Persistent horizontal lines appear on iMac screen

Nearly a year after reporting this problem to Apple I got a call today from someone about this issue. They knew the date I took in my computer to be assessed and knew about this forum which is where they get a lot of their info. The call was from an official Mac number, I checked.

Anyway it just made everything way worse. We went through the problem, what I did, what the Apple store told me, how much it was going to cost for a new display and why I decided just to get a new Imac. We also went through how the official Apple site tell you to send in your "old" Mac for credit toward your new one and how when I did that they adjusted my credit/refund down to zero because of some alleged smudges on the display.

So the caller had asked me if I still had the computer and told me if I did they could have replaced it for free.

So if I had held on to the defective item for a year, not chosen to get the credit for it which they denied anyway, I could have got a free replacement, which seems to be them acknowledging responsibility on some level.

But no, this call just served to tell me not only did they sell me a bad product, then deny the credit they indicated was due, but now are taunting me with "you could have had a new one for free." Ha ha. Wow.

To be clear, the caller was very nice and helpful and was doing her job trying to gather info, but I don't get why Apple would run things this way.

The steps to contact Apple Customer Support are:

1- Go to Apple.com;

2- On the Menu, choose "Support" and click on "Mac";

3- On the "Mac Support" page, click on "iMac";

4- At the bottom of the page, under "Service and Repair", click on "Sign in to My Support" link;

5- On the "My Devices" page, choose the pertinent device (iMac in this case);

6- On the iMac page, under "Telephone Technical Support" click on "Contact Apple Support >";

7- On the "Get support" page of your iMac, click on the "(...) More" menu button;

8- Then click on the "🖥️ Display" button;

9- On the next page confirm if "More" and "Display" are the options you choose, and if so, click on "Continue" button;

10- On the next page, under "Contact", you'll see the "Chat" button. Click on it!

Good luck!

PS

Take into account what I've said here:

I purchased my iMac directly from Apple on 7/12/21. This was my first Mac. On 11/7/24 my screen went bad exactly as described here. Went to Genius Bar and was diagnosed with a defective display needing an out-of-warranty repair. I didn't get an exact cost, knowing I did not want to go that route. I have mothballed the iMac and have sought an alternative solution. Of course, this product failure is not acceptable and I am hoping Apple provides a solution.

The exact issue is happening with my iMac 2021, which also has roughly two years of use. The flickering horizontal lines just appeared out of nowhere. This iMac has no physical damage whatsoever. It has been sitting on my desk all this time, never been dropped, never been hit by other things, and all of a sudden this issue just popped out.

I tried doing screen record, screenshot, using an external monitor, and the issue was never replicated. So this must be a hardware issue, exactly the same as with the other complaints on this thread. This has greatly affected my work as I am doing graphics design.

I do hope Apple will take this issue seriously since this could not just be a mere coincidence given the amount of reports on this issue reported on this thread. I will try to contact Apple or go to my nearest Apple Center to have this one sorted out.

iMac 2021 Display Issue - Dark Flickering Horizontal Lines

Same issue here with an iMac M1 purchased in late 2021 in Japan. The problem started at about the three-year mark, with half the display obscured by thin horizontal lines (sometimes horizontal and vertical) flickering on and off. Thanks to the information and feedback provided in this thread, it seems well-documented as a parts failure. This is the second problem with an iMac display, but this time I’m still covered by AppleCare+. I’ll be contacting Apple and will report back hopefully with a resolution.

I'm Glad that they re-open the thread. Congrats @latVm

Anyway, I spent almost an hour on support, and even got a call from a supervisor, and he read al the forums, and acknowledged my issue, but there was no plan from Apple to solve it or to make any discount or exception on a new screen.

I had to take it and pay for a new screen, so, the costo of almost a new device.

I have the same problem. Purchased the M1 IMac 24 inch in Jan 2022. About 2.5 years into purchase, lines started from on the bottom of the screen and the box of lines would move up to the center of the screen and would flicker sometimes. This computer was 2K so I did not think I would have these issues 2 years after purchase. Currently the screen has turned dark and I cannot see anything at all.

This problem is limited to the M1 24" iMacs. However if you decide to go the replacement route you might consider what I did: got an Mac Mini M4 with a external monitor.

I go the M4 with 16 GB of RAM and a 1 TB drive for $999. The monitor I got is a 32" LG 4K monitor with speakers for $331. If you can live either the minimal Mac Mini speaker you can take about $100 off the price or go with a 27" monitor. A similarly configured 24" iMa is $1900 or about $500 more than the mini.

Just some food for thought.

I contacted Apple Support after the Apple Store Genius Bar told me they couldn't do anything other than replace the screen for $700. The support person acted like I was wasting his time because it was past the one year warranty. I told him I was aware that it was past warranty and mentioned this thread as evidence that this was a widespread issue due to a manufacturing defect rather than a problem that surfaced due to my use of the iMac. I asked him if I could talk to his supervisor for the purposes of escalating the issue. He got concerned that I was trying to get him in trouble and so I reiterated to him that the reason for the escalation was that I acknowledged that he may not have the power to make an exception to allow me to have my repair paid for. He finally agreed but I could tell that he still thought I was wasting his time.

His supervisor took his side, which I hope means that he's in great hands as a workplace. But from my customer point of view, he seemed like he was trying to get rid of me. He did not want to acknowledge that this issue was a real documented issue, and told me that I should just make sure I updated the operating system and that the problem would most likely go away if I did that. At that point I gave up.

Some details: I've started experiencing this issue since yesterday. Fortunately for me, right now it's just one horizontal, 1-pixel-thick black line near the bottom of my screen, which sometimes turns into multiple flickering lines (this happens when the brightness goes up, I think. I have turned off the auto-brightness and am using my iMac at low brightness as I'm not willing to test this hypothesis). I bought my M1 iMac in June of 2021, immediately after it was released here in India. It's a lightly used machine without a single scratch.

As I mentioned earlier, I kind of know what led up to this issue in my case. I recently updated my iMac to Sequoia 15.0.1. I usually never update to a new OS this early. Then, the night before the display issue, I was checking out the animated/dynamic screen-savers/wallpapers from Apple (I haven't checked them out before, so I was curious). A few minutes later my machine hung up and I had to force shut down by long-pressing the power button. I didn't think much about it and went to sleep. The next day, as I booted my iMac, I started seeing the line.

[Edited by Moderator]

I spent a couple of days talking to Apple support and taking my Mac to an Apple store. The Apple support person said that he could not help me with this as my device was out of warranty (I did mention about this thread to him). I did not get an answer on how to stop this issue from getting worse. The price quoted to me to replace the screen is Rs.60000, or about $700 USD.

From what I’ve seen here in the Apple Community, continuing to use the iMac despite these issues may not just result in a gradual worsening of the lines, but it could potentially lead to more significant problems. For example, there are reports in this very thread of a user experiencing a complete screen blackout, and another who mentioned a burn mark appearing on the edge of their monitor. While it might seem manageable now, it’s worth considering that these defects could escalate, potentially leading to more severe consequences. If possible, it might be a good idea to address the issue proactively.

Thanks to the tips posted by VanCitySean on Jun 22, 2024 at 9:40 AM, I was able to get a free replacement from Apple Japan. 

As that post was so helpful and encouraging to me, I am going to post a translated version on a Japanese Apple Support Community page. There is a thread starter facing this same problem and seeking advice on how to get their iMac throughly inspected. (The thread starter took it to an Apple authorized Service Provider, but didn’t get a satisfactory response and was simply offered a paid repair.)

I don’t know if VanCitySean will notice my message, but I'd like to express my sincere appreciation to you. You are the best!

I have two 2021 M1 iMacs having the same issue after +3 years of use. Genius bar offer a US$700 expensive repair option, which I refused to accept. Given my own experience and the threads I read so far, I believe this is a systematic issue rather than an isolated one. As a loyal Apple user, it is sad that it does not seem Apple is taking care of this issue seriously.

[Edited by Moderator]

It's unfortunate that this situation keeps happening. According to previous threads, this is a uniquely Apple issue across multiple products such as the laptops since 2001. It's honestly quite shocking that this issue still hasn't been fixed and honestly, I'm quite disappointed with the quality and lifespan of such a luxury product. Have been a loyal fan since I converted from Android devices, but cases like this makes me think twice.