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There was a crooked man who bought a crooked M1 iMac, and we presume they lived together in a little crooked house
It's Crookedgate! Folks report receiving whizzy Apple gear with slightly wonky displays
Poor old Apple. First came "Antennagate", then Butterflygate, then "Batterygate". Now, owners of the M1 iMac are complaining about slightly lopsided screens.
For obvious reasons, we're calling it "Crookedgate".
Taking to Reddit and the official Apple Support Community, some M1 iMac early adopters have reported receiving units with stands positioned at a slight angle.
This deviation can be measured by taking a ruler and measuring the distance between the bottom of each corner of the display and the desk surface. On the Apple Support Community, one user reported a difference of just 1mm, while YouTuber Faruk Korkmaz claimed his iMac is 4mm askew (he measured one side of the display as sitting 8cm above where its stand/foot rests on the desk, and the other sitting at 7.6cm above the surface).
The normal clearance between the bottom of M1 iMac's display and the surface where it it standing is exactly 8cm.
"When it was time to take the beauty shots, I noticed it hanging a little to the side," said Korkmaz, who runs the popular iPhonedo channel. "Once you see it, you can't unsee it."
As iFixit learned in its recent teardown, Apple has opted to mount the M1 iMac with seven Torx screws. Conceivably, this issue could be remedied by unscrewing and reattaching the stand.
- Apple, it's OK. Seriously. You don't need to blind your iOS 15 engineers to prevent leaks
- With incoming iOS 15, update refuseniks will be given choice to stay where they are while still receiving security patches
- Apple ditches support for pre-2015 MacBook Air, Pro laptops with macOS Monterey
- Apple's macOS 12 adds improved virtualization though no sign of anything like Boot Camp on M1 silicon
True to form, this task is easier said than done. Presumably to give the machine a more streamlined aesthetic, Apple has placed the screws on the interior of the iMac. To gain access, punters would have to physically remove the display panel, which requires a special tool to cut through the adhesive holding it in place.
We suspect most people would find it less stressful to simply return the device to Apple if they're still within their returns window, or otherwise make a booking at the Genius Bar to get it fixed. Or they could - perish the thought - ignore it and buy a PC.
The Register asked Apple whether this is a recognised problem, how widespread it is, and what it recommends customers do in order to achieve a perfect 180˚angle.
We note Apple currently has a market capitalisation of $2.18 trillion. Spirit levels can be found on Amazon for less than £2. ®