AppleInsider Staff
Addressing complaints from owners, Apple has decided to institute a replacement program for graphics cards used in specific 27-inch iMac models sold between May 2011 and October 2012.
According to a document on Apple's Support webpage, the AMD Radeon HD 6970M video cards shipped with certain 27-inch iMac desktop configurations would fail, causing the display to "appear distorted, white or blue with vertical lines." In some cases, the screen would simply go black.
Models covered in the replacement program include high-end "mid-2011" 27-inch iMacs with 3.1GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 or 3.4GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processors. The all-in-ones first hit store shelves in May 2011 and remained on sale until the current ultra thin iMacs debuted in October 2012.
Apple will replace failed video cards free of charge for up to three years after the initial purchase date. In addition, people who may have paid for repair or replacement associated with the issue can seek a refund.
Those affected by the issue can take their iMac in for evaluation at the Genius Bar of a local Apple Store or an Apple Authorized Service Provider. If those services are unavailable, owners are instructed to call Apple Technical Support for other further options.
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18 Comments
Do we know WHY the cards are failing? I remember, on the first-gen MBPs, Apple underclocked the Radeon chips by 30% to avoid overheating. Also, is there any evidence that the Mac mini Radeon's might be similarly affected?
I wish Apple would have had a replacement program for the iMacs that had a video card problem in mid 2007.
I've been stuck with 10.6.2 because of it. Only learned about the problem 2 1/2 - 3 years after purchase.
Fortunately 10.6.2 hasn't been that bad. So far there isn't anything I can't do with this computer that I need or want to do.
First time ever in over 20 years that a Mac has failed me.
Do we know WHY the cards are failing?
Three words: lead free solder.
Three words: lead free solder.
But my environment!
Interesting news today: I have exactly this iMac 27" sitting next to me with this very problem. I have an appointment for next week to replace the graphic card AGAIN, since it was replaced under AppleCare just 6 weeks ago for the same problem. I kinda wish that my iMac could receive a completely new card other than AMD 6970M, such as the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2GB GDDR5 used in the new iMacs. Not that I had any previous problems with the AMD, but just to mitigate future problems. I know this tends to be "batch manufacturing" problems, but still would like to keep this iMac working for a long time, as I have with all of my other Macs over the years. Regardless of how convenient, slick, and powerful a fully loaded iMac really is, it does make you reconsider the All-In-One philosophy and buying decision when a problem such as this arises. NOTE: I must say these AMD's run extremely hot! I had the iMac on again yesterday only in Target Disk mode... and it STILL kicked in the fans, even with a busted card. Pulled my preference files and turned it off for fear of frying something else(!) I HATE being afraid of a computer!!!... just sayin'...:smokey: