Users report issues with Apple's new Core i7-based iMac - Page 5

I just spent a few hours on our last G5 at the office. The difference in colors and hues when moving your head just a few inches is quite noticeable. It's a 20" matte screen.

It looks dull and uneven compared to the 27". I cannot believe anyone would prefer it, though I accept that people with bright lights behind them would be too distracted from glare. But how fun is it to work on a matte monitor with its own drawbacks?

I still think it'd be preferable to organize your work area to minimize the glare and buy the much better monitor. I remember some of those old style CRTs had hoods and what not.

The difference is so incredible that I don't see Apple going back to matte on the iMac. Side-by-side, only people with serious beefs about glare and inability to devise a workspace to minimize glare would opt for matte.

In all fairness, the differences you are likely seeing are not so much between matte v. glossy, but a new LED backlight with 375 cd/m2 brightness v. a well used LCD backlight. And an IPS display with a 178° viewing angle and a 109ppi and contrast ratio of 1000:1 v. whatever your 20” has. If it’s the 20” ACD then it is an IPS with 178° viewing angle but it only has 99ppi, 300 cd/m2 brightness and 700:1 contrast ratio.

I wonder how close the i5 & i7 assembly lines are in proximity? Close enough to make your supposition a reality, maybe? What you say might be possible, but wouldn't Apple have Q.C. people on site to stop them?

Apple QC has been somewhat iffy this past year and they have trouble keeping up with demand as well... eg. iMac 27", iPhone 3GS.

Yeah, what he said.

Just kidding, I just wanted to say you are probably the most consistent and insightful poster on AI, the antithesis of resident AI heckler- aka Teckstud.

When do you get promoted to Global Moderator?

Keep up the good work!

DP

Thank you.

i7 is a custom build Mac. When you order a custom build Mac, the order goes to China, they put your machine together and then TNT comes and picks it up from Shanghai and ships to to your door - usually dropping it or throwing it around several times on the way - like the man did on Monday with my i7 as he unloaded it from the TNT van (no damage luckily).

If you buy a non custom build machine, including the i5, TNT goes to some local place where Apple have stashed a load of machines that they brought over as a job lot. Presumably on a nice big palette wrapped in bubble/shrink wrap that no one can easily pick up never mind drop.

For myself, glare isn't a mere distraction; it causes pretty serious strain and significant pain (and this coming from someone with a high pain pain threshold). If I wanted to suffer I'd be using a PC! And arranging a room specifically to eliminate glare isn't always an option. Heh I just might have to resort to an old CRT glare hood.

The bottom line: Would it really be that hard for Apple to offer a BTO matte option for those who need it?

I'm a newbie to Apple and I got an i7 for Christmas. You bet after reading the article I went and opened up the box and powered that sucker on. I was lucky, no cracks and it booted right to the set-up screens. I did notice a cluster of 5 - 10 pixels that were dark on the lower left hand side...maybe it needed to warm-up?

On a sidenote....it was pretty! (Repacked and back to the closet.)

Are you writing posts to yourself again?

A great way to be introduced to the Mac and OSX!

However, perhaps you were fishing for an excuse to get your Christmas present out again! The screen of my MacBook Pro was readily replaced for less than 10 dark pixels. With a month remaining until Christmas and to be sure of avoiding disappointment on the day, I suggest that you again unpack the system and go over it with a critical eye. Satisfy yourself that everything truly IS okay. Those 5 to 10 dark pixels don't need to warm up.

My MacBook Pro has also had the hard drive and main board replaced and wireless performance is flaky at best.

It seems to me that those components of the system directly under Apple's control, such as housings (and associated form factor) and specialised electronics are of the highest standard, whereas those components sourced from industry in general, such as hard drives, graphics cards, panels and most electronics, are of no higher quality that those employed in many other systems.

Welcome to AI.

I'm a Network Engineer for FedEx and have spent much time in the sort hub facilities and the local station facilities. It doesn't matter how you label a box. They will be handled roughly. It's the nature of a fast turn around shipping company. Between the automated sort belt systems, the airplanes, trucks, and the handlers, things are going to get bounced around. No avoiding it. You have to design your product and packaging to handle rough treatment, or they will never make it through a fast delivery system...

Got my new machine Monday the 16th. Would start up with no display. You could hear the start up program running, but the display only brightened up a little. First call to Apple told me to take it to the Apple store the next day (even though it was a custom telephone order). They confirmed the DOA but said they couldn't help me return it. Back to the phone, took an hour to get connected to someone from corporate telephone orders ( I used a corporate discount). He promised RMA info within 24 hours. 48 hours later, no RMA information. Called back, went through a bit of a run around until I got back to the guy who said 24 hours, and he got the RMA sent. Also, told me my replacement would ship as soon as FedEx picked up my busted machine on Friday. Didn't happen. Just checked and the 2nd day RMA delivered Apple in PA on Tuesday, 11/24, but no indication that my replacement machine will ship anytime soon.

I've been buying Mac's since the mid 80's and tons of other Apple equipment. Really disappointed in the slow response.

I purchased the iMac i7 on 10 Nov. It is departing Pampanga, Phillipines today according to UPS. Will let you know if it is damaged. If it is I will ask for my money back if that is possible. This unit is a Christmas gift to my wife and I need something the same that works. I'm feeling a bit rough right now not knowing if I will have a serviceable machine. Imagine, my first Apple computer and it's broken? That would really suck.

It does suck to have any product not work when you get it, especially a high ticket item, but at least you know you wont be losing your money so there isnt much to worry about except for some inconvenience. Id call back and threaten to have your money refunded. Youre likely to get some extra consideration for your troubles if you go that route.

Shipping the replacement after they get the old one is standard procedure, but this issue seems to be more than the occasional problem with CE. It looks more like a factory issue so getting a new one shipped immediately isnt going to happen if that is the problem. Theyd have to find the issue and then resolve it satisfactorily. That could mean changing the packaging, retraining workers or forcing a factory manager to take his own life. Apsynknod said his just shipped today so maybe that is a good sign that problems have been resolved.

A bunch of computers with cracks on one corner and/or dead hard drives... sounds to me like someone dropped a shipping crate or banged a container a little too hard and didn't tell anyone.

Could be since it seems to be only 27 iMacs with Core i7s, but how many 27 iMacs fit on a palette. The number of complaints seems to be more than the number Id assume fit on a palette.

from what ive seen on these boards, it seems to inadequate packaging to go around the unit to help protect it against rough shipping conditions.

I don't think such accident would create crack on the same place for them all.

If they go through automated packing (a machine packs them into boxes), I'd say maybe machine is not tuned well - maybe because of bigger unit size than previous units packed on same production line? - and in the process of packing is applying pressure/bump to that corner. That misbehaviour is outside of the limits, but probably not too much, so not every unit gets damaged.

Umm... unless you want to be let down on Christmas, I would say you have to open it back on and check those pixels. There's some "dead pixel tester" programs out there.

I know, ruins the Christmas feel somewhat but better safe than sorry right? Besides, Christmas is about more than fancy iMacs

All the best Consider making your first use of the iMac to make an online donation to a suitable charity of your choice.

My i7 arrived today, and I had no problems at all. It's beautiful and blazingly fast.

I have a bicycle like that.

Good to hear. Are you running anything particularly taxing on it?

Xmas is really about the almighty...

DOLLAR!

I have the 27" maxed out, came two weeks ago. No problems, great machine. No glare problems whatsoever. Beautiful machine and screen.

Angels cry when you say that...

Deliveries may be improving. I ordered my 27" i7 on Nov 17 - it was shipped from Shanghai on Nov 25 and I received it in Fort Worth, Tx this morning Nov 27 -- perfect condition, no issues. Hope all have similar experiences.

if you've ever seen the inside of an imac you would know that such a change isn't like popping in and out ram. there's not only cables but resoldering etc. built on order is the only way they could be doing these machines.

it is more likely at least for the cracks that rather than being just a design flaw (which would hit all iMacs since they all have the same body design) it is a factor that the custom build machines don't ship the same method as the in store bulk shipped stock. some second factor is coming into play. improper handling, time in a hot warehouse, jostling during a plane flight (i believe I read somewhere that the regular stuff is shipped by boat). That mistreatment could also be a factor in rattling parts loose as well.


they wouldn't be palette shipped because those machines would be built and shipped one by one as they were ordered. they are likely some form of air freight.

I had to work at my shop yesterday and figured Apple would get a shipment so I did some nosying around the box bin when I dumped our trash. Found some Apple freight boxes big enough to hold the store 27" machines. the labels were on the depth end. now I don't know how the machine is positioned inside that box but it is conceivable that it could be turned so that if they were on a belt sorter or some such at a FedEX/DHL/UPS hub they were pushed off onto the other side and that's where the cracking spot is. caused by a little too much push bumping it into a guide rail or something. perhaps our fellow who worked for one of the shippers could clarify for us.

Are you certain of that? I would think that with so many BTOs of these new machines going to the US that theyd ship out palettes from the China which would then get separated by individual orders at a distribution center once they get stateside.

BTO i7 11/16, arrived yesterday FedEx, seems perfect! Fast gorgeous total pleasure.

Transfered data from old iBookG4 via 400->800 firewire cable. Less than 2 hours.

Busy changing settings and dinking around Snow Leopard, whee! Housemate starting tutorials on Apple Find Out How.

Needed to call AppleCare about a couple issues and they've sent Help documents, such excellent customer service you cannot find anywhere else.

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY !!!

Have you run a dead pixel tester app?

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http://homepage.mac.com/macguitar/FileSharing16.html I also suggest that people install iStat Menus to keep an eye on initial performance, heat and fan speeds for the first week or so.

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http://www.islayer.com/apps/istatmenus/

Just to max out the cores I installed the BOINC distributed computing applications and let it start working on some climateprediction.net work sets. The computer gets really hot to the touch on the top (so hot I can't rest my hand there for any longer period), but isn't on fire yet after five hours of hard work. :-)

Otherwise I mostly use it for photo editing in Lightroom - it feels fast there too (it replaced a previous-generation 24" iMac), but I suspect Lightroom might not utilize all the cores optimally. Perhaps it'll get even better if they release a version of Lightroom using Grand Central Dispatch.

I just bought a Core i5 iMac on Black Friday after investigating the performance difference between the Core i5 and the Core i7 on Intel's web site. Core i7 offers 4 virtual cores through Hyperthreading, in addition to 4 physical cores. But the performance gain is 18%, not 100%.

With the examples provided by Intel, I realized that the Core i7 is meant for heavy calculations and professional software in medicine, architecture or digital film production, for instance, where the Core i5 provides a quad core architecture for consumers surfing the web, writing or touching up pictures. The Core i7 would have been an overkill for me, while the Core i5 will extend the useful life of my investment in the future.

Now, let's hope that the delivery truck will bring me the computer of my dreams, not a dead on arrival unit!

Core i7 will see more than 20% improvements compared to the Core i5 probably over the next few years, as applications are more intelligently multithreaded, etc.

That said, I think you've made a good choice for your needs, Core i5 is speedy. It's more than capable for the stuff you mention eg. surfing web and pictures ... Your Core i5 will be good for consumer video editing as well.

Core i7 is for those that want MAX performance on their Mac, without getting the Mac Pro.

I can't imagine how the proles do such tasks on a *gasp* dual core machine.

Enjoy your machine.

On the Apple-Support-Discussions forum mention is made that after researching the reports of the cracked glass on the delivered iMacs, the breakdown is as follows: i5 = 5., i7 = 20., and 2 that were of unknown CPUs. No known total figures for the 27" iMacs that have been shipped have been found.

I got the impression here that you all thought the cracked glass only occurred on the BTO i7 iMacs.

LOL. Here I am with a lowly 2ghz Core 2 Duo MacBook... At least it's aluminium. Heh. 4GB of RAM and a 7200rpm 2.5" drive makes an impact. The 9400M is finally a decent integrated GPU.

I am very interested to see what Arrandale offers. At the MacBook Pro 13" price points, if they put a Core i3, I wonder what performance improvements we might see. I have a creepy feeling though the Intel integrated GPU on the Core i3 will be same or slightly worse in performance to the 9400M.

Like I said, quite interested to see what Apple does with Arrandale and if there are any compelling MacBook Pro improvements next year.

Core i5 and i7 on the desktop have been revolutionary. The changes to the Apple laptop offerings in 2010 would be significant, but more evolutionary on the lower-end laptops. The Core i5 with hyperthreading would, though, give Apple's *midrange* 4 logical cores (AFAIK), finally. The 17" would probably have a true 4 physical cores.

Let's hope of a cautious economic recovery in 2010, may it happen well and may lessons be truly, as much as possible, be learnt.

Hyperthreading is for the Core i7 (and upcoming Core i9, I believe), but not the Core i5. Hyperthreading provides 4 virtual cores in addition to the 4 physical cores of the Core i7. The performance gain is 18%.

Staples sells an HP mobile Core i7 portable computer for $1,500 in Canada. Apple should use the same CPU for its MacBook Pros.

As for myself, I investigated, but rejected the portable solution because I wanted a home computer with a HUGE hard drive for my music. I also consider that portables are heavy, accident prone and have a shorter useful life. As I didn't need the portability, there was no reason not to buy a quad-core iMac.

Not yet, have a lot to learn. Did take remote into Apple Store where it did not work at all. And the Store's 27" mouse battery was going dead. Bought rechargeable batteries for this new baby.

Took remote back home, pressed Menu & Next for 5 seconds right next to computer, got link symbol, but it still will not turn the volume down on iTunes. Going to set up a Genius Bar appt to get a new one exchanged.

Apple doesn't offer a matte option on the new iMacs, does it? Is there a good 3rd party way to kill the glare? Someone please share true info on this! Thanks.

Those sound like good ideas..but hello?!? Buzz kill!