Community Watch · Apple Silicon iMac

Stop the Black Lines Defect

Owners of 24" iMacs with Apple Silicon are seeing permanent horizontal lines after about two years of normal use. If Apple launches a global service program to fix every affected unit, this site goes offline.

Add your testimony See the evidence

What we’re asking

Worldwide service program now

What’s happening?

Thousands of iMac owners report black horizontal lines that cannot be solved with software. The symptom appears suddenly, survives reinstalls of macOS, and forces users to pay USD 600–700 for a full display swap. Apple has yet to admit a systemic defect.

  • The issue is concentrated on the 24" iMac with the M1 chip, released in 2021.
  • Failures typically occur between month 18 and 24, right after the standard warranty expires.
  • Independent technicians tie the defect to an overheating high‑voltage flex cable integrated inside the LCD assembly.
  • The offensive cable costs roughly USD 1 yet forces a USD 700 module replacement.

Hardware, not software

External monitors work perfectly when connected, proving the GPU is fine and isolating the fault to the built‑in display hardware.

Heat spike on the top-right

Users describe the top-right corner getting “hot enough to fry an egg” right before lines appear—consistent with an overstressed backlight cable.

Identical failures worldwide

Reports come from North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia, which rules out a single bad production batch.

Apple’s response so far

Support agents treat each case individually. Some lucky owners get a free repair “as a courtesy,” but most are told to pay out of pocket.

Our demands

Apple has launched service programs before when courageously confronted. We are asking for:

  1. Global recognition that the 24" iMac M1 display assembly contains a latent defect.
  2. Automatic coverage for every serial number, regardless of warranty status or country.
  3. Monitoring and transparency for the M3/M4 iMac line, with public reporting on failure rates.

When Apple provides a written commitment to these steps, we will remove this website. Until then, we will keep collecting testimonies and amplifying the ongoing hardware crisis.

Escalate your support case

Reference Apple Support thread ID 255220596 and insist on a senior advisor. Cite the 17-page discussion with 760+ confirmations.

Document the defect

Photograph the lines, capture thermal readings near the top-right corner, and keep your repair quotes. Evidence matters.

Share your testimony

Submit your story below. We will publish anonymized stats (no emails) to demonstrate the scale of the failure.

Support consumer advocates

Inform local consumer protection agencies. EU members, cite the two-year legal warranty covering hidden manufacturing defects.

Share your testimony

Let Apple know this isn’t an isolated glitch. Add your name and describe when the lines appeared, what Apple told you, and how much the repair would cost. Entries are stored securely in our database and displayed instantly on this page.

Community testimonies