LG UltraFine 5K - Issues/bugs

[azntaiji]

Hey all,

I started the LG repair process for my 5k that has a ton of issues. In the event that they're being difficult/unhelpful (based on reading previous posts here), what is my next course of action?

I bought it in January so I'm way outside the 14 day Apple return window.

 

[wombat2k]

Hey all,

I started the LG repair process for my 5k that has a ton of issues. In the event that they're being difficult/unhelpful (based on reading previous posts here), what is my next course of action?

I bought it in January so I'm way outside the 14 day Apple return window.

Wondering the same thing. Started the process mostly due to image retention issues and so far it has been as underwhelming as expected. Hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.

 

[adias]

10.12.5 Update released... let's hope for at least some last minute fixes...

The Ethernet (cable disconnected) bug is still here.

 

[azntaiji]

Wondering the same thing. Started the process mostly due to image retention issues and so far it has been as underwhelming as expected. Hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.

Did you send yours in yet? They're sending me a shipping label

 

[wombat2k]

Did you send yours in yet? They're sending me a shipping label

Still early in the process, they just relented to me sending it back. Just sent them my details. Waiting to hear from them.

 

[wombat2k]

Did you send yours in yet? They're sending me a shipping label

So they accepted the RMA and I got a confusing confirmation that seemed to imply that a company called Lotus International Company would get in touch to set up an "onsite repair" which I'm assuming means they might exchange the monitor on the spot. Haven't heard from them yet though.

 

[Brookzy]

So they accepted the RMA and I got a confusing confirmation that seemed to imply that a company called Lotus International Company would get in touch to set up an "onsite repair" which I'm assuming means they might exchange the monitor on the spot. Haven't heard from them yet though.

Good luck with that - you'll be getting some no mark attempting surgery on your display in your house.

 

[turbineseaplane]

So they accepted the RMA and I got a confusing confirmation that seemed to imply that a company called Lotus International Company would get in touch to set up an "onsite repair" which I'm assuming means they might exchange the monitor on the spot. Haven't heard from them yet though.

I had to do a similar type of repair with LG (third party company, but I had to send it out).

Honestly - If they make Apple Pro displays again, I will not be complaining about their price premium, as the value of having the Apple store to take it to is basically priceless. I've learned the hard way.

 

[azntaiji]

So they accepted the RMA and I got a confusing confirmation that seemed to imply that a company called Lotus International Company would get in touch to set up an "onsite repair" which I'm assuming means they might exchange the monitor on the spot. Haven't heard from them yet though.

Ah, that's odd. They are shipping me a return label

If they make Apple Pro displays again, I will not be complaining about their price premium, as the value of having the Apple store to take it to is basically priceless. I've learned the hard way.

Seriously. I'm still frustrated that Apple didn't cover the LG 5K under their warranty. I understand Apple not doing this with most other third party items sold through them, but Apple worked directly with LG a lot to build this monitor, and marketed it heavily when it was first announced. So in my opinion they are just responsible as LG for the issues, and should do good by their customers... especially since most people buying this specific product are probably the more "loyal" Apple customers or are decently invested into the ecosystem already.

 

[turbineseaplane]

@azntaiji

I fully agree… But unfortunately I think Apple looked at the way they collaborated with LG specifically through the lens of not having to deal with supporting it.

They did a huge chunk of the work to collaborate but the part they outsourced was the casing, quality control, and servicing, which is very disappointing to see.

 

[wombat2k]

Ah, that's odd. They are shipping me a return label


Seriously. I'm still frustrated that Apple didn't cover the LG 5K under their warranty. I understand Apple not doing this with most other third party items sold through them, but Apple worked directly with LG a lot to build this monitor, and marketed it heavily when it was first announced. So in my opinion they are just responsible as LG for the issues, and should do good by their customers... especially since most people buying this specific product are probably the more "loyal" Apple customers or are decently invested into the ecosystem already.

Confusingly enough, they just sent me a return label too. I have no idea what this means

I'm annoyed by the fact I had to buy an LG monitor after waiting for so long to upgrade my trusty 27"LED Cinema, but more specifically, Apple's suggestion that they had closely worked with LG. It's a decent monitor, great picture quality and wonderful one cable management, but some of the issues people have experienced in this thread really make you wonder how close that co-operation really was.

 

[jimthing]

Confusingly enough, they just sent me a return label too. I have no idea what this means

I'm annoyed by the fact I had to buy an LG monitor after waiting for so long to upgrade my trusty 27"LED Cinema, but more specifically, Apple's suggestion that they had closely worked with LG. It's a decent monitor, great picture quality and wonderful one cable management, but some of the issues people have experienced in this thread really make you wonder how close that co-operation really was.

Let us know how you get on. It'll be interesting to see how LG handle this situation overall.

 

[wombat2k]

Let us know how you get on. It'll be interesting to see how LG handle this situation overall.

So... I just got a notification that my monitor was picked up. Which is of course news to me since I'm looking at it while typing this. As far as I can understand, a monitor was picked at LG's location and is being shipped to me.

 

[azntaiji]

So they're sending you a new/refurb unit?

 

[wombat2k]

So they're sending you a new/refurb unit?

I have no idea, but it seems unlikely. The shipment notification says that the package is 3.00lbs, whereas the original notification said 30.00. Could be a typo I guess, or maybe LG is sending me a new MacBook Pro?

Of course the least crazy explanation would be that they are sending me the packaging, but the instructions they originally sent implied I had to use my own packaging.

We'll see what I get on Wednesday...

 

[samandsu]

So at my work we bought two of the LG 5k displays (around January and March) and both just died completely. The return process was a bit elusive as many have mentioned but the returns came extremely quickly and smoothly. We've been using the refurbished monitors and so far no issues.

The diagnosis for both:
Diagnostic Test Results
> • No indication of power and totally inoperative unit
>
> Service Performed
> • Part replaced-electrical

Diagnostic Test Results
> • No indication of power and totally inoperative unit
>
> Service Performed
> • Part replaced-mechanical

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The only remaining issue I have is that I have a Mac USB keyboard connected to the display via USB-C dongle but most times on first plugging it in, the keyboard doesn't respond so I have to re-plug in that connection.

 

[wombat2k]

I have no idea, but it seems unlikely. The shipment notification says that the package is 3.00lbs, whereas the original notification said 30.00. Could be a typo I guess, or maybe LG is sending me a new MacBook Pro?

Of course the least crazy explanation would be that they are sending me the packaging, but the instructions they originally sent implied I had to use my own packaging.

We'll see what I get on Wednesday...

Turns out it was a shipping box. No idea why they sent me one and it's in contradiction with everything they had said previously, but it is a convenient box, so I'm not going to complain. Will send the monitor and report back.

 

[azntaiji]

Turns out it was a shipping box. No idea why they sent me one and it's in contradiction with everything they had said previously, but it is a convenient box, so I'm not going to complain. Will send the monitor and report back.

Yeah same thing happened to me. I sent mine out before I received that box though, just in the white retail packaging. I forgot to take the cables out of the box though, hope I get them back

 

[wombat2k]

By the way, for those people who suspect they might have an image retention issue, I used this site:

https://marco.org/rmbp-irtest.html

Image retention is to be expected to a certain extent with LCD monitors, but it's reasonable to expect no image retention after 10 minutes. In my case I wanted to emphasize how bad it was, so I let it running for just one minute and could see image retention.

 

[craig1410]

Hi everyone, I have an update from LG support which looks a bit more encouraging. It took a bit of back and forwards before I got the response I was looking for but as is often the case, persistence pays off!

Firstly, the email address which seems to be most useful is cic.uk@lge.com (for the UK at least). I got to this by originally using the web site support email form thing and the first couple of times that resulted in a reply via an unmonitored email box but after I escalated the ticket I got a reply from this cic.uk address and that seems to be staffed by much more senior people who can actually give you a real answer. I'm not sure if you can initiate a ticket via this route but it's worth noting anyway.

As for the update, what I was told is as follows:

What we have been advised is that there is a planned upgrade to the monitor that will be done through the internet automatically in July for the sound issue you have advised us, sadly we not got any details on when in July or how they will be sending the update to the monitors, its possible it be done through the mac and be part of normally updates.

With regards to the brightness levels we have been advised the following, it has been translated form Korean to English, so will not flow right.

“It does not support to control brightness via sensor because macOS is not ready yet. It will be supported in new macOS (Maybe 3Q)”

What I get out of this is that this will also be fixed by a software update and most likely going through to the MacOS system.​

So it's not entirely clear if this is a monitor firmware issue or macOS issue but it sounds to me like it might be a bit of both, certainly between the volume control bug and the auto-brightness bug. With Apple's WWDC conference starting in just over a week I expect the Apple engineering team are pretty busy so it's probably not the best time for 3rd parties to get technical support. Anyway, the best bit for me is that it does appear that LG are still actively supporting the display so either way there is hope!

These are the main issues that irritate me just now but it may also be that other bugs will be fixed in the same timescale.

I hope this is of interest.

Cheers,
Craig.

 

[azntaiji]

Got mine back from LG. The fix was 2 gaskets (part # MDS6492205) ... does that mean the display shielding fix? Curious what the service report said for the rest of you.

So far things are working normally but I'll report back otherwise.

 

[craig1410]

Got mine back from LG. The fix was 2 gaskets (part # MDS6492205) ... does that mean the display shielding fix? Curious what the service report said for the rest of you.

So far things are working normally but I'll report back otherwise.

Thanks for the update - I'd love to know what these gaskets look like but I'll stop short of asking you to disassemble your display

I wonder if this is them...

 

[azntaiji]

Hm, interesting. could be... if it is, I'm curious as to how that would fix anything (doesn't look to be electrical related.. just padding on the mounting hardware? maybe cooling related)

Regardless, things seem to be working for me so far, I've been using it for work the past two hours and no issues.

I might try to take a look around when i get some time soon, as I think the hardware is easily accessible behind the VESA mount

 

[craig1410]

Hm, interesting. could be... if it is, I'm curious as to how that would fix anything (doesn't look to be electrical related.. just padding on the mounting hardware?)

Regardless, things seem to be working for me so far, I've been using it for work the past two hours and no issues.

I might try to take a look around when i get some time soon, as I think the hardware is easily accessible behind the VESA mount

I can understand why you would say that but actually EMI gaskets are made of highly conductive wire mesh amongst other things and have a thin foam sandwich to ensure that the conductive mesh follows the very fine contours of the two metal plates being brought together. It's tempting to conclude that two metal plates bolted together in 5 places might not require anything else to seal the gap but at the wavelengths of 5GHz WiFi signals, even tiny gaps in the metal are relevant.

If I were you I wouldn't try to disassemble your display and you'll find that removing the VESA mount doesn't achieve much other than expose some more screws. Even if you remove those screws you will have a hard time separating the plastic bezel from the rear casing as it is held together in numerous places by plastic clips which require the combination of guitar picks, old credit cards and a lot of patience to remove!

Enjoy your monitor!

 

[azntaiji]

I can understand why you would say that but actually EMI gaskets are made of highly conductive wire mesh amongst other things and have a thin foam sandwich to ensure that the conductive mesh follows the very fine contours of the two metal plates being brought together. It's tempting to conclude that two metal plates bolted together in 5 places might not require anything else to seal the gap but at the wavelengths of 5GHz WiFi signals, even tiny gaps in the metal are relevant.

If I were you I wouldn't try to disassemble your display and you'll find that removing the VESA mount doesn't achieve much other than expose some more screws. Even if you remove those screws you will have a hard time separating the plastic bezel from the rear casing as it is held together in numerous places by plastic clips which require the combination of guitar picks, old credit cards and a lot of patience to remove!

Enjoy your monitor!

Ah, I see now -- thanks for that explanation, makes a lot more sense!