Apple's LG 5K Display Store Listing Now Accepting Reviews

[cult hero]

I dread any time that Apple's site is the only source of reviews, especially on hardware.

I actually found the forums here from the actual early owners to be extremely helpful. I'll have an opinion tomorrow most likely since I finally bit the bullet. (I was actually waiting for them to be available in stores but... got sick of waiting.)

 

[smirking]

Of course Apple removed the negative reviews. They know how ugly it is too but just don't want to be reminded that often.

I'd have to differ. I have the monitor. The product shots make it look ghastly especially in comparison to the Thunderbolt monitor product shots, but in person? It's simply nondescript. It doesn't stand out one way or another. It's there and when it's on, the only thing you notice is how beautiful the image is.

The base of the monitor is dopey looking. I'll give you that, but I have mine mounted on a VESA arm. If the style bothers you that much, invest in a monitor arm. Problem solved.

The screen is gorgeous.

 

[JDW]

I'd have to differ. I have the monitor...
The screen is gorgeous.

Thank you for sharing both your opinion and the excellent photo. Since you own the display, nothing I will say can dissuade you. But I still feel that even if a VESA arm is used to hide that foot, the unbalanced design of the bezel is still visible when the display is ON or OFF. Even when viewing your photo you can easily see that the height/thickness of the top bezel is not the same as the left/right/bottom bezels, giving it an overall unbalanced look. And while less noticeably in a dark room, the fact remains the bezel is matte while the screen is glossy.

A better design would have been for LG to have made the bezel the same thickness all around AND to have used edge-to-edge glass to give both the display and bezel a glossy appearance, akin to what we see when we look at an iMac, for example.

I am happy you are pleased with the display, and no doubt others are too, but I myself just cannot find justification to purchase one in light of the less desirable aesthetics of that bezel.

Best wishes.

 

[smirking]

Even when viewing your photo you can easily see that the height/thickness of the top bezel is not the same as the left/right/bottom bezels, giving it an overall unbalanced look. And while less noticeably in a dark room, the fact remains the bezel is matte while the screen is glossy.

I thought the uneven bezel would be annoying, but it's a non-issue now that I'm using it. Then again, I've never been someone who bought Apple because of their aesthetics. If you could run MacOS properly on a regular PC, I might never own another Mac again.

In any case, all the fuss about the uneven bezel's made me realize, that the MBP's bezels aren't even either. Take a look at the MBP's top bezel. It's about the same proportion to the top bezel of the LG 5K Ultrafine.

A better design would have been for LG to have made the bezel the same thickness all around AND to have used edge-to-edge glass to give both the display and bezel a glossy appearance, akin to what we see when we look at an iMac, for example.

It's entirely possible that LG making a monitor that looks too "Apple" would be frowned upon by Apple... not that I have any idea that this was even part of LG and Apple's thinking. Apple says they're out of the display business, but that doesn't mean it's forever. If I were Apple, I might not want one of my partners getting to close to the design of my own products.

I'm probably in the minority about this, but I was never a fan of the Thunderbolt display's look. I was praying that my 10 year old 30" Apple Cinema Display would last long enough for me to avoid having to buy a Thunderbolt display.

 

[44267547]

The sheer ugliness of that display speaks louder than words. Johnny Ive probably removes those negative reviews himself each time he cringes over the foolishness of Apple having allow a partner like LG to have released that design-abomination. And to those of you who think this display actually looks nice, to what are you comparing? To Apple products? Hah! This is not an Apple-designed product and it shows, despite how much "influence" Apple had in its feature set. You would think that will all the emphasize Apple puts on form over function that they never would have put their stamp of approval on something that looks this bad. Matte borders and glossy screen... Top bezel disproportionately larger than bezels on other sides... And that stand... The high-quality LCD matters little when the overall design looks this bad.

That wasn't my point. But you did prove my point because you never had evidence to begin with the Apple removing the reviews, you used your anguish against the new LG monitor to make a snark comment about Apple removing the comments, when in fact you don't know that.

That's fine that you don't like the monitor and it's not for you. But it doesn't mean that it's a poor monitor because you don't approve of it. Many users seem to like it.

If you make a comment against Apple or say something out of disdain, then at least back it up with evidence if you know that. Or just voice your true opinion about the monitor to begin with and not make up some random farce about something that you have no idea if it's true or not. It doesn't look good.

 

[JDW]

smirking, I would just like to thank you for the cool-headed and cordial dialog. It's proof that, while rare, there are some among us who can disagree yet remain on friendly terms -- no bashing others or excessively defensive posts required.

 

[Abazigal]

There's some good stuff on there but a massive amount of dross. Some seem to post stuff just for the sake of it. It's like twitter but with more words.

I guess it says a lot then that I am actually looking at Reddit as a viable replacement for Macrumours.

 

[WRChris]

The sheer ugliness of that display speaks louder than words. Johnny Ive probably removes those negative reviews himself each time he cringes over the foolishness of Apple having allow a partner like LG to have released that design-abomination. And to those of you who think this display actually looks nice, to what are you comparing? To Apple products? Hah! This is not an Apple-designed product and it shows, despite how much "influence" Apple had in its feature set. You would think that will all the emphasize Apple puts on form over function that they never would have put their stamp of approval on something that looks this bad. Matte borders and glossy screen... Top bezel disproportionately larger than bezels on other sides... And that stand... The high-quality LCD matters little when the overall design looks this bad.

Lol, ugliness is not evidence reviews were manipulated. You don't own the lg display and won't buy it so why are you so concerned with the aesthetics? Seems like a waste of energy and time to me.

 

[andy9l]

@WilliamG, was this you? I somehow remember your name from the 2014 5K iMac GPU topics.

If so, get yourself a cookie - you taught someone something today.

 

[44267547]

Lol, ugliness is not evidence reviews were manipulated. You don't own the lg display and won't buy it so why are you so concerned with the aesthetics? Seems like a waste of energy and time to me.

@JDW is using the LG monitor as leverage against Apple, believing they intentionally removed the reviews Without reason or they must be hiding something. Some forum members look for any reason to bash Apple, because they are truly upset Apple has not met their expectations over a monitor.

 

[WRChris]

@JDW is using the LG monitor as leverage against Apple, believing they intentionally removed the reviews Without reason or they must be hiding something. Some forum members look for any reason to bash Apple, because they are truly upset Apple has not met their expectations over a monitor.

Nailed it! I love questioning these haters

 

[WilliamG]

@WilliamG, was this you? I somehow remember your name from the 2014 5K iMac GPU topics.

If so, get yourself a cookie - you taught someone something today.

Hah yeah that was me. Glad to help.

 

[JDW]

Apparently, there are some here far too young and inexperienced to see "tongue-in-cheek sarcasm" when it emerges in an online forum. OF COURSE none of us know for sure what Apple did or didn't do with regard to the deletion of negative reviews. My goodness!

My point through all that sarcasm though was that I personally have great dislikes with regard to that LG display, despite the fact some of you do not. And my sentiments are not rare. Some of those discontent folks undoubtedly voiced their strong opinions on Apple's site. But honestly, whether their posts were deleted or not is irrelevant to me. I merely would like to see Apple either get back into he display business themselves or extend greater control over the external aesthetics of the designs that its partner LG presents to the public. Even those of you who like the existing design must admit that it is not perfect and could be made better in a variety of ways. That is all I have been saying.

So ease up on the pounding, unless it's pounding on Apple. Apple is the entity making the products we all talk about and buy, and is the company who has a strong influence on its business partners, including LG. I, like the rest of you, am merely a consumer in this game. But hopefully I am a vocal enough consumer who's regular feedback to Apple has some positive impact in the end. I may spout off on occasion in this forum, but privately I send regular feedback to Apple. You should have seen my messages to Phil Schiller about the 2016 MBP!

 

[44267547]

Apparently, there are some here far too young and inexperienced to see "tongue-in-cheek sarcasm" when it emerges in an online forum. OF COURSE none of us know for sure what Apple did or didn't do with regard to the deletion of negative reviews. My goodness!

It's comments like these that draw the attention or deflect away from the actual article. What does young or inexperienced have anything to contribute to the rest of us? This is the internet, if you expect to others to interpret your sarcasm or ill advised humor, then perhaps your the one in-experienced. You made the comment Apple intentionally removed the reviews and you expect others to understand your every word on an Internet forum? Obviously not, being you had to clarify.

Back on topic. The LG monitor may not boast the quality the Thunderbolt Display has in the past. But many seem to be happy with it. LG makes a nice product that will meet most needs. And as far I know, it appears a success.

 

[Saint97]

Is the top bezel really bigger than the bottom bezel? Man, that's really off-putting. For that reason alone I wouldn't get one.

 

[JDW]

Is the top bezel really bigger than the bottom bezel? Man, that's really off-putting. For that reason alone I wouldn't get one.

According to some in this forum, we should not dare complain about that, and even if we do, we apparently are far outnumbered by the people who love that unbalanced look!

 

[Saint97]

According to some in this forum, we should not dare complain about that, and even if we do, we apparently are far outnumbered by the people who love that unbalanced look!

It is indeed very un-Apple-like.

 

[smithsamuelm]

One can now see reviews at Apple.com. I purchased 2 of them in December. At that time they were prerelease and there were not reviews obviously. Now one can see that these units have multiple problems. The worst problem is that LG's support for these units is abysmal. I talked to apple support and they said there is nothing they can do after the 14 day return deadline. Given that LG's only solution is to send the unit back for repair which takes more than that (including the time for LG to send out a return box). Anyone experiencing problems with this unit in the first 14 days needs to Call apple not LG.

Buyer Beware.

I purchased two of the units. One the sound was fine the other has a tinny ringing sound on certain songs. I asked LG for a replacement but they said they only provide return repair. So I sent it back and two weeks later it was returned but not repaired. No communication from the repair ship (which is a third party not LG). No notes no ability to amend a repair ticket. No way to communicate with the repair tech. After several hours on the phone talking to a supervisor who insisted that the only option was to send it back in again. I asked him what possibly would be done differently. He referred to the technician notes which he had access too (but not me) and said they replaced some shielding which has been problematic of these units. But it did not fix it. So I asked him what more could they do to repair it. He said it didn't know. etc etc. He said that it might not be repairable but only the repair shop could say that. So my only option is to send it in again and wait another 2 weeks and hope that something different happens this time. I talked to apple support who tried really hard to see if they could get replacement from Apple but because it was outside the 14 day window that was not possible.



LG's support ticket system does not allow the user to add or append additional information. It does not allow the repair technician to amend are request additional information from the customer. Its one and done. I even called LG to ask them after I sent it back how it was going and could a send more information to the repair technician with a test to verify that it was fixed before they sent it back and LG's response was that they could not send any more information to the repair facility. They they had no way of communicating with them and that there was not way to amend a ticket.



So If you can find a monitor from someplace other than LG that works for you. Get it as LG does not understand how to support the Apple market. Apple made a bad strategic decision going with LG as a partner making these displays.

 

[JDW]

Samuel, after reading your story, I would recommend you email Tim Cook about this:

tcook@apple.com

Honestly, I thought the idea of using LG for an "Apple" display was a bad idea even before I heard of all these problems. But with problems this bad, Apple's top people need to feel the wrath of the Apple faithful.

Does writing Tim Cook do any good? Well, in my case it did, back when I had problems with my 27" iMac. The problems occurred just after the AppleCare expired. I wrote him and he (or someone who reads his email) got an Apple exec in my part of the world to phone me, and all said, the problem was resolved free of charge. I've also written to him about things I thought were bad, odd or just down right silly. So yes, I do think that writing him a well-reasoned email is worthwhile.

Not sure if it would make Apple get back in the display game, but it very well may make Apple rethink promoting another display for which they bear no support responsibility.