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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Desktops > New iMacs - 27" Quad and 21.5" C2D

New iMacs - 27" Quad and 21.5" C2D (Page 7)
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Eug  (op)
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Dec 4, 2009, 12:17 PM
 
Well, that sucks.

I have had my i7 for a couple of weeks now, and I have never seen that flicker.

Take it back.
     
Love Calm Quiet
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Dec 4, 2009, 12:41 PM
 
Originally Posted by Eug View Post
Well, that sucks.

I have had my i7 for a couple of weeks now, and I have never seen that flicker.

Take it back.
Yeah, well, it's "from Shanghai", so I'll not be able to "take" it back :/

It been behaving this morning, but I'll sure be watching it.
Since I'm already configuring it for hours, I'll probably continue that and (if the flashes return) "time machine it" for ease of restoring a new one to my working config.

@EUG:
By the way, you seem to know your way around the system well, any chance of checking out my distress in the Apps forum regarding MySQL and PHP pre-installs that are supposed to be on this machine?
[ The "apps" forum seems pretty comatose. ] Thanks!
http://forums.macnn.com/82/applicati...nstalled-snow/
TOMBSTONE: "He's trashed his last preferences"
     
Mrjinglesusa
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Dec 12, 2009, 01:09 AM
 
Kick. Ass.

I just received my 27" i7 and am BLOWN AWAY. This screen is absolutely gorgeous. Computer is whisper quiet and blazingly fast. Still lots of configuring and transferring of files to do but I think I'm in love. My wife will be happy I finally bought a computer that will last me more than a year before I get the upgrade bug. LOL
     
Eug  (op)
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Dec 12, 2009, 11:02 AM
 
Originally Posted by Love Calm Quiet View Post
Yeah, well, it's "from Shanghai", so I'll not be able to "take" it back :/
You can take it to any authorized Mac service center.

It been behaving this morning, but I'll sure be watching it.
Since I'm already configuring it for hours, I'll probably continue that and (if the flashes return) "time machine it" for ease of restoring a new one to my working config.
If it flashed even a couple of times, I'd take it in or at least call Apple Care, to at least document that you've had the problem.

@EUG:
By the way, you seem to know your way around the system well, any chance of checking out my distress in the Apps forum regarding MySQL and PHP pre-installs that are supposed to be on this machine?
[ The "apps" forum seems pretty comatose. ] Thanks!
http://forums.macnn.com/82/applicati...nstalled-snow/
Sorry, I know nothing about MySQL and PHP.

Originally Posted by Mrjinglesusa View Post
I just received my 27" i7 and am BLOWN AWAY. This screen is absolutely gorgeous. Computer is whisper quiet and blazingly fast. Still lots of configuring and transferring of files to do but I think I'm in love. My wife will be happy I finally bought a computer that will last me more than a year before I get the upgrade bug. LOL
USB 3...

Seriously though, I don't expect USB 3 will appear on iMacs until 2011, and even if it does come earlier, it probably won't matter much until 2012 or later.
     
Simon
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Dec 15, 2009, 03:45 AM
 
     
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Dec 15, 2009, 02:59 PM
 
Glad that my single flickering didn't turn into a plague of them. Sometime I think they do this just to make me buy Applecare again - I always end up doing it, but I've never had to use it.

Just a quick FYI: If anyone wondered, the CPU will use turbo all the way up to 3.46 GHz. Was playing around on the XP installation just now, and CPU-Z followed the clockspeed up to 3.46 and down to 3.33 GHz when a second core came online. If anyone thought that the cooling was insufficient, well - there you have it.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
Eug  (op)
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Dec 15, 2009, 04:20 PM
 
My screen has never flickered, and I don't see any flickering on my 2ndary screen either, but Apple Care only cost me CAD$139 anyway.

I generally buy my primary desktops and laptops without the intention of keeping them much longer than three years. However, I may consider it for the i7 because of its 4 cores and 4 memory slots, unless I decide I must have USB 3, or if I start worrying too much about the lack of Apple Care past 3 years.
     
Mrjinglesusa
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Dec 18, 2009, 10:57 AM
 
Originally Posted by Mrjinglesusa View Post
Kick. Ass.

I just received my 27" i7 and am BLOWN AWAY. This screen is absolutely gorgeous. Computer is whisper quiet and blazingly fast. Still lots of configuring and transferring of files to do but I think I'm in love. My wife will be happy I finally bought a computer that will last me more than a year before I get the upgrade bug. LOL
Sweeet. The 27" iMac looks BEAUTIFUL when mounted on a wall.

I used Apple's VESA adapter and a Sanus tilting wall mount. Works perfectly. I'll see if I can get some pictures posted tonight when I get home.
     
Eug  (op)
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Dec 21, 2009, 04:54 PM
 
The Apple 27" iMac Graphics Firmware Update 1.0 to address the flickering issue is now out.

iMac (27-inch, Late 2009) display image is corrupted or flickers
27-inch iMac Graphics Firmware Update 1.0

Anyone know what this update actually does? I've never actually had the flicker, not even once.
     
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Dec 21, 2009, 07:07 PM
 
The flickering is likely the GPU crashing and rebooting quickly. The corrupted image is that it loses sync with the screen, so the menubar ends up in the middle of the screen etc. Both of these can easily be caused by firmware bugs, so I guess they fixed them.

From what I could gather in the Apple support forums before that thread went completely insane, many who got replacements had repeat failures - suggesting that it might be something in their usage patterns that triggered it.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
Mrjinglesusa
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Dec 21, 2009, 08:38 PM
 
Originally Posted by Eug View Post
The Apple 27" iMac Graphics Firmware Update 1.0 to address the flickering issue is now out.

iMac (27-inch, Late 2009) display image is corrupted or flickers
27-inch iMac Graphics Firmware Update 1.0

Anyone know what this update actually does? I've never actually had the flicker, not even once.
Question is: for those of us who haven't experienced any flickering or other graphics anomalies, should we update or not?
     
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Dec 22, 2009, 06:46 AM
 
Generally yes. All new iMacs delivered will have the new firmware, which means that the vast majority of iMacs will have it going forward, and all Apple's testing will be with the latest firmware. I wouldn't do it yet, though - wait a few weeks and see if something pops up for those who update.

Personally I plan to update in the beginning of next year or thereabouts.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
aussiej
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Jan 17, 2010, 08:43 PM
 
Can anyone explain why the i5 turns in a mediocre performance compared to the 3.33GHz in many of the Other World Computing tests? OtherWorldComputing.com

It seems to me that for most day-to-day uses (including a bit of light Photoshop & FCP usage) a 3.33GHz 27" iMac with 8GB RAM & the standard video card is a better way to spend £1635 than an i5 27" iMac with 4GB of RAM, especially if I'm planning on keeping it for a couple of years before selling and upgrading. Am I wrong?
     
Simon
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Jan 18, 2010, 03:38 AM
 
If you match the GPU the i5 iMac is actually $50 cheaper than the 3.33GHz C2D. If for some reason somebody were hell bent on not upgrading the GPU, the C2D model would be $100 cheaper. However, considering the price of the overall system, I can't see how you'd go for something which is bound to last less long only to save a mere $100.

And don't kid yourself. There's a huge performance difference between the i5/i7 iMac and the C2D models.
( Last edited by Simon; Jan 18, 2010 at 04:54 AM. )
     
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Jan 18, 2010, 06:04 AM
 
Originally Posted by aussiej View Post
Can anyone explain why the i5 turns in a mediocre performance compared to the 3.33GHz in many of the Other World Computing tests? OtherWorldComputing.com
Higher clockspeed and a different cache architecture. If you look closely, you will see that the only tests where the Core 2 is even competitive is in Photoshop. My conclusion is rather that Photoshop is heavily optimized for Core 2 - as it should be.

Originally Posted by aussiej View Post
It seems to me that for most day-to-day uses (including a bit of light Photoshop & FCP usage) a 3.33GHz 27" iMac with 8GB RAM & the standard video card is a better way to spend £1635 than an i5 27" iMac with 4GB of RAM, especially if I'm planning on keeping it for a couple of years before selling and upgrading. Am I wrong?
If you're planning on keeping it for a few years, it's not a good idea. Adobe will keep optimizing for the latest architecture, so CS5 is likely to be significantly faster on Core i5/i7. The trend is also to offload more processing to the GPU, so a faster GPU will also help.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
Koralatov
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Jan 18, 2010, 07:03 AM
 
This is maybe the wrong thread to ask on, but I’ll risk it.

Anyone know if you can use put the 27″ model into Target Disk Mode and use its display via this miniDP port at the same time?
     
aussiej
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Jan 19, 2010, 01:47 PM
 
Originally Posted by Simon View Post
If you match the GPU the i5 iMac is actually $50 cheaper than the 3.33GHz C2D. If for some reason somebody were hell bent on not upgrading the GPU, the C2D model would be $100 cheaper. However, considering the price of the overall system, I can't see how you'd go for something which is bound to last less long only to save a mere $100.
The tests at OWC show very little advantage to upgrading the GPU (though it was a surprise to me) so I wouldn't plan on doing that.
Compared to the price of the overall system, £97 ($150) isn't that much, I agree, but when that extra stretches to beyond the budget it becomes significant nonetheless.

Originally Posted by Simon View Post
I thought there were significant performance differences between the early 2009 c2d iMac and the newer ones but upon further research I've found I was wrong on that.

I am planning on keeping the system for a couple of years and then selling it and upgrading. I'd rather do that than stretch for the top-of-the-line now and still be using it in 4 or 5 years time when it's a long way behind even the bottom-of-the-line then.
( Last edited by aussiej; Jan 19, 2010 at 02:55 PM. )
     
CharlesS
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Jan 19, 2010, 06:59 PM
 
Originally Posted by Koralatov View Post
This is maybe the wrong thread to ask on, but I’ll risk it.

Anyone know if you can use put the 27″ model into Target Disk Mode and use its display via this miniDP port at the same time?
It seems the iMac has to be booted into OS X in order to use that feature, so I'm going to say no.

Ticking sound coming from a .pkg package? Don't let the .bom go off! Inspect it first with Pacifist. Macworld - five mice!
     
rjenkinson
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Jan 19, 2010, 08:53 PM
 
I'm having a bit of trouble with my core i7 iMac at the moment. I've had about 3 random shutdowns in the past month and 1 random restart. I'm fairly sure the stick of Patriot RAM I added is either bad or not up to spec. The weird thing is that it's only ever happened in Safari, never during any games or video encoding. Anyway, does anyone know a known-good stick of RAM that I can use? I'd also like to know if using 10666 DDR3 RAM is an alternative if I can't find any DDR3 8500.
     
Simon
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Jan 20, 2010, 03:48 AM
 
Originally Posted by Koralatov View Post
This is maybe the wrong thread to ask on, but I’ll risk it.

Anyone know if you can use put the 27″ model into Target Disk Mode and use its display via this miniDP port at the same time?
I'm with Charles, I think you won't be able to use the iMac as a display unless it's actually booted OS X. TDM works in a very different way and I doubt Apple has re-implemented it to include support for display mode.

But it should be quite easy to try out. Can't one of you guys who recently bought a new iMac quickly just try this out? It's not like booting in TDM and attaching a screen is that hard...
     
Simon
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Jan 20, 2010, 03:52 AM
 
Originally Posted by rjenkinson View Post
I'm having a bit of trouble with my core i7 iMac at the moment. I've had about 3 random shutdowns in the past month and 1 random restart. I'm fairly sure the stick of Patriot RAM I added is either bad or not up to spec. The weird thing is that it's only ever happened in Safari, never during any games or video encoding. Anyway, does anyone know a known-good stick of RAM that I can use? I'd also like to know if using 10666 DDR3 RAM is an alternative if I can't find any DDR3 8500.
Remove the stick. See if your trouble persists. If not, get your RAM replaced or refunded. If you get a new SO-DIMM try to stick with PC3-8500.

2 GB Crucial, $47 shipped
4 GB Mushkin, $250 shipped
     
imitchellg5
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Jan 21, 2010, 01:01 PM
 
Man. I'm on an i5 27" right now at my school. This thing is hot. Seriously. But the screen is honestly a bit too big for my liking.
     
mduell
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Jan 21, 2010, 02:44 PM
 
Apple finally gave in to the flood of complaints about the awful 27" displays and stopped shipping 27" iMacs for a few weeks.
     
Simon
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Feb 1, 2010, 08:26 AM
 
More trouble with the Core i5/i7 iMac.

Apple halts production of all 27" iMac models
     
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Feb 1, 2010, 01:11 PM
 
The way I heard it, the yellowing defect is related to packaging/logistics rather than manufacturing. With some rather strong indications that the flickering is at least partially caused in shipping as well (and another part in software/firmware) I think that maybe Apple needs to stop shrinking the boxes. It's nice for the environment, sure, but shipping broken machines around the world isn't exactly green.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
Eug  (op)
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Feb 1, 2010, 01:45 PM
 
Originally Posted by Simon View Post
More trouble with the Core i5/i7 iMac.

Apple halts production of all 27" iMac models
Hmm... That sounds like hardmac rumour mongering.
     
Simon
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Feb 1, 2010, 02:16 PM
 
Well actually it's been confirmed by a leaked Apple internal note.
     
Eug  (op)
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Feb 1, 2010, 03:01 PM
 
Not really. All the note said was there are delays of three weeks, not that all production has been halted.
     
Simon
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Feb 1, 2010, 03:13 PM
 
Thats swell, but if production were all hunky-dory Apple wouldn't have been pushing delivery further and further out. We've reached three weeks now. The note confirms it's not just a question of demand. There's quite clearly a screen quality issue Apple has been struggling with since these 27" iMacs launched.
     
Eug  (op)
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Feb 1, 2010, 03:25 PM
 
Maybe, to claim that all production has been halted just because there are shipping delays is a huge jump in logic.

Like I said, this sounds like hardmac rumour mongering than anything else.
     
Simon
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Feb 1, 2010, 03:31 PM
 
Well I guess you can call it what you want, but to me it sounds like Apple's got a problem with the 27" iMac.

MacRumors - more delay reports from readers
     
Eug  (op)
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Feb 1, 2010, 03:45 PM
 
Originally Posted by Simon View Post
Well I guess you can call it what you want, but to me it sounds like Apple's got a problem with the 27" iMac.

MacRumors - more delay reports from readers
Err... You just reposted the same hardmac link
     
Simon
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Feb 1, 2010, 04:16 PM
 
Err... You didn't read the entire article.

Originally Posted by MacRumors
MacRumors has received a number of reports...
     
Mrjinglesusa
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Feb 1, 2010, 04:17 PM
 
I guess I should consider myself lucky that my Core i7 27" iMac has not had any display problems whatsoever. :knocks on wood:
     
Eug  (op)
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Feb 1, 2010, 04:53 PM
 
Originally Posted by Simon View Post
Err... You didn't read the entire article.
Err... You didn't quote the pertinent info.

MacRumors has received a number of reports from readers who have seen their 27-inch iMac orders delayed in recent weeks

Again, the reports are that orders are delayed, not that Apple has completely halted production.


Originally Posted by Mrjinglesusa View Post
I guess I should consider myself lucky that my Core i7 27" iMac has not had any display problems whatsoever. :knocks on wood:
Same here. Hopefully that doesn't change.
     
Simon
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Feb 2, 2010, 03:43 AM
 
Right. Apple has delayed orders basically since this iMac has launched. We've now reached three weeks.

IMHO it's nitpicking to debate if they actually halted production or just slowed it down (because actually nobody other than Apple, really knows for sure). Fact is, there's a significant screen quality issue on the 27" iMac that Apple has acknowledged. And so far it has appeared they had no fix. People affected by the issue are getting replacements if they insist (Apple will first try some bs excuse about how color variations are 'normal' with LCDs) but in some cases even the replacements are showing issues.

After paying $2k for a brand new iMac I know that I for sure wouldn't want to have to deal with that kind of nonsense.
     
Simon
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Feb 2, 2010, 03:45 AM
 
I might add that to the people waiting for their iMac it's also rather irrelevant if it's because production was slowed down or halted. Fact is they are either not getting an iMac or run a significant chance of getting a bad screen. And considering this affects Apple's flagship Mac that kinda sucks no matter how you spin it.
     
Simon
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Feb 2, 2010, 04:54 AM
 
     
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Feb 2, 2010, 08:03 AM
 
Desktop sales were up 30% last quarter. The mini had a very minor update if you exclude the new server model, and the MP is older than dirt, so apparently the iMac is selling very well. That could very well be all there is to the increased delivery times. We don't know that they halted production at all, and we absolutely don't know that it's due to quality issues - could be supply issues related to the panel, for instance.

The original issues were spread over both 21.5" and 27" models, and the update released were for both. Since the update, I haven't heard of problems with 21.5" (except that sometime the update doesn't take until you do a final PRAM reset - with a wired keyboard, the wireless one fails to reset apparently) so maybe that was the only defect on the 21.5". This new update is 27" specific and updates some other component in the display panel, or so it seems.

Finally, yellowing: This IS a normal issue on LCDs, to some degree. Some have it much worse than others. Me, I have something like it for a second or two when cold booting, but it's gone long before I get to the desktop (I can only really see it on the gray screen with the Apple logo). The trick is to distinguish between those that really have a problem and those that heard on the web that there is a problem with "all" iMac 27". The yellowing definitely doesn't affect all iMacs - believe me, I've seen both kinds.

What Apple really has been terrible at is communication about the issues.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
Koralatov
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Mar 5, 2010, 07:19 AM
 
Originally Posted by Simon View Post
I'm with Charles, I think you won't be able to use the iMac as a display unless it's actually booted OS X. TDM works in a very different way and I doubt Apple has re-implemented it to include support for display mode.

But it should be quite easy to try out. Can't one of you guys who recently bought a new iMac quickly just try this out? It's not like booting in TDM and attaching a screen is that hard...
Anyone tried this out yet? It probably doesn’t, but I'm [em]very[/em] curious to know for sure. It also raises the question of using the iMac’s speakers and webcam if you have you MB in lid-closed mode. If you can't, then I’d consider that a wasted opportunity on Apple’s part.
     
Eug  (op)
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Mar 7, 2010, 01:52 PM
 
I'm starting to wonder if I should just get a 21.5" for my next iMac purchase, as long as the GPU is half decent.

The 27" is simply too tall for ideal ergonomics in my setup. The chin adds too much height.
     
 
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