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Yellow tint is the common issue of 21.5" iMac (Mid 2010)

S

shinyaw

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 14, 2009
4
0
I just wanted to share my experience in the yellow tint issue of 21.5" iMac (Mid 2010 model), because I really appreciate this forums.
First, I have been using Mac for 15 years. I love Apple. I love Mac. That's way I expect the best from Apple and am picky about the quality of Apple's products.

I ordered iMac 21.5" base model on Apple online store and received it on 19th August. Immediately after I started to use it, I noticed the yellow tint on my iMac. But it was not a big problem for daily use and at that time I thought it may be due to the color profile. Then, just 14 days after I received it, I found the yellow tint issue of iMac in this forums. I called the Apple support and he asked me to go to the genius bar in an Apple retail store. Last week, I took my iMac to the genius bar and explained everything to him. Surprisingly he immediately offered me the new replacement. Although I did not take my iMac's keyboard and mouse with me, he exchanged my iMac for an unopened brand new iMac. That meant I got another brand new wireless keyboard and mouse. I was very happy with this Apple's service.

However, the replacement iMac has the yellow tint, too. I was trying to live with it, but I could not. I called the Apple support and yesterday went to the genius bar again. This time I talked with a store manager. He said the yellow tint was within a range of the LCD variation. I checked 5 of 21.5" iMac in the store and they all had the yellow tint. When I compared 21.5" model with 27" model side by side, the difference was very clear. The LCD monitor of 27" model is perfect. The monitor of 21.5" is inferior. The manager agreed with that all iMac 21.5" has the yellow tint. At that point, I finally gave up looking for a perfect 21.5" LCD and decided to live with this iMac 21.5".

So, my conclusion is that yellow tint is the common issue of 21.5" iMac. Please do not waste your time looking for a perfect 21.5" LCD.
If you want a iMac with a perfect LCD, you should buy iMac 27" model. Thank you!
 
Have to agree with you completely . After multiple 21.5" iMacs I decided to give up on them and the 27" I received tonight is orders of magnitude better. Sure, it's not the "ultimate display" that apple would like you to believe, but at least it seems like it's going to be usable for professional work.

Iamthinking
 
The 27" are certainly not without their problems with yellow screens. I am on my second and it's screen is yellowish also. I brought my first one in and put it right between two other machines and mine was certainly yellow compared to the others. They gave me a new machine and it's marginally better. Certainly not as good as either machine they had on display.

They use cheap inconsistant panels, you have to be lucky. I am not. The two core i3's in the store had good displays (better than mine atleast) and I'm on my second core i7 machine with a yellow tinged display.

I give up!
 
Agree that 21" seem to have more of an issue than 27". I received 2 21" BTO and both had significant yellow. Both were returned. Went to Apple Retail store instead, and the first 27" i5 quad I purchased was perfect. I highly, highly recommend setting up a personal shopping appt and go before store officially opens to avoid the craziness (or at other quiet times)

I've spent *hours* on the phone with Apple, waiting for FedEx, etc. and I was (finally) so happy just to get it all taken care of within the span of just 1hr with a Personal Shopping appt at Apple Retail.

I have not been impressed with phone support on the returns at all. On my second iMac return, they had me signed-up for a replacement instead of a refund. Now I was having a brain fart, I admit, but they also did not walk me through my order to confirm my return of Mobile Me and One-to-One (neither were activated). So here I am, on the phone with Apple right now at 8am EST, having to take care of it (again).
 
It has to be said that some of the people who have the yellow tint issue are simply overreacting in returning their iMacs. I know professionals need a perfect display but many of us are just regular users who do not even use their computers in such a way that a mild yellow tint would show. Some of us do have severe yellow tint issues and they are right in returning their iMacs. However, while iMac costs a lot and one has every right to demand perfection (although rarely any electronical devices are 100% perfect), I think people are analyzing this issue based on the grey bars test which highlights even the slightest issue and not based on how the issue occurs in regular use.

I have a 21.5" BTO iMac (mid-2010) and it is otherwise perfect but had mild yellow tint issue on the bottom grey bar in the middle. At first I thought I need to exchange or return this iMac but then I realized I don't even see this issue: not when I surf, not when I use Photoshop Elements and not when I play/watch movies.

So to those with only mild yellow tint issue: just use and enjoy your iMacs.
 
Tigerman82 said:
So to those with only mild yellow tint issue: just use and enjoy your iMacs.
Click to expand...

Do you work for Apple? Damage control department perhaps?

You don't have to be a professional or too demanding to expect a display as least as good as a cheapo $200 LCD, for heavens sake.

If you are in a situation where you are making color choices (e.g., photo editing, website making, video, etc. etc.) and you are making the "wrong" settings/selections based on a display and where you happen to be looking at it when you made your selection- it's just BAAAD. No amount of spin doctoring will bail Apple out of this one in my eyes. They should be up front about this flaw and do whatever it takes to make it right- at the moment it seems they are shoving these know-defective machines out and hoping that some "stick". (not a new concept to any of us who have been in retail at any time).

I will not be recommending or purchasing any more 21.5" imacs (and I am in a position to be purchasing 30-40 workstations per year- small potatoes for apple, I'm sure). AND my image of Apple has changed quite dramatically (well, maybe less than that) as a result of all the hassles I went through with Apple with this refresh. (At least I now have a 27" that is wonderful so far and kindof what I had hoped/expected the little 21.5" to be).

The margins and liabilities are so tough with desktop computers that I guess no one can really blame Apple for concentrating on pumping out shiny little mp3 players like candy- and with massive margins that "keep giving" via appstore and itunes! (note to self- shouldof known this before).

-Iamthinking
 
Iamthinking said:
Do you work for Apple? Damage control department perhaps?
Click to expand...

The answer to your questions is no. I was concerned as well with the yellow tint issue and when I received my iMac (which is my first Mac as I have always used Windows-based computers) and detected mild yellow tint (actually you cannot even say if it is yellow... it's just a sligtly warmer tone), I was ready to send this iMac back. However, I started to actually use the iMac and noticed that A) it is otherwise perfect (no dead pixels, no backlight bleeding, no HDD noise, no screen noise etc.) and that B) I couldn't notice the yellow tint without the tests.

As I said, if you are a professional and need a professional display (for professional photo editing etc.) you should get the iMac replaced. Or... If this issue is so severe that it is actually yellow, you should get the iMac replaced.

This iMac is million times better and more stable than any PC I have ever owned. I can honestly say that if my choices were A) this iMac and B) Win7-gaming tower with an Eizo display (let's say about $2500 overall), I'd choose option A every time.

It is a fact that these iMacs are expensive (although you get an awful lot of quality for the money) and one should expect quality in every aspect of the computer. The yellow tint issue is a problem that Apple needs to solve. However, I think it is a problem that even advanced users do not necessarily encounter (unless they do the tests). If these iMacs are otherwise the best computers they have owned and if the only problem is something they cannot even see, why on earth should they spend their time getting their computers replaced time after time... unless the issue is noticeable.

I will continue to use this iMac without noticing any problems and you can continue doing the grey bar tests and turning your hair grey over this matter. I've actually done some photo editing with Elements and I've not detected any color distortions due to the yellow tint issue. On the other hand, I'm not a professional.
 
For each truly defective iMac display, Apple loses big with either returns or with unhappy customers. For years, Apple along with other vendors has had considerable influence on display OEMs to force quality components. If Apple, Dell, or Lenovo were to get an uncooperative display maker, that maker would soon be out of business. Therefore, I must assume that any real display defects are relatively rare and become more rare with the passage of time.

Among other Apple displays, I have a 17 inch ACD (2002), a 23 inch ACD (2002), a 30 inch ACD (2006), and a 21.5 inch iMac (2010). The 23 inch ACD from eight years ago has a grand total of TWO bad pixels. All the other displays are perfect.
 
My two iMacs

I bought a 21.5" and a 27" during the first week of Sept '10, and the 21.5" does have a bit of yellow at the bottom. I'm not even thinking of returning it, after installation of apps, and all the other things one has to do to inaugurate a new computer. My serious photo editing will be done on my 27" which evidences no yellow. Both machines are absolutely awesome in all other respects.

It's possible to drive oneself insane over these minor matters, get on with life.
 
I have a mid-2010 21.5" i3 (see below signature). If wondering, NO yellow tint, NO dead pixels, NO broken parts and no other flaws either. It's simply perfect. If there's a "perfect" iMac 21.5", guess my family has it... Must have gotten lucky that day. I cannot comment on the other mid-2010 iMacs. But I know my iMac is a keeper.... :)

.
 
Thermonuclear said:
For each truly defective iMac display, Apple loses big with either returns or with unhappy customers. For years, Apple along with other vendors has had considerable influence on display OEMs to force quality components. If Apple, Dell, or Lenovo were to get an uncooperative display maker, that maker would soon be out of business. Therefore, I must assume that any real display defects are relatively rare and become more rare with the passage of time.

Among other Apple displays, I have a 17 inch ACD (2002), a 23 inch ACD (2002), a 30 inch ACD (2006), and a 21.5 inch iMac (2010). The 23 inch ACD from eight years ago has a grand total of TWO bad pixels. All the other displays are perfect.
Click to expand...

Apple like any other company cannot afford 100% happy customers. If 80% of customers are happy with their iMacs, it'd cost Apple a good deal more to bump that to 83%, 85%, etc. Law of diminishing returns. Apple makes much much more on their iMacs than any other computer maker. Sure, they may lose money on an acceptable number of units that are returned, but that's a drop in the bucket.

Do they always strike the right balance between pushing product and keeping customers happy? What about 2009 iMacs with yellow tint? What about AntennaGate?

Only Apple knows the extent of the issue.

gotanimac said:
How do you test for yellow tint? I have a 27" but I don't really see this.
Click to expand...

The conventional wisdom is "If you don't see it, don't look for it!". There's other threads you can find here that will help you test it. My replacement 27" is perfect, to me, and I will not be submitting screen shots, etc. any time soon. No thanks :)
 
Spike88 said:
I have a mid-2010 21.5" i3 (see below signature). If wondering, NO yellow tint, NO dead pixels, NO broken parts and no other flaws either. It's simply perfect. If there's a "perfect" iMac 21.5", guess my family has it... Must have gotten lucky that day. I cannot comment on the other mid-2010 iMacs. But I know my iMac is a keeper.... :)

.
Click to expand...
Mine also seems to have escaped this yellow tint thing, so that's at least two iMacs out there that Apple built right :)
 
Hi everyone, Thank you for your responses!

>Spike88 and Queso
Have you tested your iMac for yellow tint using this program?
http://imac.squeaked.com/test.php
Are the top grey bar and the bottom grey bar identical in color?

Anyway,
even if yellow tint exists, some people do not care, or even not notice. To some people, even slight yellow tint is big concern.
 
^^ LOL. Not at the iMac right now, but they're not even the same on my MacBook Pro!!! :D
 
After returning 4 21.5" imacs with yellow screens and hard drive noise, I decided to try a 27" and finally a beautiful screen with no problems, no hard drive noise. I was very happy...untill I started hearing a humming noise that sounds like it is coming from the power supply. The noise stops when I put it in sleep mode. I tried a bunch of things to determine if it was the fans or hard drive and that was not it. I am pretty sure it is the PSU humming all the time. This is the first imac with a perfect screen and now it is humming. I am so frustrated.

What should I do? Have the power supply replaced or return it for another one and take the chance of getting one with a yellow screen? I am still within my 14 days of original purchase date.
 
The yellow tint issue exists on all the LED-Backlit iMacs imo. I think thats its just that some people do not see it. I've been through 3 different iMacs, the first one had yellow tint and dead pixels, didn't notice yellow tint until I was viewing an image with a certain grey, it really brought out the yellow.. I got a replacement not too long ago, and yeah it has the yellow tint and its worse then the previous one, it also has dead pixels :(.. I can't be bothered to get it replaced, maybe when I decide to sell it to upgrade..

Apple needs to do something about it.. The IPS displays used on iMacs are from LG.. They need to change manufactures..
 
My new iMac i3 has a slight yellow tint towards the bottom, but I need my computer for day to day work and simply cannot afford to have it sent it. Yeah I would liked for my screen to be perfect, but it's not something I am stressing to much as this iMac is a fast computer and gets the job done.


So in reality Apple needs to fix this, but in the meantime I have no other choice until I get more money. Regardless I am happy since I upgraded from an older 2007 MBP which at time could not keep up with the work I was doing ( HD VIDEO )
 
tears2040 said:
......
So in reality Apple needs to fix this, but in the meantime I have no other choice until I get more money. Regardless I am happy since I upgraded from an older 2007 MBP which at time could not keep up with the work I was doing ( HD VIDEO )
Click to expand...

Why do you think Apple has to fix it? After all you are happy...

Tom B.
 
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