Darker area on iMac screen

I noticed on the left side of the screen there is what looks like a darker blotch underneath the glass. It shows on a white background. The iMac is a 3.06 Ghz 22 inch model.
I bought it just under a year ago. Will Apple replace it for me?

Hi.
I also noticed the exact same thing on my 27" iMac Core i7.
The iMac is purchased 1 year ago and I luckily have bought the Apple Care Protection Plan for both iMacs. First I thought that my screen was dirty so I cleaned it (as described by Apple in there guide) but the result was the same. After a few weeks the screen went darker an darker. The surface area with the problem was getting bigger and bigger. It was really ugly compared with the other iMac and the comments from my family and friends... It's like "Dougal222" reported underneath the glass! I can see it even when I boot up my iMac!
I can't say what this dark stuff underneath the glass is but to me it looks like 'smoke' or 'dust'. I was happy, in a way, to read about the problem over here and that I was not the only one...
@Dougal222: Did Apple repaired or replaced your screen?
B.T.W.: I was reading the HardMac.com forum yesterday and they also noticed the same problem. Again it's exactly the same I really love my iMac it's so beautiful and powerful a the same time. I'm a Mac user since 1996 when I bought my first Performa 5320 and this is the first problem I have with a Mac. In between I bought the original iMac rev.a, a PowerMac G4 dual and just before this one a PowerMac G5 with also 2 G5 processors in it and 8Gb of RAM. The G5 is still a great and fast machine but I needed an Intel Mac for developing. And the Intel Mac is the 27" Core i7 iMac 11,1!
Lets hope that this problem will be fixed under my AppleCare Protection Plan. I'm feeling bad about the Mac users without AppleCare and the same issue... Maybe Apple can fix it in a rather cheap way? I just hope that I don't need to replace the whole screen!
Sincerely, Iwan.

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IMac Dark Area Left Side Screen

Worked late couple of nights ago - watched the left side of the screen go darker. Turned the iMac off for 15 minutes - and the screen was okay again.
Till today... the dark area - left side of screen - turned up again. Disappeared again for 5-10 seconds and the problem reoccured.
The iMac is cold at the bottom of the screen but pretty hot in the top... wondered if it has something to do with the heat generated.
Often happens when iMac is turned on for several hours.
Any ideas?
The iMac is from fall 2009.

Greetings,
Sounds like the backlight behind the LCD is going out.
Reset the SMC and then test: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
Reset the PRAM and then test: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/26871.html
If the issue persists after you follow the above steps you are experiencing a hardware issue and your system requires evaluation and / or service. You may wish to make an appointment with a Mac Genius at an Apple store, contact AppleCare via phone, or contact an Apple Authorized Service Provider for assistance.

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Area of iMac screengoes dead to tools after using Lr5 every couple of days. Can only be sorted by closing and restarting
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After using the tools with Lr5 open for ~2 days, a rectangle of the screen (approx 17 x 10 cm, just off centre) goes dead to tools and I have to quit and reopen Lr5 to get access to the whole screen again.
When the screen area is dead to Lr5, other programmes work in that area, so not a hardware problem.
I've tried resetting Crop and about anything else I can think of bar trying the Lr5.2 Release candidate.

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Next would be to reinstall LR.
Next would be to use the release candidate.
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Are all Imac screens unevenly bright, or just faulty batch?

Can anyone confirm that they have a 24" Imac that has a uniformly bright screen, i.e. when scrutinizing it with a solid grey or white background, you cannot see any areas of the screen that are noticeably brighter than the others?
I really want to buy a 24" Imac, but having tried two that had an unacceptable brightness gradient from left to right, and having been told by the Apple Store owner that their display model also has the same ueneveness, plus having read the many posts on this board about the same issue, I am beginning to think that perhaps all the new Imac screens have this problem.
I'd appreciate it if anyone who owns a 24" alu Imac with a good screen could post in this thread.
Many thanks!

Im surprised mrtotes can't see any gradient problems on his Alu iMac! There are VERY few people reporting that their 20" or 24" iMac doesn't have a gradient issue.
From other iMac customers, including those on these forums, it seems that it is not necessarily a faulty batch, but a range-wide issue. Whether Apple decides to provide a fix for current iMacs and/or produces new batches without the issue, is simply unknown at present.
I have also read that Apple's response is that the iMac is designed for consumer-level customers and not for professionals. Professionals including graphic designers like myself will likely disagree with this. I am at a graphic design degree course at the moment and my lecturers also disagree with this statement (Especially seeing as all our workstations at university are previous generation iMacs!). The iMacs are definitely acceptable, and probably excellent for non-professional use, but if you're interested in correct colour and brightness levels for things such as design work, then the current generation iMac is now unfortunately not suitable for this sort of professional use.
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Are 24" iMac Screens Too Big for regular tasks?

I'll be playing a lot of games and watching a lot of movies on my new iMac (reason I want 24") and I'll probably become more productive. But, does it get annoying or do you feel you have too much screen real estate when you do things like browse the web on a 24" iMac? I've browsed the web on a screen probably around 20"-22" at school and it seems pretty annoying to browse the web on it. I'd probably get used to the extra screen space, though. What're your opinions? Thanks!

No offense, but all I can think is that the only way it'd be too big is if you a beginner who only every has a single page / window of anything open.
A few loose thoughts:
Once used to a big screen, you'll be very reluctant to return to a small one. Trust me. I was forced to move back from a 19" CRT to a 15" LCD at one point. Ugh. Ugh Ugh!
The screen is wide enough that you have to rotate your head to see it all if you're at typing distance (i.e. able to just touch the screen with an extended arm). If you're like me, working (long periods of time) with your head at an angle will cause problems; I developed a persistent shoulder muscle issue from this many years ago (in the days of the "dumb" terminals!) So if you're working on them all day, this may be something to watch out for--? In particular, note that the centre of the main typing portion of the keyboard is not the middle of the whole keyboard, but off to the left.
Wide, large, screens are excellent if you need to display things side-by-side, e.g. a webpage or PDF document and a word processor if you're researching material.
Of course, its also the "right" layout for DVDs too! Its not all work...

Vertical Dark areas in the screen

Hey all-
The screen on my MBP has some dim areas that run vertical across the bottom of the screen. They aren't lines, more like shadows. What is that?
Help?

I intermittently get these too.
I have the GeForce 8600M GT video processor that Apple will replace for free, but this seems to be an OS X issue regarding this processor. When I boot to Vista it goes away.
Apple has noted this problem with earlier versions of OS X, so they're probably working on a fix. If it starts to happen more often I will try the GeForce 8600M GT replacement.
In the meantime, this article describes how to reset the display:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1258
Rod

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Thanks
Marcus
mac book pro 17 inch Mac OS X (10.4.7)

If it is really troublesome and upsets you then I would call Applecare, yes it will be covered by the guarantee. It is just that you never know how you will receive your MBP back (whether in perfect condition or scratched) or if they decide to exchange it, whether it will have other problems. So i decided to keep mine , as it only seems visible during boot up on the blue screen.
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Good luck.

Dark "waves" on 24" iMac Screen

I'm having problems with the screen on my 24" iMac. Over the last couple of weeks I'm noticing dark areas on my screen in random "wave" type patterns. Here's what it looks like:
http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/2918/picture2ya.png
You can't see them when the background is white. But it is very visible otherwise. I tried changing the screen saver to all white and cleaning the vents (saw that on a previous post), but nothing seems to work. I'm beginning to worry I have a significant problem. Any ideas? Thanks.

Hi Al,
Thank you for taking the time to write and offer advice. I already have taken it back and Apple told me it was within their specs. I am definitely returning this unit; the only question is whether it will be for exchange or refund. If all 24" iMacs look this way, then I won't bother exchanging it. That's why I would like to see photos of other people's screens, if possible, to see if I detect similar issues.
The screen shot I posted is an actual photo. As I mentioned, I have adjusted the brightness and contrast of the photo in Photoshop to make the variation more easily recognizable; but these color and brightness variations are readily visible to me under my normal working conditions (which is what prompted me to take the photo in the first place). I also recognize that since I am a graphics professional, I may be more aware and less tolerant of display problems than more casual users. I think my current 20" (non-Apple) screen looks quite good, so I know it's possible to have a good LCD. I just don't know if the 24" iMac is capable of this performance by design.
Best Regards,
- Michael
24" iMac, 2.16 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.8) Screen is too bright, has uneven brightness left-to-right, and hums when dimmed.

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Some of the pixels sparkle green, red and yellow. Twice its happened in the last few days, but it seems rather random and usually long between occurances.
I posted in the below topic about this time last year, a few people said it was the logic board, but the last poster stated the problem persisted even after replacing the logic board.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=976131&#976131
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Like this:
http://koti.welho.com/tsuonio1/LCD-DISPLAY-PROBLM.jpg
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Message was edited by: TRST

I have very similar issues with red and green pixels, dots and lines that seem to halo any change from light to darker areas of the screen, often fringing those gradations. It is especially bad in any movie that I play. I have a PMG4 dual 1.25Ghz with an upgraded ati radeon 9600 pc & mac edition card running a dell 30" lcd. I've done all the usual suggested, but I am seeing this online as a widespread ati/30" phenomenon as well on ACD 30" and Dells both. About every report I've seen about this is about an ATI card. The only "cure" is to reduce colors to thousands which I don't like and won't allow me to run iPhoto slideshows etc.
I hope someone has an answer, I have a few days before returning these two items and coming up with a new solution.
JoeL

Just wondering what Apple's stand is on the issue with a flickering and a dark area appearing on imac 27"screen - forums seem to indicate this is not uncommon - and happens through normal use - so should be subject to repair (Sale of Goods Act - 6 years)

Just wondering what Apple's stand is on the issue with a flickering and a dark area appearing on imac 27"screen - forums seem to indicate this is not uncommon - and happens through normal use - so should be subject to repair (Sale of Goods Act - ie 6 year warranty)

We are just users like yourself. If Apple has stated publicly about the problems you mentioned, it will be listed on their website and/or in one of their Knowledge Base Articles.
I have a 27" & do not suffer from such a problem. You should keep in mind that these are technical support forums. Generally, the only people posting here are those with problems. The thousands/millions without problems don't ever come here.
Think of these forums as a hospital emergency room.

I bought iMac 27 quad core i7 last June. Last month i have noticed lots of dark patches on the screen and now they are growing more. i bought this from US but now i have moved to Kuwait. How much it cost to replace the screen?

I bought iMac 27 quad core i7 last June. Last month i have noticed lots of dark patches on the screen and now they are growing more. i bought this from US but now i have moved to Kuwait. How much it cost to replace the screen?

Mac and Mac models are picky about the RAM the Mac needs to see and use.
As you have found out, the 1067 speed RAM will not work in your year and model iMac.
You need the 1333 speed RAM.
If, you can return the RAM for a refund, do it!
If not, try online Mac RAM source and seller Crucial memory. They have a table that matches your Mac to the correct and reliable RAM. You may need to contact them to see whether or not they ship to South Africa, though.
If Crucial dpesn't work out, here's the specs for your year and model iMac that you need to seek out and purchase.
Maximum Memory
32 GB (Actual) 16 GB (Apple)
Memory Slots
4 - 204-pin PC3-10600 (1333 MHz) DDR3 SO-DIMM
Good Luck!

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I do not know how to move topics from sections of forum so I apologise for duplicate post.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/25594879#25594879

Photo added.

Darker area on iMac screen

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