Apple's Online Store Now Offering New 5K 27-Inch LG UltraFine Display

[deconstruct60]

....
I wonder if this is a stopgap until next year, when perhaps the base iMac gets redesigned? If Apple is going to go to the trouble of creating their own monitor, leveraging the R&D and production tooling behind an iMac design would be a good way to reduce the costs of developing their own monitor. ...

IMHO, this is more of a 'gap' than a 'stopgap'. Apple has a chokepoint on design resources. if they are full on redesigning the iMac then that is just less design cycles available to do design on a 27' and/or 24" display docking station. That is exactly why the work is outsourced to LG ( LG here are some basic constraints: only one input , no buttons. similar screen to what we are using in other products , etc. ) apple will help with the driver/software controls (no buttons ) and put a floor under number of units sold ( some investment to do R&D and commitment to selling them prominently in Apple stores. )

They are outsourcing it because it is a nice to have but not particularly strategic.

One of the biggest efforts in their XDR monitor probably is not coming to the iMac at all. The backlighting isn't likely. A 6K panel with the level of backlight they have now on the 5K really doesn't buy a whole lot. But the iMac doesn't particularly need a cost increase. ( still hanging onto spinning HDDs so it is an issue).

The iMac Pro could probably do with some volume increase so absorbing 6K with a good (not XDR) backlight would work much better. The iMac Pro volumes would be an incremental scale increase. And the new 5K display docking station could take the place of the old 5k iMac Pro volumes.

At $5K a pop the XDR probably makes a healthy margin to pay for itself. And the $999 monitor stands have a huge Return on Investment chunk in there too.

 

[chucker23n1]

I assume you mean both the Mac Pro and the display.

Nah.

Showing the Mac Pro makes sense. It's actually interesting for some developers (though I think that case is a little overblown), and it's a strong rebuttal to the narrative that Apple doesn't care about pros. (Or a signal that they've fixed their mistake.)

But the display? Other than "see how far we can stretch the pro niche?", I don't see what point it served.

I can sort of see why Apple made it, but since it was a preview anyway, why not show it two months earlier in April at NAB, alongside some FCP update?

 

[Glockworkorange]

I was thinking the next iMac would adopt the display, but that was before we saw the price and the specifications (which explains said price). I guess they could "dumb it down" a bit, but I fear it would still be very expensive compared to the 5K display and therefore we'd be seeing a significant price jump in the 6K iMac.

My prediction was they would re-design the iMac next year and then make a lower end Apple branded display, either 5 or 6K, within that new iMac form factor.

I think it’s clear for the time being they are going to make the XDR only and let vendors make the lower end displays.

 

[csalm87]

Does anyone know what has changed between this "new" UltraFine monitor compared to the old 5k one? It looks like it has the exact same specs.

 

[chucker23n1]

Does anyone know what has changed between this "new" UltraFine monitor compared to the old 5k one? It looks like it has the exact same specs.

The display connects to a Mac using a Thunderbolt 3 cable, and this version of the monitor can connect using USB-C, which means that it's also compatible with the iPad Pro.

The old one was Thunderbolt 3-only.

(Also, the charging wattage got increased.)

 

[MauiPa]

Sorry, a little confused by the article (and apple's description of compatibility). On the LG monitor compatibility https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210205 it says iPad Pro is 4k using usb-c (which is what the article says). it does not mention 5k (but that doesn't mention 5k with the thunderbolt at all). However, the support page
"Charge and connect with the USB-C port on the new iPad Pro" https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209186#displays states:

"iPad Pro uses the DisplayPort protocol to support connections to USB-C displays with resolutions up to 5K.1 To connect iPad Pro to high-resolution displays, use a USB-C cable that supports high-bandwidth connections, such as the cable included with the display, the Belkin USB-C to USB-C Cable, or the Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) Cable (sold separately).2

It seems a little premature to state that the iPad Pro does not support the 5k (doesn't sound like authors tested it). Obviously, one page of apple support is incomplete and/or incorrect. so does it 1) support 5k with the higher bandwidth cable on this monitor, 2) support 5k with the higher bandwidth cable on other monitor's, 3) not support 5k on any monitor?

Other reference seem to indicate that monitor manufacturers have not been careful to release a coherent feature set on connectivity, so who knows at this point? Seeing the article was all about that, answers would be nice

 

[toke lahti]

27” is sooo, meh, 90s!
Apple released 30” in 2004...

 

[Ener Ji]

I was thinking the next iMac would adopt the display, but that was before we saw the price and the specifications (which explains said price). I guess they could "dumb it down" a bit, but I fear it would still be very expensive compared to the 5K display and therefore we'd be seeing a significant price jump in the 6K iMac.

I'm afraid I wasn't clear. @Glockworkorange followed up with the idea I was trying to convey, so I've quoted his response below:

My prediction was they would re-design the iMac next year and then make a lower end Apple branded display, either 5 or 6K, within that new iMac form factor.

I think it’s clear for the time being they are going to make the XDR only and let vendors make the lower end displays.

This could be true, and I look forward to seeing what they could come out with. However, for the time being - it appears they'll be launching a new flagship MacBook Pro soon. I know I'd want my ecosystem ready.

There will be many (myself included) who are MacBook Air/Pro users who will probably go with this "stopgap" solution and then wait and see if a better product comes out. It would have to be a much, much better product for me to replace my investment at that point.

Agreed. I'm in the market for a new Mac and monitor this year, and might be tempted enough to step up to the 16" MBP and this LG 5k. If I do, there's no way on earth I'd be "upgrading" to anything else for years, assuming the hardware doesn't let me down.

That said, every year there will always be people looking to purchase a monitor, so even if Apple comes out with a more premium "reasonably" priced monitor next year that is compelling compared to the LG 5K but insufficiently compelling to convince people to upgrade from the LG 5K, I'm sure it will still find a market.

 

[Glockworkorange]

I'm afraid I wasn't clear. @Glockworkorange followed up with the idea I was trying to convey, so I've quoted his response below:





Agreed. I'm in the market for a new Mac and monitor this year, and might be tempted enough to step up to the 16" MBP and this LG 5k. If I do, there's no way on earth I'd be "upgrading" to anything else for years, assuming the hardware doesn't let me down.

That said, every year there will always be people looking to purchase a monitor, so even if Apple comes out with a more premium "reasonably" priced monitor next year that is compelling compared to the LG 5K but insufficiently compelling to convince people to upgrade from the LG 5K, I'm sure it will still find a market.

If you're looking for the 16 inch MBP and want a display to go with it (and don't want to by the XDR), then I think the LG 5K is a great choice.

Does the monitor have the "Apple aesthetic?" No. Does any non-Apple display have that aesthetic? Also no.

But it does have the Apple 5K screen? Yes.

No other monitor's screen can come close----none. Even LG's 32 inch UltraWide 5K is apparently not true 5K.

If anyone here can point to a better 5K display for a Mac that is not an XDR, please point me to it. I am interested. Even a Window's centric display. Please link to it.

I like the idea for your combination and say go for it.

 

[Glockworkorange]

I'm afraid I wasn't clear. @Glockworkorange followed up with the idea I was trying to convey, so I've quoted his response below:





Agreed. I'm in the market for a new Mac and monitor this year, and might be tempted enough to step up to the 16" MBP and this LG 5k. If I do, there's no way on earth I'd be "upgrading" to anything else for years, assuming the hardware doesn't let me down.

That said, every year there will always be people looking to purchase a monitor, so even if Apple comes out with a more premium "reasonably" priced monitor next year that is compelling compared to the LG 5K but insufficiently compelling to convince people to upgrade from the LG 5K, I'm sure it will still find a market.

Let me follow up on something re: the 5K UltraFine--there is a downside that's curious.

Mine has three USB-C ports and 1 TB 3 port, which means it connects to either the MacBook Pro or whatever (mine is connected to the TB 3 port on my iMac).

What's obnoxious is there is not a second TB 3 port. The new 4K UltraFine has two TB 3 ports so you can daisy chain. It's great---wish mine had it.

For reasons not clear, the new 5K is just like the old one in that there is only one. It's disappointing there's not two like on the new 4K, so no daisy chaining.

 

[jdmueller]

I just hope this new display will resolve some of the issues that the old one had. I spent $1500 plus import taxes to get my 27" LG 5K after they fixed all the issues it was having. The monitor arrived and after 4 or 5 months I started to noticed image retention and ghosting problems far worse than I had ever seen. Now, about 2 years of owning the display if I leave a white website background on the screen for 15 seconds and then move to another work area, the retention lasts nearly 10 minutes making the display nearly unusable. Very upsetting to spend that kind of money and offered no resolution to fix or repair the display. All I can say is wait a few months for the reviews to come in and see if others are reporting the image retention issues. LG is unlikely to repair or offer service (even paid service) to fix it after the return window. I am attaching a picture so you can see just how horrible this display is after only 2 years of use. Disappointed does not even begin to describe how I feel about this purchase.

 

[Glockworkorange]

I just hope this new display will resolve some of the issues that the old one had. I spent $1500 plus import taxes to get my 27" LG 5K after they fixed all the issues it was having. The monitor arrived and after 4 or 5 months I started to noticed image retention and ghosting problems far worse than I had ever seen. Now, about 2 years of owning the display if I leave a white website background on the screen for 15 seconds and then move to another work area, the retention lasts nearly 10 minutes making the display nearly unusable. Very upsetting to spend that kind of money and offered no resolution to fix or repair the display. All I can say is wait a few months for the reviews to come in and see if others are reporting the image retention issues. LG is unlikely to repair or offer service (even paid service) to fix it after the return window. I am attaching a picture so you can see just how horrible this display is after only 2 years of use. Disappointed does not even begin to describe how I feel about this purchase.

Oh, that's terrible. Sorry, man.

 

[CWallace]

What's obnoxious is there is not a second TB 3 port. The new 4K UltraFine has two TB 3 ports so you can daisy chain. It's great---wish mine had it.

TB3 has the bandwidth to support one 5K display or two 4K displays. So the 5K model could not support another TB display so they omit the second port. The 4K model, on the other hand, could support connecting another 4K TB display to it so that is likely why it comes with the additional TB3 port to support such daisy-chaining.

 

[Krevnik]

View attachment 850891
For reasons not clear, the new 5K is just like the old one in that there is only one. It's disappointing there's not two like on the new 4K, so no daisy chaining.

Thunderbolt 3 that Apple uses is limited to DP 1.2 AFAIK. Apple allows a TB3 port on their laptops to carry two DP 1.2 channels, at the cost of data bandwidth. And a single 5K LG display needs both DP 1.2 channels. Two 4K displays daisy chained takes up one channel each.

Apple needs to adopt Titan Ridge Thunderbolt controllers (and enable the DP 1.4 support) to be able to do this. And they still need to be able to do the “two DP channels over one TB3 port” trick, which I’m not sure Titan Ridge supports (coverage is a little vague on what little info does exist).

 

[Glockworkorange]

TB3 has the bandwidth to support one 5K display or two 4K displays. So the 5K model could not support another TB display so they omit the second port. The 4K model, on the other hand, could support connecting another 4K TB display to it so that is likely why it comes with the additional TB3 port to support such daisy-chaining.

Ah. Thank you for the explanation!
[doublepost=1564614777][/doublepost]

Thunderbolt 3 that Apple uses is limited to DP 1.2 AFAIK. Apple allows a TB3 port on their laptops to carry two DP 1.2 channels, at the cost of data bandwidth. And a single 5K LG display needs both DP 1.2 channels. Two 4K displays daisy chained takes up one channel each.

Apple needs to adopt Titan Ridge Thunderbolt controllers (and enable the DP 1.4 support) to be able to do this. And they still need to be able to do the “two DP channels over one TB3 port” trick, which I’m not sure Titan Ridge supports (coverage is a little vague on what little info does exist).

Sounds like they are a ways off for multiple TB 3 ports on a 5K.

What are they doing on the XDR? Same thing?
[doublepost=1564614956][/doublepost]

Ah. Thank you for the explanation!
[doublepost=1564614777][/doublepost]
Sounds like they are a ways off for multiple TB 3 ports on a 5K.

What are they doing on the XDR? Same thing?

I just checked——1 TB3 and three USB C; same as the LG 5K.

 

[Krevnik]

Sounds like they are a ways off for multiple TB 3 ports on a 5K.

Apparently the 2018s do use Titan Ridge, but don’t fully enable DP 1.4?

https://www.macrumors.com/2018/07/20/2018-macbook-pro-titan-ridge-displayport/amp/

Yeah, so Apple could push for something that uses a single DP 1.4 stream, and 1.4 is getting more common with monitors... but it would leave out the older 15” MacBook Pros and the 13” models that still only support 1.2.

 

[Tarantularock]

Can anyone comment on the sound quality of the speakers on the LG compared to say the 27 imac?

 

[rawweb]

Can anyone comment on the sound quality of the speakers on the LG compared to say the 27 imac?

I would argue comparable to the 27" iMac, but not as good as the iMac Pro.

 

[theluggage]

The 16:9 ratio 5K panels are a narrow corner case.

But how many contexts is the 5K display will be the only possible solution.

I didn't say it was the only solution - but as the iMac uses that format, and its exactly 2x the resolution of the older iMacs and the older Thunderbolt and Cinema displays its kinda the "Goldilocks zone" if you're looking for a Mac external "retina" display (especially if you want a matching second screen for an iMac)... making it something that the Mac market wants but the larger PC market doesn't.

An Apple-branded, Apple-styled 5k 16:9 display (or, basically, putting the LG ultrafine in a nice aluminium and black glass enclosure) seems to be what people here are asking for.

 

[Sabelonada]

I didn't say it was the only solution - but as the iMac uses that format, and its exactly 2x the resolution of the older iMacs and the older Thunderbolt and Cinema displays its kinda the "Goldilocks zone" if you're looking for a Mac external "retina" display (especially if you want a matching second screen for an iMac)... making it something that the Mac market wants but the larger PC market doesn't.

An Apple-branded, Apple-styled 5k 16:9 display (or, basically, putting the LG ultrafine in a nice aluminium and black glass enclosure) seems to be what people here are asking for.

I think many would be happy if LG didn't savage the monitor with the ugly stick. They offer other great looking monitors but these have very unappealing packaging.

Given they are targeting Apple owners, it would seem they would have used an attractive design, but apparently not.

 

[Ener Ji]

I just hope this new display will resolve some of the issues that the old one had. I spent $1500 plus import taxes to get my 27" LG 5K after they fixed all the issues it was having. The monitor arrived and after 4 or 5 months I started to noticed image retention and ghosting problems far worse than I had ever seen. Now, about 2 years of owning the display if I leave a white website background on the screen for 15 seconds and then move to another work area, the retention lasts nearly 10 minutes making the display nearly unusable. Very upsetting to spend that kind of money and offered no resolution to fix or repair the display. All I can say is wait a few months for the reviews to come in and see if others are reporting the image retention issues. LG is unlikely to repair or offer service (even paid service) to fix it after the return window. I am attaching a picture so you can see just how horrible this display is after only 2 years of use. Disappointed does not even begin to describe how I feel about this purchase.

Wow, that's awful. I know LG isn't known for stellar support, but I'm surprised they wouldn't do something for you for an issue that clearly appears to be a manufacturing defect of some kind. Is there a complicating factor, e.g. did you have to import the monitor from another country?

I'm guessing they provide a one-year warranty. Perhaps doubled to two years via your credit card(?), but may not help if the issue raised itself right at the two year mark, or if LG doesn't provide service and support in your country.

Ah. Thank you for the explanation!
[doublepost=1564614777][/doublepost]
Sounds like they are a ways off for multiple TB 3 ports on a 5K.

What are they doing on the XDR? Same thing?
[doublepost=1564614956][/doublepost]
I just checked——1 TB3 and three USB C; same as the LG 5K.

I can only surmise that Apple feels 5K daisy chaining isn't quite ready for prime time, otherwise they likely would have included a second TB3 port on the XDR (even if only to have the option to activate daisy chaining down the road via a software update.)

 

[CWallace]

I can only surmise that Apple feels 5K daisy chaining isn't quite ready for prime time, otherwise they likely would have included a second TB3 port on the XDR (even if only to have the option to activate daisy chaining down the road via a software update.)

It is a limitation of TB3 itself - it can only support a single display at 8K/6K/5K due to the 40 Gbps bandwith limitations be it an Alpine Ridge or Titan Ridge controller.

 

[Detnator]

I would argue comparable to the 27" iMac, but not as good as the iMac Pro.

I’ve had both (LG 5K and iMac Pro). Significant noticeable difference between iMac Pro sound (which is pretty awesome for what it is) and this display (which is kinda lousy).

 

[rawweb]

I’ve had both (LG 5K and iMac Pro). Significant noticeable difference between iMac Pro sound (which is pretty awesome for what it is) and this display (which is kinda lousy).

Correct, the speaker is comparable to the regular iMac, but certainly no where near as great as the iMac Pro.

 

[Sabelonada]

Wow, that's awful. I know LG isn't known for stellar support, but I'm surprised they wouldn't do something for you for an issue that clearly appears to be a manufacturing defect of some kind. Is there a complicating factor, e.g. did you have to import the monitor from another country?

I'm guessing they provide a one-year warranty. Perhaps doubled to two years via your credit card(?), but may not help if the issue raised itself right at the two year mark, or if LG doesn't provide service and support in your country.



I can only surmise that Apple feels 5K daisy chaining isn't quite ready for prime time, otherwise they likely would have included a second TB3 port on the XDR (even if only to have the option to activate daisy chaining down the road via a software update.)

5K TB3 daisy chaining isn't possible because the protocol doesn't have the capacity.

Apple's support of DisplayPort daisy chaining is awful.