Persistent horizontal lines appear on iMac screen

Same problem for my 2 year old iMac. The horizontal lines appeared shortly after 1 year. I brought to Apple Store and got quoted SGD$950 to repair the screen. The cost is more than half the price of the iMac itself. Hopefully Apple acknowledge this issue and offer repair programmes.

So the issue started appearing 3 days ago on the iMac M1 I bought when it first came out, almost 3 years ago.

For reference, model number is Z14M000RWFN/A.

Maybe we should look into the models we got, if this is due to an heating issue, it could have to do with the fact that the base models iMac (similar to the one I got) only have a single fan, whereas the 4 TB4/USB-3 ports models have two of those.

I'm kinda disappointed with all the iMacs I've had tbh. My first 2009 iMac had the yellow screen issue, my 2014 iMac 5K had ghosting issues, and now this one. In retrospective, maybe it was not a bad move from Apple to discontinue the high-end iMac line, given they all have some kind of widespread screen issues.

Sadly, this is not a software issue. You can easily see that if you make a backup. Wipe your drive and reinstall the OS NEW. As many have tried, it won't go away. Component has failed and will need hardware repair.

Sadly, this is the community forum. No one at Apple Support or up will respond. I don't even think they read this stuff here. Anyway, you can bring it to the Apple Store, call Apple Support since this is a hardware issue and not software. Hopefully you have AppleCare and that will cover the cost of the repair.

Horizontal Lines happened to me just today. Bought in Jan 2022. Happened after like 27 months.

Crazy part is display issue happened for me on macbook pro 2017 15 inch after 3.5 years of purchase. Got it replaced for Rs 54000 in india. And keyboard was replaced on it once under warranty.

But keyboard malfunctioned on it too and still does not works effectively. But macbook works nice with external monitor still.

Bought iMac so that if keyboard malfunctions , i can buy it. And it did, after like 16 months, keyboard key 0 stopped working. Bought new keyboard.

But now display issue and that too device that has been on the same place not like moving with macbook.

Again spending same on display. will be too much loss.

Never needed AppleCare before but it seems i should have bought it with iMac.

Just this morning, my 14 pro max dropped and broke back glass but atleast it was my fault not in imac's case.

Double loss on same day. 24/04/2024. I will not forget this day.

This one is 4 usb-c. two fan model.

Yes, it works. It’s not a software issue. It’s a malfunction of the screen so if you replace it for a good one it will work as it should. I got mine replaced with no additional charges because I decided to pay 150€ for a 5 year insurance plan when I purchased it back in 2021.

I have the same issue on my 2021 M1 24" iMac since 2023.11. My screen occasionally flickers and there's a black line fixed appearing at the top. The support told me it would cost 20,000 TWD to replace it. They suggested either using an external monitor or purchasing the latest M3 model would be more cost-effective.

I found the issues all are from after using 2 years.

Since there have been numerous reports of the same issue, shouldn't they initiate a recall to inspect the product problem? 20,000 TWD is already half the price of buying a new one.

Hello @erinaki. I called apple again after like 20 days explained this, that someone is being offered free replacement. They were not quoting price. They said reach the genius bar, drove 1 hour 30 minutes in 48 degree celsius heat to reach the mall, there the genius bar said different countries have different rules/laws. And said i have to pay for this. I thought for a while and had no alternatives.

this is the 2nd mac on which i had to change the display by paying. But it was after 3.5 years on that macbook pro 2017 which was like even if i had apple care , wouldnt have mattered but in the case of imac, it was really necessary like the keyboard failed on me and this display now. Even all my future apple products, will make sure to buy apple care. First time broke my iphone back, because of not so good protection case. And back glass can be changed at like 50 dollars outside local shop but he said i will lose waterproof which is sad

I bought my iMac 24 M3 on May 8, 2024. And everything was fine until I noticed today May 30, 2024 a flickering at the bottom of the screen that is only visible on a gray background, but after a couple of reboots the flickering stopped. As I understand it is definitely related to overheating. I also took a video, I have the Apple warranty, but it still seems to be a problem with all new iMacs.

https://youtu.be/cxE7hrMiO10 - flickering

https://youtu.be/K4tWXNXFSn8 - non flickering.

My Imac which i bought in August 2021 started showing this grey flickering background from about halfway of the screen to the bottom. I have done diagnostics and there is no software or physical damage to it. I am reviewing for my exams and this is so very untimely and very annoying to put it lightly. I trust apple products so much that all devices are apple. What can you do about this? We have all been here asking for your help. This is a a faulty model from your end not ours. I have been very careful in using my imac for the 2.5 years that i have it.

Sure, i Know. It's exactly the same problem, and it's not a software issue. The fact the screen start working better when it took time to be warm says it... It's sad to see an apple product working like the worst low price screen 🥲.

I answered on this topic for those of us who have no other choice than wait to find a solution.

I'm still hoping to get refunded, this is not acceptable from Apple...

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