Should Apple recall the iMac G5?
Damien Barrett thinks it might be time for a recall, and he just might be right. It seems that one of the boards on the early iMacs many not have been manufactured as well as it could have been which is leading to many reports of dead, and dying, iMacs.
This is just a theory, however, the large number of these machines that seem to be failing point to some sort of systematic problems. The only person I know who bought one had several problems with her's (all covered under warranty) until she got so feed up that she sold her iMac and bought a Dell.
Have any of you iMac G5 owners out there had similar experiences to Damien's?
Share
Categories
The iMac G5 is one sexy machine. The screen is flawless, the industrial design is unrivaled, but why are so many of them encountering...
Add a Comment
about 3 months into owning my iMac G5 in Sep of 05 the machine's fan started getting really loud - how loud, you could be in another room and know that it's on! Then in March 06 the screen kept dying out staying on for shorter periods, at times mere seconds before shutting down. Finally in July 06 I got the Logicboard replaced along with a better, quieter fan...now in 07, my machine won't wake up from sleep mode - my warrenty is about to expire so I'll go before year's end. I think Apple wanted to create defective machines, think about it, it helps their bottom line and works for shareholders too.
November 19 2007 at 2:22 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI have a first generation iMac G5 and have had lots of trouble with it. The midplane has been replaced twice, the LCD has moved inside the case, it goes to sleep when used more than lightly, strong fan noise, broken printer support (technically a Mac OS X Tiger issue). Check out my blog for the full story.
Seriously looking for a class action suit to join and seriously considering getting rid of all my Apple products (iMac G5 + iSight + iPod).
Purchased my G5 Imac three months ago and everything was fine at first, then it wouldn't read my printer and print shop software. I had to turn the computer off for a day return and everything was fine. Other than these small problems I think the G5 is a great machine. Thanks
October 06 2005 at 3:47 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replywell it ain't a total recall but it is a start http://www.apple.com/support/imac/repairextensionprogram/
August 24 2005 at 11:02 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI am having a ton of problems with my 20" iMac that was bought in December 2004. The thing worked great for like two months before I started to notice some problems. It would crash applications and then finally the whole thing just stopped working all together, the screen went black and the machine wouldnt boot at all. So they then started to throw replacement parts at me thinking I'll shut up. I was an hour or so from the Apple Store at college and they kept telling me to drive there and drop it off. I told them I would ship it but they would pay the charges and they declined. So the parts just kept coming. New midplane didn't fix the issue and only found more problems with the machine. The video card connection to the LCD was broken as well. So Apple sent out a technician who replaced everything. The machine worked again for like a week before it started to crash again. So after calling in and speaking to level 2 specialists I finally got a person who would replace the machine. So I was happy again. Not for long though, the new machine they sent to me was not up to spec with what I had paid for. I had to deal with that issue and once again they started throwing parts at me. Replaced the hard drive and the machine worked again, briefly. It started acting up and refused to boot one time about a month ago. I reformatted and it went back to normal (like my 4th or 5th reformat!) but that was short lived as well. The thing crashed again on me last night. I/O error is preventing the thing from even booting up. I have had their technicians guarantee that replacement parts would show up. Simply to find out that they werent ordered. So in light of all my problems and all the cell phone minutes, time and lost work oportunities I have suffered because of this little issue, I have called and complained a few times. Only to get a stick of memory 512mb memory. I have spoken with an attorney and we are about to proceed with some formal grievences if this doesn't get resolved.
August 18 2005 at 10:54 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyPurchased a 20" iMacG5 in December 2004, the power supply went out (fried) in June 2005, 2 week to repair.....Apple sent me a new Lacie d2 external 250GB hard drive for FREE for my trouble...........Thanks Apple. No problem since the PS replacement.
August 11 2005 at 7:04 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyBought a new iMac G5 last fall. Beautiful design. Figured it would be a great investment. It died suddenly in May of this year after only a few months of home use. Finally pitched a fit to Apple on the phone after trying to get a new power supply for weeks. Received the new power supply, installed and started right up! Only lasted a week or so and now the mouse is frozen in place and no longer works. Hence, its dead again. At this point, I don't know if I'll ever buy another Mac. I have a little HP thats run fine since buying it months ago without a single hiccup. If anyone has an idea on my G5's mouse, please help. I'm afraid if I take it down to Apple for repair, I'll throw it through the door;-)
August 09 2005 at 3:07 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyYes! Take it to apple guys! I am considering buying one of these machines because I need a new computer, but now I'm goign to wait. Many, Many imac G5 machines have failed at the company where I work all around me. DO NOT BUY APPLE NOT THAT THEY MAKE LEMONS... I had everything on my last powerbook laptop replace twice by apple. It was broken right out of the box and they would not replace, only "fix it" Only now after countless hours waitng, tech support, tiem and expense they have returned it to me "fixed" completely scratched up.... and the guy who handed it to me said. OK NOW IT'S FIXED, HOPE IT DOESN'T BREAK, YOU ARE OUT OF WARRANTY. Well I say....FOCK APPLE! IT WAS BROKEN THE WHOLE TIME IT WAS UNDER WARRANTY.
July 27 2005 at 2:26 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyMy computer (G5 iMac, 1.8GHz, Superdrive, 17-inch) started out with minor video problems and progressively got worse until, finally, when I would turn it on, all I would get was a scrambled, checkerboard-type image with several colors in it - sort of hard to explain. Anyway, even though my computer was still under warranty -- I only had it for about two months -- I'm very angry with Apple. Not only for this issue, but for the fact that I got the runaround on the phone with their tech support, and was lied to several times by the technician, who told me that, despite my warranty, I had to pay $170 for on-site service, and that I had no other choice; that was the ONLY way I could get it repaired. I even asked if I could ship it somewhere and pay for the shipping, but he told me flat-out: "No"! He tried to tell me that there were no Apple-certified service centers within 500 miles of Dayton, Ohio (which, for the record, includes Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Ga., Milwaukee, Wi, St. Louis, Mo. and many other major cities). So the $170 was my only option - period. He also lied and told me that my 90-day phone support had expired by giving me a bogus purchase date (about 60 days before I actually purchased and registered my machine). I even had to fax over my receipt (for a third time) with my purchase date on it to straighten that out, which I'm still not sure if I ever fixed that problem because I never received a reply from Apple. So eventually, I found the phone numbers of two Apple-certified repair centers within 5 miles of my home. I was SOOOO ANGRY -- and still am. So, that's where I'm at now. I dropped off my iMac at the local service center, and they say it probably will take at least 10-14 days to fix it. So, I'm computer-less at home for at least two weeks. For the record, this iMac is the seventh Apple computer I purchased within 5 years, of which I still own three. It is, however, my last. As much as I hate to do it, I'm going back to the PC world after this ... sad.
July 24 2005 at 5:31 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyHad my Mac 20" since Oct. 04. So far so good... Put it to sleep when I'm done, never turn it off. No fan noise, but mostly surf, no heavy app usage. I love my machine.
July 16 2005 at 2:43 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyHot Apps on TUAW
Deals of the Day
more deals- Verizon Leather Sleeve for Tablets for $4 + free shipping
- Wicked Jaw Breaker Noise-Isolating In-Ear Headphones for $6 + free shipping
- Refurb Apple MacBook Air Laptops: 12" 64GB SSD for $699 + free shipping
- JVC Motion Sensing Clock Radio with Dual iPod Docks for $55 + free shipping
- Apple iPhone Headset with Mic for $4 + $2 s&h
- Refurb Apple iPod nano 8GB MP3 Player for $99 + free shipping, 16GB for $119
Software Updates
more updates- EFI Firmware Update brings Lion Internet Recovery to 2010-model Macs
- OS X Lion 10.7.3 released with Safari 5.1.3, Wi-Fi bug fix
- Aperture updated to 3.2.2, addresses Photo Stream issue
- Apple updates Keynote to address Lion issues
- Google Search app gets new look on iPad
- Apple releases Apple TV Software Update 4.4.3



72 Comments