Unfortunately, at least according to the buzz over at Apple’s support discussion forums, it seems there’s somewhat of a pattern where brand new Quad Core i7 iMacs are showing up DOA or with a cracked screen, mostly in the lower left corner. As if waiting weeks to receive a custom ordered Core i7 iMac wasn’t bad enough, now you have to deal with these issues as well. It just doesn’t seem fair.
Still, anyone buying a first generation product as advanced as the Quad Core i7 iMac should be aware that these types of cutting edge products can have issues. The first model of anything is usually not the one you want to go out and get. That is, unless you like to be a de facto “Beta Tester’ for the product.
Some around the Internets have speculated that the packaging might be inadequate for the giant 27″ computers and the bumpy journey from China to the USA is what’s causing the screen cracking issue, but one would like to think that Apple wouldn’t make such an amateur mistake, especially given their penchant for innovative and thoroughly reliable packaging. Fortunately, according to reports, Apple is taking care of customers in these situations but it is a bit of a bummer after watiting several weeks or months for a new iMac, only to have it need to go in for service.
With the holiday season upon us, its also not a great time for Apple to be shipping products with problems. Still, given their track record with sales and their ever increasing share of the marketplace, this one little (or two little) issue probably won’t have much of an effect on their bottom line. In short, I think Apple is gonna be just fine.
