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User profile for user: PanicPatty
PanicPatty Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Vertical lines on iMac screen, frozen screen

I use an iMac purchased in 2010. My screen got vertical lines over the browser page and froze all functions. I turned off the computer, let it rest. When I turned the computer on again, I got the tone, then the login view showed but before I could enter my login info, the vertical lines took over the screen again. Eventually the screen turned white or blank.


Applecare is closed for the holiday. Apple store Genius Bar tech told associate that I should bring the computer in for diagnostic as the problem may be the display or it may be the hard drive. They also suggested I check with AppleCare for a possible login work around.



Does anyone have any experience with this issue? This is an iMac purchased 2011 and the operating system quit accepting updates quite a few versions ago. Still works fine, until today.


Thanks for any info.

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Jan 1, 2022 4:19 PM

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User profile for user: HWTech
HWTech
User level: Level 9
60,164 points

Posted on Jan 2, 2022 2:01 PM

Vertical lines usually indicate a bad LCD Panel. You can try connecting an external display, but it can be very hard to get a Mac to use an external display. You will likely need to log in blindly. You can log in blindly by typing the first character of one of the names of the user account(s) and pressing the "Return" key, then typing the password for that user account and submitting the password by pressing the "Return" key. This assumes you normally see a login screen with your user account(s) listed on screen.


Regardless of the hardware problem it will be an expensive repair. A 2010 iMac is not worth repairing.

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User profile for user: HWTech
HWTech
User level: Level 9
60,164 points

Jan 2, 2022 2:01 PM in response to PanicPatty

Vertical lines usually indicate a bad LCD Panel. You can try connecting an external display, but it can be very hard to get a Mac to use an external display. You will likely need to log in blindly. You can log in blindly by typing the first character of one of the names of the user account(s) and pressing the "Return" key, then typing the password for that user account and submitting the password by pressing the "Return" key. This assumes you normally see a login screen with your user account(s) listed on screen.


Regardless of the hardware problem it will be an expensive repair. A 2010 iMac is not worth repairing.

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Vertical lines on iMac screen, frozen screen

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