LG UltraFine 5K - Owners Thread

[richinaus]

Hmm, I was told by an LG support person that only serial numbers 702 and onwards would have the extra shielding. In fact they said to wait for 703 to be sure which suggested maybe not all of February was revised.

I would hope they are not taking returned units and then revising the shielding before selling them as if they were new. I guess it's possible there may have been unsold inventory which was revised at the factory before being sold but I'm pretty sure there are laws against selling the same product twice as if it was new.

Anyway, I should have my new units here tomorrow and will be inspecting them very carefully for any signs of previous use or cosmetic damage. Most importantly I should know pretty quickly if they are suffering from WiFi interference.

I really hope these are 703 or 702 units...

Just got mine. A 701.

Dead on arrival. really pissed off.

This could be the final nail in the coffin for me with Apple for my business.

 

[craig1410]

Just got mine. A 701.

Dead on arrival. really pissed off.

This could be the final nail in the coffin for me with Apple for my business.

I understand how you must feel but I'd suggest taking a deep breath and giving them a chance to put it right first. Stock seems to be more readily available now so there is a chance of a quick turnaround. Feel free to remind me what I just said tomorrow after I unpack my replacement displays...

 

[richinaus]

I understand how you must feel but I'd suggest taking a deep breath and giving them a chance to put it right first. Stock seems to be more readily available now so there is a chance of a quick turnaround. Feel free to remind me what I just said tomorrow after I unpack my replacement displays...

I am wondering though whether I should just not bother committing my business to Apple.
Quite happy with their consumer products, but this is sort of the end for me I think professionally.

I never have had any issues with an Apple product. Not one, which is why I stand by them.
Have had my TB display since launch and has worked every day since.

Apple go to LG for a display and look at the mess.

It doesn't bode well for the professional market, and makes me concerned to invest any further.

Will think about it some more after the deep breaths........

 

[craig1410]

I am wondering though whether I should just not bother committing my business to Apple.
Quite happy with their consumer products, but this is sort of the end for me I think professionally.

I never have had any issues with an Apple product. Not one, which is why I stand by them.
Have had my TB display since launch and has worked every day since.

Apple go to LG for a display and look at the mess.

It doesn't bode well for the professional market, and makes me concerned to invest any further.

Will think about it some more after the deep breaths........

For what it's worth, I am a professional user too and spend all my working hours in front of Apple gear doing web app development as an independent contractor. I've had few issues in the past as well but on balance I don't believe I could find a better supplier than Apple for the equipment I need. You said it yourself that you've never had an issue with Apple before so with some luck this might be a one-off.

Recently I've been using the services of the Apple Retail Store Business Team and I can't praise them highly enough, even considering the LG display situation. They have been helpful, patient and proactive. I would definitely recommend talking to your local business team if you can. I'm only a one man business and they seem to treat me no differently from larger businesses.

Anyway, I hope you get your DOA monitor replaced promptly. Good luck.

 

[richinaus]

For what it's worth, I am a professional user too and spend all my working hours in front of Apple gear doing web app development as an independent contractor. I've had few issues in the past as well but on balance I don't believe I could find a better supplier than Apple for the equipment I need. You said it yourself that you've never had an issue with Apple before so with some luck this might be a one-off.

Recently I've been using the services of the Apple Retail Store Business Team and I can't praise them highly enough, even considering the LG display situation. They have been helpful, patient and proactive. I would definitely recommend talking to your local business team if you can. I'm only a one man business and they seem to treat me no differently from larger businesses.

Anyway, I hope you get your DOA monitor replaced promptly. Good luck.

I use the Business team too and yes they are fantastic. Also agree that no other suppliers are any better, so have decided to give them another go...... I just hope they can sort the desktop situation out sooner rather than later, as I may have no choice but to go PC.

Off to the store in a minute to swap. Great service, which is something that does mean a lot.

 

[MrX8503]

Hmm, I was told by an LG support person that only serial numbers 702 and onwards would have the extra shielding. In fact they said to wait for 703 to be sure which suggested maybe not all of February was revised.

I would hope they are not taking returned units and then revising the shielding before selling them as if they were new. I guess it's possible there may have been unsold inventory which was revised at the factory before being sold but I'm pretty sure there are laws against selling the same product twice as if it was new.

Anyway, I should have my new units here tomorrow and will be inspecting them very carefully for any signs of previous use or cosmetic damage. Most importantly I should know pretty quickly if they are suffering from WiFi interference.

I really hope these are 703 or 702 units...

It doesn't make sense for Apple to pull them off the shelves and still sell them with no shielding. I was under the impression that LG added shielding to unsold inventory.

I'll do more testing before the 14 day return window is up.

 

[richinaus]

It doesn't make sense for Apple to pull them off the shelves and still sell them with no shielding. I was under the impression that LG added shielding to unsold inventory.

I'll do more testing before the 14 day return window is up.

replacement a 701 too.
it is working fine but for anybody wanting to use with a 13" TB MBP it is not great when scaled. Need to use it in standard resolution [which is OK].

The screen is great though and will make a big difference to my day to day work.

Fantastic service by Apple as usual. I had another monitor within a couple of hours. I can't imagine any other supplier acting like that. Would love to be able to hook it up to a 2017 Mac Pro - that would be me set.

 

[MrX8503]

replacement a 701 too.
it is working fine but for anybody wanting to use with a 13" TB MBP it is not great when scaled. Need to use it in standard resolution [which is OK].

The screen is great though and will make a big difference to my day to day work.

Fantastic service by Apple as usual. I had another monitor within a couple of hours. I can't imagine any other supplier acting like that. Would love to be able to hook it up to a 2017 Mac Pro - that would be me set.

What's the date for 701? I'm thinking about returning mine and ordering a new one.

 

[Porkchop Sandwich]

Pleased to report that I have not had any issues whatsoever with the "612" display that I received about a week ago (small sample, I know) Nonetheless, I have been using the display heavily.

*Reading the experience by other professional users, it sounds like I need to finally make contact with the business team at my local Apple Store..never seem to have the time.

 

[craig1410]

Well I received my replacements today and thankfully both are 702 (Feb 2017) serial numbers and seem to be working fine. It'll take a bit of time before I know for sure if they are okay in terms of interference though. I'm going to run it with my router about 3 feet away and then if it's okay after a couple of days I'll try putting it back where it was behind the left hand display and see if that still works.

I returned the original two displays to my nearest Apple retail store and that only took 5-10 mins to process and refund so all good so far...

 

[camhabib]

Got one in about a week ago, was from 2016 (without shielding) so I ordered a new one. Replacement came today (702 serial) but it has a dead pixel. Tried to order a third while I send the first two back but it says I've reached my limit for this product, so I guess I'll be making a trip to the Apple Store to return them today. Kind of disappointed - display looks beautiful but there seem to be no shortage of problems.

 

[MrX8503]

Agreed the display is beautiful, it's too bad it's riddled with interference problems.

Thankfully it's quite simple to return to Apple. I tested mine again and when I touch the router to the monitor, the monitor goes blank.

I'll probably return it and re order.

 

[ZMacintosh]

Got one in about a week ago, was from 2016 (without shielding) so I ordered a new one. Replacement came today (702 serial) but it has a dead pixel. Tried to order a third while I send the first two back but it says I've reached my limit for this product, so I guess I'll be making a trip to the Apple Store to return them today. Kind of disappointed - display looks beautiful but there seem to be no shortage of problems.

All of the ones I've received crashed the Mac and have had dead pixels. Limit for purchasing this product? interesting, I had an issue with exchanging/new orders with Apple as well...kind of a bad experience all around.

Hoping the new sets are decent, kind of thinking of going back to an iMac instead...

 

[craig1410]

Still early days for my 702 displays but one thing I've noticed is that the two displays spring to life much more reliably and quickly when I wake the laptop up from sleep. With the 701 displays it would flash back and forwards as if the displays were saying "after you....no after you...no I insist..." but now they both light up at the same time without any fuss.

I'll report back in a few days and let you know how they are doing.

 

[radus]

Many thanks for your help - got mine yesterday 701 and the package locked like ..second hand, used.. will go back to apple.

 

[jukkhop]

Has the limitation of only working in 4K mode in Windows been batched yet? Does anyone know?

 

[scott_donald]

well been 10 days since I sent mine in for the shielding upgrade so should get mine back at the start of this week...

I am really missing the monitors and decided to put off video projects until I get them...

 

[Home_Brewer]

I ordered (2) on March 6th and received on March 8th. Both arrived with the 702 prefix and are working wonderfully despite the fact that fedex destroyed one of the boxes along the way. They wake quickly and have an amazing picture quality when viewing 5k video. Fingers crossed they continue to work well.

 

[MrX8503]

Sent mine back for an exchange. Hoping I get a 702 model.

 

[blackmondo]

I ordered 2 of these toward the end of Feb, about 2 weeks before shipments started again, from Melbourne, Australia.

Mine ended up being 701 models, but they don't seem to have any problems beyond the (hopefully fixable) issues most people have described here. Neither of them appeared to be repacked or used in any way, but I'm guessing they might be retrofitted with the shielding if they're not Feb builds.

The USB hubs on both of mine are basically useless right now since I can't get my USB mouse and keyboard to reconnect at all when waking the MacBook Pro. This is pretty lame as they're not exactly high-bandwidth USB devices! I would basically forget about using the USB hub for the moment if you're considering a purchase, they seem very buggy. I have a Satechi USB-C hub to take care of that anyway, which works fine.

Cons aside, these are beautiful displays and dual 5K with the new 15inch TB is a setup I've wanted for a long time. Colour reproduction is just staggering - those new OS X color-burst desktops look particularly great.

I really love the industrial design myself, and that's coming from a 5K iMac. The bezels are quite a bit smaller than the iMac's, and the matte black look really fades into the background. As some others have said, this does make them initially look kind of "small" in a way, but this is a good thing as the panel area is obviously the same as Apple's previous 27inch displays. Personally I think they look far more "pro" than the iMac does, but obviously not everyone agrees with that!

Pretty happy here, especially at 25% off. Hoping we see both OS X and/or firmware upgrades soon to fix the remaining issues.

 

[radus]

A Question to the owners of the 702 SN and above:

Did they solve the usb-connection problems and the not consistent recognition of the display using Windows 10 / BootCamp ?
Is MacOS X now allowing a 90 deg. rotation using the VESA mount ?

Many thanks for your help !

 

[athletejmv]

Just got mine. A 701.

Dead on arrival. really pissed off.

This could be the final nail in the coffin for me with Apple for my business.

I called Apple to exchange my Ultrafine 5k and they said they are not doing exchanges because there's no way to tell if I'll get a defective monitor. I was also not able to order a second one due to limited supply. My screen has a pink hue on the left and a dark green-like hue to the right of the screen on lightly colored backgrounds. Pretty annoying. My speakers also crackle. at about 3 bars in with deeper tones/sounds; the Ultrafine 4k I have on hand until I replace the 5k does not exhibit this issue. The late-2016 MacBook pros exhibited some similar issues (without sound crackling issues). This is getting irritating with Apple as their screens always seem a little off.

Good luck to you all. I'm undecided as to whether I'm going to bail on the Apple ecosystem. This crap gets old.

------Edit---------
Well, I was able to order another 5k online. Hopefully this one works out. If not, going to need to consider a Lenovo external monitor (x1 series).
[doublepost=1489423252][/doublepost]

I called Apple to exchange my Ultrafine 5k and they said they are not doing exchanges because there's no way to tell if I'll get a defective monitor. I was also not able to order a second one due to limited supply. My screen has a pink hue on the left and a dark green-like hue to the right of the screen on lightly colored backgrounds. Pretty annoying. My speakers also crackle. at about 3 bars in with deeper tones/sounds; the Ultrafine 4k I have on hand until I replace the 5k does not exhibit this issue. The late-2016 MacBook pros exhibited some similar issues (without sound crackling issues). This is getting irritating with Apple as their screens always seem a little off.

Good luck to you all. I'm undecided as to whether I'm going to bail on the Apple ecosystem. This crap gets old.

------Edit---------
Well, I was able to order another 5k online. Hopefully this one works out. If not, going to need to consider a Lenovo external monitor (x1 series).

I attached a pic of my ultra fine 5k's uneven colors (next to the ultra fine 4k on the left), both images are mirrored from the same MBP 15-2016.

 

[Bostic]

Does anyone have any firm answers on what extended warranties are available beyond the one year? Since it's not an Apple product AppleCare is not an option. I tried LG's web-based chat, useless. Called all the numbers I can find from LG and every rep can't give me a clear, concise answer and simply transfer me around to someone else. Some of them think it's a 27" TV and not a monitor. My Apple business rep at the local Apple Store simply gave me the LG support page.

 

[MrX8503]

I called Apple to exchange my Ultrafine 5k and they said they are not doing exchanges because there's no way to tell if I'll get a defective monitor. I was also not able to order a second one due to limited supply. My screen has a pink hue on the left and a dark green-like hue to the right of the screen on lightly colored backgrounds. Pretty annoying. My speakers also crackle. at about 3 bars in with deeper tones/sounds; the Ultrafine 4k I have on hand until I replace the 5k does not exhibit this issue. The late-2016 MacBook pros exhibited some similar issues (without sound crackling issues). This is getting irritating with Apple as their screens always seem a little off.

Good luck to you all. I'm undecided as to whether I'm going to bail on the Apple ecosystem. This crap gets old.

------Edit---------
Well, I was able to order another 5k online. Hopefully this one works out. If not, going to need to consider a Lenovo external monitor (x1 series).
[doublepost=1489423252][/doublepost]

I attached a pic of my ultra fine 5k's uneven colors (next to the ultra fine 4k on the left), both images are mirrored from the same MBP 15-2016.

That's very odd that they won't do exchanges. If you're within your 14 days they should do exchanges/returns no questions asked.

 

[jimthing]

Does anyone have any firm answers on what extended warranties are available beyond the one year? Since it's not an Apple product AppleCare is not an option. I tried LG's web-based chat, useless. Called all the numbers I can find from LG and every rep can't give me a clear, concise answer and simply transfer me around to someone else. Some of them think it's a 27" TV and not a monitor. My Apple business rep at the local Apple Store simply gave me the LG support page.

AFAICT...

- US/CAN is 1 year. 'Warranty Information: Labor 1 Year / Parts 1 Year':
http://www.lg.com/us/support-product/lg-27MD5K
'Retail Warranty: 1 Year / Corporate Warranty: 1 Year'
http://www.lg.com/ca_en/support/support-product/lg-27MD5KA-B#manuals

- UK/EU is 2 years. 'Monitors: Labour: 24 Months / Parts : 24 Months':
http://www.lg.com/uk/support/warranty
'Information sur la garantie: Main d'œuvre 2 ans / Pièces 2 ans':
http://www.lg.com/fr/support/support-produit/lg-27MD5K

Sucks in the US/CAN, but then you generally pay less to start with. So it's swings and roundabouts on fairness, lol!