Apple Begins Shipping LG UltraFine 4K Displays

[sofila]

But in any case this video editor who got early access to a MacBook Pro is going to be completely objective about his experience in his review right? You still believe the media? (note I'm not saying that it's not true I'm just saying that consider the source)

This video editor review has been around since 2-3 days at least. Thomas Grove Carter tweeted about his "excitement" on November 2. You obviously are not going to say anything wrong about the kind tool offered a couple of weeks before the others' availability. Don't bite the hand that feeds you.
Is he telling lies? No
Is he biased? Of course
Is he reliable? Maybe

 

[theluggage]

And now we have reverse-sheeple who look at some rather debatable design details instead of looking at the pixels of this display, at brightness, colour gamut and so on.

Well, we can't look at "brightness, colour gamut and so on" until these displays land in the hands of objective reviewers and we find out whether they're in competition with economy displays costing $400 or pro displays costing $1000+. Personally, my beef is with the pessimal combination of LG "looks" with Apple's characteristic gimped connectivity (no displayport/HDMI inputs or USB-A out).

If the parts of a monitor are mostly already made and they just have to design a chassis and pop in the parts, Apple could have a monitor that fits with the Apple vision, for very little cost.

Actually, to be fair, I suspect that there's nothing "just" about the design and tooling costs for a Apple-style 'hewn from solid aluminium' chassis - and anything else would look like a cheap knock-off, so maybe its best to go for black plastic.

What we don't know is how many displays Apple actually sells - but one gets the impression that the old Thunderbolt display wasn't exactly shifting like hotcakes. Thing is, if you're choosing an external monitor then a big issue is choice - do you want 27", 28", 30", bigger, flat, curved, 4k, 5k, or maybe a 3440x1440 "UWQHD" would better fit your needs? Do you just want as many pixels as possible, or is colour accuracy vital? Glossy or matte?

Still, a proper Apple display, so that they could show off a design-coordinated system, would seem to be an important "strategic" part of the range.

However - the display industry seems to be in a complete mess at the moment: DisplayPort 1.3 is really needed for single-cable 5k or 4k@60Hz, but even on PC hardware it seems to be rare, and Intel have thrown a spanner in the works by not supporting it in TB3 or in the latest integrated GPUs (USB-C supports DP1.3 in theory but I don't think its been implemented); FreeSync/G-Sync seems to be embroiled in an AMD vs NVIDIA tug-of-war. USB-C and/or TB3 ought to be taking over as the standard monitor connections but still seem to be like hen's teeth (AFAIK the Apple/LG offering is the only TB3 display on the horizon, there are about 2 other USB-C displays)... maybe its sensible for Apple to duck out until it settles down.

Have to say, I'm leaning towards 3440x1400...

This guy happens to use USB external storage that already comes with USB-C connectors. 99% of everyone else don't.

This.
I think the new MBP looks like a great machine. However, I've added up what it would cost me to "upgrade" to USB-C and it comes out at £400-£500 - that's at the current "discount" rates and without any new displays or USB-C hard drives. Yup, those £20 cables/adapters sure add up when you need them for every peripheral that you currently use at home, at work or on the road. That's not negligible money, on top of a computer that was already premium-priced, has just had an additional price hike (given that you don't expect to pay extra for this-years-model CPU, GPU and SSD).

 

[George Dawes]

If they really don't care about the aesthetics for a monitor then why bother with the rest of their kit ? Why not go the whole hog and get a boring box shifter dell to make all the desktop stuff that's obviously not trendy enough for the snowflakes and bearded hipsters ??

I can see a future where Tim and his bean counting pals do all the 'design work' to save money for 'useful' vanity projects like the iCar..

 

[carrrrrlos]

Mid 2014 rMBP is working just fine. Will wait for the next bump in specs. And that monitor is overpriced *and ugly.
*Edit.

 

[masteroflondon]

Do you really think they going to produce a full-sized keyboard (with numeric pad and full-sized cursor keys) with decent key travel (its an external keyboard - it can be more than 1mm thick!) with a "touch bar"?

Flap. Oink.

I have no idea! I said 'until such time' not when. Who specified full sized with numeric pad? I don't understand what your objection to the idea or its feasibility is. Maybe it would be more helpful to explain why they wouldn't or couldn't want to give the iMac features from the MacBook instead of snarky flying pig references.

 

[rdav]

The ONLY good thing about these monitors is that bar the specs, they'll be dirt cheap in a few months on other websites so long as Apple allows them to be sold elsewhere.

Alternative TB3 monitors will probably be available from other manufacturers soon. BUT they may not have the proprietary internal circuitry from Apple that enables 5k via SST, and bi-directional user-controls etc.

Plus of course, there is another possible shortcoming. As for as I can find, the LG UltraFine monitors only have a one-year warrantee, no AppleCare extension avaialble.

 

[snoopy127]

Don't forget that none of the apple computers available today can drive a display at 4k or higher – that is, if you still want to be able to read the text. Since OS X doesn't allow to increase the standard font size, and as long as your screen is 30" or smaller, the highest usable screen resolution is 3k. If you buy a monitor with higher resolution, you will most likely never use it at that resolution.
An exception might be the new Philips 4k 40" screen.

 

[ateslik]

One word: Fugly.

Two words actually: F***ing Fugly.

 

[cult hero]

I love it how these displays offer so many legacy ports so you don't need to buy a heap of extra dongles.
What, they only give you more USB-C ports? Oh....

Yep. Not a fan. On laptops I'm fine, even happy with all USB-C. On my monitor that sits at my desk where I DO hook up my legacy devices? This would be forgiven if these monitors at least supported daisychaning Thunderbolt, but they don't.

If I had one I'd need either a dock or at least a USB hub and a USB-C Ethernet adapter. It's not the end of the world, but annoying. This also worries me that Apple is gonna do the same on their next desktop refresh. Again, on my laptop I'm fine with this. Getting a dock for something that's ALWAYS at my desk? Not so much. I'll reserve actual griping until the other Macs get refreshed.

The price on these, especially the 5K is really good though. I don't that they're particularly ugly so much as just plain boring looking, and LG makes some nice looking displays too. Their Thunderbolt curved displays, for instance, are really nice.
[doublepost=1478966985][/doublepost]

Remember the Motorola 'iTunes' phone, the ROKR E1.
Yeah, not Steve's greatest moment, but it has happened before.

"Steve never would have done this..." is code for "I hate this move." It always is. It always has been. It's a bunch of misplaced nostalgia for a company that never even really existed.

Apple does a lot of things that annoy me. They always have. Sometimes they make things difficult to customize and sometimes they just flat out pull the rug out. I've been using their computers since 1987. They removed the arrow keys from their keyboards at one time! At the end of the day though—and I say this as a Windows user for a few years and a Linux desktop user for a few more—OS X/macOS is simply the best experience out there for me and even with certain compromises their laptops have always offered the best experience. So I take the Apple head scratchers because they're pretty much expected.

Frankly it's kinda tacky to constantly invoke he memory of a dead man over something as trivial as the bezel on a monitor or the port configuration on a laptop. You guys need new material.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I really can't figure this product out.

The killer feature of a product like this should be a full docking station worth of legacy ports so you truly enjoy the plug in one cable for connection and power and you're done.

But the monitor doesn't do that. You'd *still* need a bunch of dongles, even when docked.
:-(

 

[rdav]

The price on these, especially the 5K is really good though. I don't that they're particularly ugly so much as just plain boring looking, and LG makes some nice looking displays too. Their Thunderbolt curved displays, for instance, are really nice.

Do LG offer a 3-year Warrantee on their new 4k/5k UltraFine monitors? If it's only one-year, then the price is not that good - since you may need to re-up after just twelve months.

 

[canonical]

The difference between Gil Amelio and Tim Cook is that Gil Amelio knew he didn't have a clue, so brought back Jobs. Sadly, Tim Cook can't do that. The latter is just living off the past, with no idea of the company's core values, or where to go. Remember what Steve Jobs said: "The thing that makes Apple unique is the ability to control the user experience from beginning to end ... from the OS, the mouse, the keyboard, the display -- only Apple can do that". No more - it seems. Coming soon: we are so excited to bring you an iPad in Red.

 

[cult hero]

Do LG offer a 3-year Warrantee on their new 4k/5k UltraFine monitors? If it's only one-year, then the price is not that good - since you may need to re-up after just twelve months.

I don't do warranties. They're a loser over time every time. If I paid for AppleCare on my laptops to date I would have spent enough on something I never used to buy a brand new replacement laptop by now.

The price is still really good, especially with the discount.

 

[NY Guitarist]

It's beautiful!

Minimalist block of plastic; so hot right now!

No legacy ports? I want it!

/s


I know it's 'just' an appliance but even my refrigerator looks nicer. My toaster oven too...

 

[emm386]

Is it the right business decision? Probably. Is it the right Apple decision? No. The Apple you know is over. They cannot keep thriving and producing double digit growth from where they stand if they try to grow an even larger base of people who pay $1700 for a display. That would be like Ferrari hoping to be Ford.

The current Apple leaders want the company to be Ford. Their focus is gone. They're in a game of me-too technocracy. So there you are.

i do agree with you.

but keep in mind,that the last display Apple sold - the LED Cinema Display - was simply put atrocious!

we had them in our company and only 15 out of 20 are still working.
One of mine literally caught fire only one month after purchase, im not kidding you!

ALL of them show different colors, but WHITE was never ever white. Sometimes it was yellowish, sometimes greyish and sometimes brownish, but never ever white. The difference was so severe, that even color calibration couldnt solve this.

a bummer, considering the price of the display.

So I am NOT sad, that Apple stopped selling sub-par monitors at a rediculous price point. I am convinced, LG has better quality control than Apple with their monitors and I am sure that they know how to build a good display, given their track record.

this is a win-win situation: Better displays at a lower price!

 

[gnasher729]

Don't forget that none of the apple computers available today can drive a display at 4k or higher – that is, if you still want to be able to read the text. Since OS X doesn't allow to increase the standard font size, and as long as your screen is 30" or smaller, the highest usable screen resolution is 3k. If you buy a monitor with higher resolution, you will most likely never use it at that resolution.
An exception might be the new Philips 4k 40" screen.

What the hell? Where have you been? Do we have to explain to you how a retina display works?

Apple puts 2x2 pixels together into one display point. To all software, that 4K display appears as a 1920 x 1080 display. Just one with much much higher quality. Just the same as on any laptop with a retina display.

 

[deckard666]

I've followed Apple for 18 years, and I know one thing, Steve would have never done this.

I love this meme, keep it coming....I wonder if in 5 years it will still hit the first page of any topic...

 

[canonical]

"Tim's a good guy, clearly, but he is the Steve Balmer of Apple."

It's time for Tim to go. Clearly has no idea.

 

[ignatius345]

Nice -- all we need now is one single modern desktop Mac that can drive this monitor properly.

 

[katbel]

Can a 2015 MacBook Pro power the 4K model? Or are they USB-C only?

With a specific adapter yes, but remember
the 4K display does not have a built in camera or mike.
and you will need a lot of dongles

 

[StoneJack]

The difference between Gil Amelio and Tim Cook is that Gil Amelio knew he didn't have a clue, so brought back Jobs. Sadly, Tim Cook can't do that. The latter is just living off the past, with no idea of the company's core values, or where to go. Remember what Steve Jobs said: "The thing that makes Apple unique is the ability to control the user experience from beginning to end ... from the OS, the mouse, the keyboard, the display -- only Apple can do that". No more - it seems. Coming soon: we are so excited to bring you an iPad in Red.

Third party solutions, like Motorola Rokr, are not of Apple's concern
[doublepost=1478974685][/doublepost]

"Tim's a good guy, clearly, but he is the Steve Balmer of Apple."

It's time for Tim to go. Clearly has no idea.

Because of LG's display form? You clearly got no clue

 

[theluggage]

Maybe it would be more helpful to explain why they wouldn't or couldn't want to give the iMac features from the MacBook instead of snarky flying pig references.

I wasn't snarking at you - just at the unlikeliness of Apple releasing a full-sized keyboard with touch bar. I'd be delighted to be wrong. They may well release a version of the "Magic keyboard" with a touch bar, but they dropped the wireless version of the full-sized keyboard ages ago and have shown no signs of re-instating it.

If you're happy with the Magic keyboard with its squished-up layout, tiny cursor-keys and no key travel then that's fine for you. Personally, I don't see the point of making laptop-style layout compromises on a desktop keyboard.

 

[thekev]

Promoting this ugly POS is the best indicator that something is wrong with Apple.

Come on, it looks like this display is standing on its head.

Apple was exiting the display business either way. You can obviously purchase something else, but most displays tend to have plain utilitarian designs. The foot is designed that way, because it produces a smaller footprint than a Y shaped one. It's most likely weighted.

If that stand is telescopic, then it's an improvement over Apple's thunderbolt display with its fixed height nonsense. You simply place too much emphasis on things that don't impact usability.

It means they aren't making them and supporting them, like they were previously, with their own cases. Apple just told LG what to throw in it and gave them what they needed to provide full macOS integration.

Mac OS integration seems like a slight overstatement. It needs to fulfill whatever spec is used here, presumably some offshoot displayport. I can't find the full details anywhere, although displayport was headed in the same direction.

 

[Cougarcat]

Mac OS integration seems like a slight overstatement. It needs to fulfill whatever spec is used here, presumably some offshoot displayport. I can't find the full details anywhere, although displayport was headed in the same direction.

OS integration means that the OS volume and brightness controls will work. I don't know of any other third party monitor that works with the brightness keys.

I'm hoping it also means DisplayPort daisychaining will work with it, (daisychaining only works with Apple's own Thunderbolt displays) but I'm not optimisitic.

 

[TechRemarker]

Is it the right business decision? Probably. Is it the right Apple decision? No. The Apple you know is over. They cannot keep thriving and producing double digit growth from where they stand if they try to grow an even larger base of people who pay $1700 for a display. That would be like Ferrari hoping to be Ford.

The current Apple leaders want the company to be Ford. Their focus is gone. They're in a game of me-too technocracy. So there you are.

[doublepost=1478976388][/doublepost]Interesting, I imagine most people would say the opposite. That is apple getting out of the display business shows they 'are' focusing compared to trying to do it all.