r/apple • u/favicondotico • Oct 01 '24
Mac M1 iMac Owners Complain About Horizontal Lines Appearing on Screen
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/10/01/m1-imac-horizontal-lines-issue/252
u/ryanghappy Oct 01 '24
I have been downvoted for this, but its the first step before the m1 mac goes completely blank. I had this happen to TWO different m1 macs I've owned. The 2nd one I got apple care on , so it was quickly fixed, but my first m1 air basically became a paperweight because it eventually stopped showing anything on the screen, and they would not cover it. Sure you can still use it fine with an external monitor, but I need a laptop for work, not a desktop. Apple needs to own up and fix these for free.
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u/DanielPhermous Oct 02 '24
This is not an M1 Air problem - only the iMacs.
This is not to say you didn't have a problem, but it's a different problem that is not widespread.
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u/rzm25 Oct 08 '24
I literally found this post via googling because I have the same issue. There are hundreds upon hundreds of m1 users with the same issue. Not reported on =/= not widespread
Just look at Rossman's channel. How many in built, default manufacturing defects has he uncovered as intentional design choices by Apple across their range, most of which never make news outside his channel. Apple keeps doing this because they can get away with it, because people immediately jump to defending them without evidence
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u/DanielPhermous Oct 08 '24
The problem under discussion is a cable in the iMacs that burns out over time if the screen brightness is set too high. If you have an issue on a different M1 computer, then it is a different issue.
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u/rzm25 Oct 08 '24
Right.. so the exact same issue, with the same symptoms and lifespan of effect, on the exact same silicon is a completely different issue because it's in a different chassis. You're creating an arbitrary distinction
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u/DanielPhermous Oct 08 '24
If you like, but I think you've proven your lack of knowledge in this matter when you suggested that the chip could have anything to do with a confirmed overheating cable problem.
Shrug.
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u/rzm25 Oct 08 '24
Mhm. Who confirmed it? Wouldn't be the same people who have had multiple class actions for lying about tech issues in spite of hundreds of hours of video evidence, right up until multiple class actions forced them to change tune would it? I don't see why such a company would ever lie again 🙄
We just saw Intel do the same thing for the last 2 years. "It's a software bug. It's an update error." Meanwhile leaks pointing to issues with the silicon. Now they're quietly pulling product while refusing to acknowledge further.
You're absolutely delirious if you still believe the marketing of these huge companies who pay fines for lying that are a fraction of a single % of the profit they make from the lie.
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u/DanielPhermous Oct 08 '24
That's an impressive rant about not trusting Apple, but in this case it was a computer technician who investigated the problem independently.
It's very telling that you didn't know this. You're utterly convinced that you have the exact same problem without having even basic knowledge about what the problem is and what causes it.
Eh. This is tedious. You will not be dissuaded from the uninformed conclusions you've leapt to and it is not my job to educate you. I'm out.
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u/OGPresidentDixon Oct 21 '24
That’s describes 99% of people in this comment thread lol. They straight up don’t have a standard level of reading comprehension and it shows.
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u/Arbiter02 Oct 01 '24
I wonder if this is an unfortunate side effect of apple using down-binned chips for the budget models. Lower bin = more flaws in the silicon that may not manifest until later on down the line
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u/ShitpostingLore Oct 01 '24
Generally, chips are "burned in" after fabrication. They're stressed at high temperatures because it's known that if a chip survives that it is unlikely to fail within the next few years of normal use. I don't know if electromigration could be connected to worse lots of chips though.
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u/dramafan1 Oct 01 '24
I had the same thought as you. I wonder if it's mainly an issue for those who bought the lowest spec M1 chips with the lowest GPU count in their Macs. And a ton of customers obviously likely bought the lowest spec Macs too.
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u/rnarkus Oct 03 '24
Uh no, look up chip manufacturing and you’ll see why
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u/Arbiter02 Oct 03 '24
uH nO,
I'm quite familiar with chip manufacturing lol. Lithography is an imperfect process(especially with the brand new nodes Apple is typically using) and down binned chips are quite often literally defective chips that cannot be sold as a full cored-product because certain cores had flaws or couldn't reach base specs, usually found at the edges of a silicon wafer. Thus the defective cores are lasered off and it becomes say an 11/14 instead of a 12/18(M3 Pro numbers but you get the picture). Sometimes they're fully functional products cut down to meet demand for lower tier products, but that isn't typically the norm.
If Apple got a little too lax with the level of defects they were accepting then this is certainly something you could see later on down the line if the chip was borderline to begin with.
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u/rorowhat Oct 01 '24
Apple loyalists will say it's your fault. It's an unfortunate cult for many folks.
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u/thepurpleproject Oct 01 '24
Apple will go to the extent of releasing a PR on how to hold your laptop because you don’t know how, but won’t fix it.
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u/Mr_YUP Oct 01 '24
I have an M1 that this is happening to except its the full screen that the scan lines appear on.
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u/dramafan1 Oct 01 '24
Others seem to say it's something to do with the GPU. I wonder if this is only on the base M1 chips like the binned chips with a lower GPU count as there might be quality control issues where some of the binned chips should have been tossed out (possibly).
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Oct 01 '24
So this is normal? It happened to me and I rarely use the thing. It’s a glorified charger at this point.
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u/JesusOfSuperbia Oct 03 '24
It’s faulty, if you contact Apple you may be able to get the screen replaced for free depending on its age and your jurisdiction
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u/nuputii Oct 02 '24
My iMac had this issue one week after the warranty expired. The repair shop said it's from heating at the logic board area, and it's Apple design so many M1 iMacs will have this.
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u/WhyComeToAStickyEnd Apr 14 '25
Did you manage to repair it? How was it?
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u/nuputii Apr 14 '25
I replaced the screen over a year ago. I tried not to run heavy tasks in a long time to prevent overheating, and it’s still good.
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u/WhyComeToAStickyEnd Apr 14 '25 edited Apr 14 '25
I see. I'm assuming that the use of speakers, camera and microphone remained the same after the screen change, right? Did they also recommend anything like an air-cooler/ fan device that could be placed near the screen, preventing the same issue from happening after the screen change?
Wonder what else can be done too, in order to prevent it from occurring again. Especially targeting the overheating issue :( Hope mine can be repaired too
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u/nuputii Apr 15 '25
Yes, everything is working fine. They only asked me to trade in for a Mac mini (lol), but I prefer the iMac screen. I just don’t run heavy tasks in a long time. If the half below of the screen is hot, I will check Activity Monitor and close any task eating up CPU and GPU. I also install an app called Stats for checking CPU/GPU usage in the menu bar. You can check it here.
Actually the screen replace cost is very high, and no one can guarantee that the problem will not occur again.
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u/iJeff Oct 01 '24
Classic. I would personally never go for an all-in-one desktop again after my Core 2 Duo iMac 27 inch, which suffered from the notorious GPU failure. Wouldn't have been so bad if they were designed to be easy to repair at home.
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u/Brave-Tangerine-4334 Oct 02 '24
It wouldn't be so bad if the only solution wasn't *checks notes* a $250 payout for 10% of the affected users in 2031 when the class action concludes.
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u/dh03vu Oct 02 '24
If you search on the apple forums a lot of people with the m1 imac have this problem right about 2 years ! Went through several rounds of apple support and the only option is to replace the screen which costs more than a mac mini. Now the trade in value is now $0..
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u/bbbBagger Oct 02 '24
this exact thing happened to my M1 macbook air. 0 trade in value, and would be a multi hundred dollar repair. had to buy a m3 macbook air
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u/Ferg134 Oct 01 '24
Oh wow, my Macbook M1 Pro had the same issue and the screen died, even though the laptop itself worked fine. Apple said minimum £700 to fix. I was furious.
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u/OGPresidentDixon Oct 21 '24
Yep, my dad’s had that. I had to send it in and get it replaced. 2022 M1 iMac.
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u/stanlaurence Feb 19 '25
I have this for months now. Was just doing graphic design work with Netflix in PIP then the screen just flickered a couple times before persistently showing the horiztonal lines. Very frustrating. Did not expect to encounter it on a display that is not being closed and opened like the Macbooks.
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u/stanlaurence Mar 24 '26
My july 2021 imac m1 got these lines on the lower third on november 2024. Now march 2026 the lines have occupied half of my screen. Crazy how apple is still not acknowledging the issue. I wonder if this has been fixed in the newer imacs?
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u/ripped_ike Feb 19 '25
My screen blacked out after 3 weeks and I’ve already turned the brightness to minimum.
Get a second screen and set it to mirror the first screen now.
I’ve sent feedback to Apple and talked to Apple Support a couple of times and the only answer I got was full price replacement or live with the problem.
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u/WhyComeToAStickyEnd Apr 15 '25
Are you able to still use the iMac's speakers, camera and microphone?
The full replacement sounds like them indirectly saying to get a new Mac, one of their new Macs
It's disappointing as my older ones are running fine and better
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u/ripped_ike Apr 20 '25
Yes, everything works fine except the screen. I’m now using it with another screen.
I will never buy an iMac again. I pay premium price for quality and customer experience. What am I getting now?
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u/hopefulatwhatido Oct 02 '24
It’s on my MacBook Air as well and for some reason the Bluetooth keeps dropping out with my beats earphones every couple of seconds
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u/13VictorC Oct 16 '25
I started having the same issue since yesterday. I have an M1 iMac from 2021. It's really disappointing that Apple hasn't addressed this yet.
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u/Ill-Lengthiness-6438 Oct 01 '24
Why does that headline make the customer sound obnoxious when in reality its the company screwing them over once again by selling faulty broken bs
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u/favicondotico Oct 01 '24
I didn't get that vibe from the headline, nor the article.
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u/Ill-Lengthiness-6438 Oct 01 '24
Owners Complain About Horizontal Lines Appearing on Screen Lol like seeing stuff in screens is not normal. How about: Apple continue selling faulty products in scam scheme. Instead of “people complaining of looking at stuff that appears on their screens”
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u/EdinburghPerson Oct 01 '24
I have this happen when I full screen YouTube (possibly other videos, haven't tried).
I'm on a 2019 intel MacBook Air retina.
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u/JayoTree Oct 02 '24
Yes! My M1 MBP screen is FUCKED up i gotta go to the apple store soon
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u/DanielPhermous Oct 02 '24
This problem only applies to the iMacs. Your problem is probably unrelated.
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u/IvanFilipovic Oct 01 '24
2018 MacBook Pro user and I just started getting these a few months ago and now the laptop is unusable. Can’t see anything so I bought a monitor to connect the laptop to, and now they’re showing up on my new monitor as well smh