We were blown away by the design of the new 2021 iMac when Apple revealed it back in April. The colourful aesthetic is a delightful throwback to the company's quirky desktops of yore, but with a sleek and contemporary profile. But a potential manufacturing error has some iMac owners less than impressed.
It seems some 2021 iMacs have been shipping with a slightly crooked mount, meaning the display is not perfectly aligned. 'Not perfectly designed' is, of course, very un-Apple – and a tilted screen isn't what we expect from one of the best computers for graphic design.
The new 2021 iMac (Image credit: Apple)
In his video review of the M1 iMac (below), YouTuber iPhonedo reveals that his display arrived slightly tilted to one side, a disparity he was able to confirm using a ruler. And iPhonedo isn't alone – users have also taken to both Reddit (below) and even Apple's own support forums to complain of slightly wonky displays (cue endless 'Tim Crooked' jokes).
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And with that, we've no doubt thousands of brand new iMac users will be taking a ruler to their device. Thankfully, Apple's returns policy is known to be generous – if your machine is affected and is less than two weeks old, the company will likely replace it with no questions asked.
While the issue looks to be relatively minor, it is of course surprising to see something like this sneak past Apple's famously rigorous quality control. Visual defects are so rare on Apple products that anomalies can become collectors items – like this super-rare iPhone with a misprinted Apple logo.
Thankfully, the issue appears to be rare (Image credit: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Thankfully, the wonky display appears to be a pretty rare issue – after measuring both sides of the screen, many users have been happy to report in the comments that their iMac is perfectly straight. We're big fans of the new all-in-one (check out our M1 iMac review) – but if you're going to take our advice and splash out on the new machine, you might want to invest in a spirit level at the same time. Take a look at our best Apple deals if you're in the market for new kit.
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Daniel John is Design Editor at Creative Bloq. He reports on the worlds of design, branding and lifestyle tech, and has covered several industry events including Milan Design Week, OFFF Barcelona and Adobe Max in Los Angeles. He has interviewed leaders and designers at brands including Apple, Microsoft and Adobe. Daniel's debut book of short stories and poems was published in 2018, and his comedy newsletter is a Substack Bestseller.
