Apple has launched a replacement programme after it has identified a problem in the hard drives of iMacs sold in 2012 and 2013.

Under this programme, anyone with an affected system will be helped through a free drive replacement.

As per the company's announcement, a very small number of 3TB hard drives used in 27-inch iMac systems may fail under certain conditions', however there are no details regarding the drive considered in the issue and also on the 'certain conditions' which could lead to failure of drive.

The company is alerting people who gave a valid email address when they registered their iMac system about the issue. And the ones who have not received a message from Apple however purchased a 27-inch iMac with a 3TB hard drive between December 2012 and September 2013 have been advised to release their serial number in the related website in order to check if they need replacement of their system.

The replacement is free but it does not include recovery services or data transfer. The replacement will be done at the Genius Bar of an Apple Retail Store or through any Apple Authorised Service Provider.

If someone's drive has already failed, he can claim for a refund of the replacement or repair cost, however people can't claim for data recovery costs linked to the failure. And people having affected drives that are presently working will have to back up their systems prior to go for replacement if they want to keep their data saved.