental factors, and other variances amongst machines could be also causing some folks to have the issues and others not to. As a pretty avid PC gamer, I've seen NVIDIA release some pretty dodgy drivers that affected some computers dramatically and others not at all.
One thing in my mind that points to a driver issue is the fact that the issue is prevalent on 27" iMacs with both the 4670 and the 4850. If this problem is indeed tied to the video card (either hardware or software), and I don't see how it couldn't be given the nature of the problem, then the fact that it's happening on different hardware that (presumably) run the same drivers strongly indicates that a driver/firmware/video BIOS issue is the cause.
At least that'd be my logic when dealing with a PC.
Back to the OP's topic...I too would like to see MacRumors publish a blurb on their site about this issue...it might at least pressure Apple a little bit to explain what's going on. It seems that everyone who calls Apple directly gets a different answer depending on whom they talk to...so no one knows what ground truth is.
The hardware configurations across the 27" line are NOT the same. The Core 2 Duo-based machines have different logic boards/chipsets than do the i5/i7 machines. Not only that, but the stock video card on the C2Ds is the 4670 whereas the i5/i7s have the 4850. And the flickering issue has been reported across all of these combinations. It's academic in my case anyway; Apple's already approved my RMA and rumor has it that the latest batch of i7's have had a graphics card fix implemented.You do realize that there is only a few hardware combinations for the new 27" imacs. If you get the top of the line i5/i7, you get the 4850, no choice. The only other difference is HD, now that is not going to make the screen flicker. The question is, is apple using only one variation of the LED?
Anyway, back to my point, given the hardware is the same across the line, and the imacs come with a fresh install of SL, that kinda rules out driver bios issues on two identical machines.
I know what you mean about the nvidia drivers, but that was for PCs, that have hundreds and hundreds of hardware combinations, Apple has a very very limited hardware combination.
I am certain all the imacs come with the same drivers and Bios, it could be that they have recieved some defective logic boards or ATI chips etc, this has happened before with nvidia chips.
I saw this issue happening on the display imacs in the Apple store. Interestingly enough i have been back and forth a few times to look at the same imac (trying to say no... but cannot) and at first it was fine, now it has been three weeks and yesterday i have noticed that the flickers was very visible, and annoying.