LG UltraFine 5k Display with MacBook Pro (Late 2016) lags and stutters?!

[w-f]

Hi guys,

I am operating the new LG UltraFine 5k Display on a MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2016, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports) with:

2,9 GHz Intel Core i5
16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3
Intel Iris Graphics 550 1536 MB


I am experiencing slow "reactions", stutters, some (mouse, window animation) lags.
Attached you find my display settings.

Is anybody also experiencing the same behaviour with their LG UltraFine 5k? The MacOS just does not feel very responsive when the Macbook is plugged in to the LG...

Right now I am super unhappy with it I am thinking to switch back to my Apple Thunderbolt Display - where at least everything is very responsive and the display does not slow down the whole system.

Looking forward to any input, tipps and feedback from you guys!

Best,
Florian

 

[pookitoo]

I've read in some other post that you can test with the Belkin thunderbolt cable, or put in the native resolution, in extended display (not the mirroring)

ps: I'm waiting to receive the 5K LG in 2 days, I 've the 13 inch MacBook Pro 2016 (with touchbar) but with I7 processor and 16gb ram). And I've order the Belkin cable. I can say to you in 2 days what is my feeling

 

[econ]

How much stutter is there? I have some stutter when I have more than 6, 7 windows open. I have a lot of stutter using Better Touch Tool. I have lots lots lots of stutter with softwares that are traditionally not optimized for Mac OS (prime offender right now is LyX). I have some stutter scrolling PDFs on Preview.

I can live with it but I also understand if you can't.

 

[WilliamG]

To be fair, much of this can be traced back to the laptop pushing that many pixels COMBINED with you're scaling those pixels, too. So this is even more work. Have you tried running it at "native" mode (i.e. 2560x1440 effective), rather than scaled?

I have the entry TouchBar 13" with only 8GB RAM, and it runs pretty fine with the 5K display at native 1440p Retina.

 

[w-f]

How much stutter is there? I have some stutter when I have more than 6, 7 windows open. I have a lot of stutter using Better Touch Tool. I have lots lots lots of stutter with softwares that are traditionally not optimized for Mac OS (prime offender right now is LyX). I have some stutter scrolling PDFs on Preview.

I can live with it but I also understand if you can't.

Some stutter! Sure it is not super dramatic. But the whole OS just feels not very responsive. For my workflow a lot of times very frustrating.
And yes you are right the more windows I have opened the more stutter I have.

But honestly I am not willing to live with the stutter for a LG or Apple premium product.

To be fair, much of this can be traced back to the laptop pushing that many pixels COMBINED with you're scaling those pixels, too. So this is even more work. Have you tried running it at "native" mode (i.e. 2560x1440 effective), rather than scaled?

I have the entry TouchBar 13" with only 8GB RAM, and it runs pretty fine with the 5K display at native 1440p Retina.

Yes in native mode it is slightly better.

 

[mctrials23]

This is a bit of a worry as I would like to get one of these but if the UI and the OS in general slow down thats a big issue.

 

[MrX8503]

Some stutter! Sure it is not super dramatic. But the whole OS just feels not very responsive. For my workflow a lot of times very frustrating.
And yes you are right the more windows I have opened the more stutter I have.

But honestly I am not willing to live with the stutter for a LG or Apple premium product.




Yes in native mode it is slightly better.

Do you have your macbook lid open or closed?

 

[pookitoo]

Hello, I ve receive my lg 5k today :

I ve disable transparency and reduce effect in accessibility because without that some lagging effect in native mode with some effect
Everything run smoothly when you do some basic stuff
When I open a big project in sketch app, so slowdown' very laggy zoom ...
bad experience and when the evening came , with the black background some leak light ...........

 

[MrX8503]

Hello, I ve receive my lg 5k today :

I ve disable transparency and reduce effect in accessibility because without that some lagging effect in native mode with some effect
Everything run smoothly when you do some basic stuff
When I open a big project in sketch app, so slowdown' very laggy zoom ...
bad experience and when the evening came , with the black background some leak light ...........

That's good to hear. I disable all the visual flair by default anyway. It's not worth the lag.

I disable transparency, hide/show dock, magnify dock, and genie effect.

 

[w-f]

Do you have your macbook lid open or closed?

Closed!

 

[mikerose]

Closed!

Me too, I keep it closed. I’m using a 2017 MBP TB i7 with 16gb and it’s horrible. Using Lightroom with nothing else open is sometimes unusable, the fan in the MacBook starts whirling away and everything slows down to a crawl. I unplug the monitor and use the laptop by itself and it’s fine. The LG UltraFine is gorgeous when it works, but most of the time it’s just a big expensive paperweight!

 

[technoholic]

Me too, I keep it closed. I’m using a 2017 MBP TB i7 with 16gb and it’s horrible. Using Lightroom with nothing else open is sometimes unusable, the fan in the MacBook starts whirling away and everything slows down to a crawl. I unplug the monitor and use the laptop by itself and it’s fine. The LG UltraFine is gorgeous when it works, but most of the time it’s just a big expensive paperweight!

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread but just got an LG 5k and having the same issue. Everything is very stuttery and slow. Especially the screen saver, Flurry runs about 10fps or less, and makes the MacBook fans go crazy.

I'm guessing this is just the fact that the MacBook is trying to drive so many pixels but is there anything I can do? I run it scaled and at native resolution it's no good for me personally.

Would the later newer MBPs be better? I also have the same specs as the OP

 

[lankox]

Perhaps the new Blackmagic eGPU?

 

[Evangeline]

Would the later newer MBPs be better? I also have the same specs as the OP

After much testing, forum reading and head scratching I think the issue - at least on my 2016 15'' MBP with Radeon 455 - is that it's running out of VRAM. 2GB isn't enough. So it may run good on the 15'' 2018 MBP since they have 4GB.

 

[sebastiendeg]

After much testing, forum reading and head scratching I think the issue - at least on my 2016 15'' MBP with Radeon 455 - is that it's running out of VRAM. 2GB isn't enough. So it may run good on the 15'' 2018 MBP since they have 4GB.

I have a brand new MacBook Pro (2.6, 16GB RAM) with Radeon Pro 560x 4GB and an Extra BlackMagic EGPU (Radeon pro 580 8GB) and I have the same problem.

 

[whoisyourdaddy]

Are these lagging issues on the '16-'18 MBP DG using macOS 10.14.x or prior to Mojave? Was this using the included TB 3 cable? What's the latest firmware available for the 5K? Are these supplied through Apple software updates or via LG support?

 

[Lammers]

I've just replaced two Apple Thunderbolt Displays with a single LG 5K, using it with a 2017 13" MacBook Pro (i7, 16GB) with the lid closed (clamshell mode), and whilst it looks amazing, things like scrolling and moving windows around are definitely less smooth, especially in apps like Photos.

 

[whoisyourdaddy]

I've just replaced two Apple Thunderbolt Displays with a single LG 5K, using it with a 2017 13" MacBook Pro (i7, 16GB) with the lid closed (clamshell mode), and whilst it looks amazing, things like scrolling and moving windows around are definitely less smooth, especially in apps like Photos.

Direct connection with the supplied TB 3 cable? Have you tried a different cable? Photos is noticeably slow to render all of the small thumbnail images for pictures on macOS with the built-in display. Especially, if there are hundreds to thousands of photos. This has been my experience with the macOS Photos app. So, this isn't going to change with using an external display at this higher resolution. You would probably notice more than you did on your built-in display. I've never used a MBP with an external display without a dedicated graphics chip. I can't say how performance has been with just the integrated but I would imagine at that resolution and hopefully not scaled, then you may have lag depending upon how taxed the CPU is with different tasks. If you have any real-time actively scanning security software such as anti-virus programs, then I would suggest removing them to test out performance.

 

[Lammers]

Direct connection with the supplied TB 3 cable? Have you tried a different cable? Photos is noticeably slow to render all of the small thumbnail images for pictures on macOS with the built-in display. Especially, if there are hundreds to thousands of photos. This has been my experience with the macOS Photos app. So, this isn't going to change with using an external display at this higher resolution. You would probably notice more than you did on your built-in display. I've never used a MBP with an external display without a dedicated graphics chip. I can't say how performance has been with just the integrated but I would imagine at that resolution and hopefully not scaled, then you may have lag depending upon how taxed the CPU is with different tasks. If you have any real-time actively scanning security software such as anti-virus programs, then I would suggest removing them to test out performance.

I haven’t, but I do have an Apple Thunderbolt Cable around somewhere so I can try that. I don’t have any anti-virus software other than what is built-in (XProtect etc).

But I will say that it’s so nice having the Retina display at this size that I’m now strongly considering getting a second LG 5K and a newer (15”) MBP to drive them both.