Late 2009 27" imac...smudges under screen

Was cleaning up my late 2009 imac to get ready to sell when I noticed what can only be described as "smudges" under the display (as in under the glass), in the upper right corner.

Never noticed it before due to the desktop background I'd been using the past several years, but with a white background it is pretty obvious.

Is this something that can be rectified?

Have you ever opened the screen? I believe that the 2009 model year holds the front glass in place with magnets, so look up the necessary instructions on iFixIt and perhaps you can clear up the smudges..

I have something similar on my 2010 iMac, except it's in the top left corner. I thought it was dust, but when I removed the glass panel to do a drive swap, I found the LCD was damaged. It looked like maybe it was exposed to too much heat for an extended period.

Raz0rEdge said:

Have you ever opened the screen? I believe that the 2009 model year holds the front glass in place with magnets, so look up the necessary instructions on iFixIt and perhaps you can clear up the smudges..

Click to expand...

No...Not so sure it's anything that can be cleaned up after doing further reading on the internet.

Not sure what I am going to do now. If the screen has issues I'm not going to get nearly as much as I had thought i would for it.

I just may end up keeping it now and using it as basement/shop computer for those times I am working on something and too lazy to run upstairs to look something up.

Hard to believe this thing is over 5 years old already. Seems like I just bought it recently..

Some of the older iMacs (which yours is) would draw dust up behind the glass because of the way they're cooled. (Dust can enter the vents beneath the display.) It may pay for you to remove the glass and check. If it's a dust or dirt smudge you can remove it, however, if it's a hot spot like member Lifeisabeach reported that his was, then it can't be removed.