LG UltraFine 5K - Owners Thread

[wiseoak1]

If I purchase a brand new MacBook Pro, and a brand new monitor, I expect to get decent performance from 3000+ euros gear. It is mentioned that the MacBook Pro IS compatible. Besides, How can opening affinity photo with an EMPTY document be too much to handle for a new Pro machine?

Did you try with other cables? Ive read reports the stock cable is no good... try a cable of Belkin?

 

[triumph71]

I'm in the Jan 5th-19th delivery window, and it seems unlikely i'll receive mine on the 5th if the displays are being shipped internationally, but still possible if they get shipped from the US.

So, for those lucky folks that already have their 5K displays, where did your displays ship from?

 

[mwalter]

I'm in the Jan 6 - Jan 20 window (US) and was hopeful that they would ship early. Oh well.

 

[sidewinder]

Mine shipped from Southern California.

 

[triumph71]

Mine shipped from Southern California.

Well that's great news! Combined with the next day shipping, maybe there is still hope i'll see them this week!

 

[Shakko]

Picked up my displays from the Apple Store on Thursday and just got them hooked up on two monitor mounts in my office. Haven't had a chance to really use them so can't comment on how responsive it is yet.

One thing I don't like is that I have to use both sides of the MacBook to connect the displays -- would have so much cleaner to just have everything connected on 1 side.

I'm running a BTO MBP with 2.6 GHz / 460 Graphics / 512GB SSD.

 

[mwalter]

Picked up my displays from the Apple Store on Thursday and just got them hooked up on two monitor mounts in my office. Haven't had a chance to really use them so can't comment on how responsive it is yet.

One thing I don't like is that I have to use both sides of the MacBook to connect the displays -- would have so much cleaner to just have everything connected on 1 side.

I'm running a BTO MBP with 2.6 GHz / 460 Graphics / 512GB SSD.

The setup looks great! Are those Herman Miller arms?

 

[hollandog]

The setup looks great! Are those Herman Miller arms?

Looks like Humanscale M2 or M8.

 

[alienacis]

For folks who are having instability or performance issues, I recommend switching the stock Thunderbolt cable with one from Belkin's and see if it resolves your problem.

I encountered laggy performance, dropped frames as well as numerous wake/sleep and display issues when using the stock cable with my tb13. By chance I had two Belkin Thunderbolt cables (0.5m and 2m) with me and testing with those resolved all these issues. Computer wakes up from sleep fine in open and clamshell modes. And performance is perfect with no jerkiness on any tasks.

Now I am not sure if the issue is the cable quality of the stock cable or if the connector does not seat well. I did try reseating the stock cable connector multiple times but it never worked well.

Also, holding both the Belkin and stock cable in hand, it feels the Belkin one is slightly thicker. Again, not sure if that has to do anything.

Worth a try getting it from the Apple Store and returning it if it doesn't solve your problems.

Argh, it was very stable for a couple of days since I posted this. Today, I had to move the monitor and removed and re-inserted the Belkin cable and shoot, the periodic flickering and sleep instability issues are back 🙁 I even tried the beta of MacOS 10.12.3 but that doesn't resolve these issues.

I have printed a return label at apple.com and will give it another couple of weeks (return deadline is Jan 16) but if this continues, it is most likely going back. What a bummer, the screen is awesome but I just can't hope for LG to fix these hardware or firmware issues as there has been no acknowledgement from them or Apple and I am left holding a beta lemon product with nobody owning these issues.

 

[bopajuice]

Argh, it was very stable for a couple of days since I posted this. Today, I had to move the monitor and removed and re-inserted the Belkin cable and shoot, the periodic flickering and sleep instability issues are back 🙁 I even tried the beta of MacOS 10.12.3 but that doesn't resolve these issues.

I have printed a return label at apple.com and will give it another couple of weeks (return deadline is Jan 16) but if this continues, it is most likely going back. What a bummer, the screen is awesome but I just can't hope for LG to fix these hardware or firmware issues as there has been no acknowledgement from them or Apple and I am left holding a beta lemon product with nobody owning these issues.

Geez thats too bad. Seems that just about everything Apple releases these days has issues. Now even third party products can't get it right. What's the world coming to...

 

[tomislavf]

I am having serious problems with dropped frames working with the MacBook Pro non touchbar base model. It is incredibly slow in apps like Sketch and Affinity Photo. It is super slow. Still all people commenting here (with the exception of me) seem to be using the 5k with the touchbar model (which has a a dedicated GPU).

Still waiting for someone to report in with a similar configuration like me.

Try turning off transparency in System Preferences->Accessibility->Display.

 

[kinster]

Picked up my displays from the Apple Store on Thursday and just got them hooked up on two monitor mounts in my office. Haven't had a chance to really use them so can't comment on how responsive it is yet.

One thing I don't like is that I have to use both sides of the MacBook to connect the displays -- would have so much cleaner to just have everything connected on 1 side.

I'm running a BTO MBP with 2.6 GHz / 460 Graphics / 512GB SSD.

Best desk setup I've seen so far.

 

[wiseoak1]

Picked up my displays from the Apple Store on Thursday and just got them hooked up on two monitor mounts in my office. Haven't had a chance to really use them so can't comment on how responsive it is yet.

One thing I don't like is that I have to use both sides of the MacBook to connect the displays -- would have so much cleaner to just have everything connected on 1 side.

I'm running a BTO MBP with 2.6 GHz / 460 Graphics / 512GB SSD.

What's the brand of the Macbook Pro holder? Looks good!

 

[Shakko]

Haven't run into any responsiveness issues so far -- though I just learned that the 5K display's USB-C doesn't provide enough power for my FiiO dac/amp. Gotta see how much it can feed out.

Looks like Humanscale M2 or M8.

Yup, Humanscale M8s. Love these arms -- they look sleek, but also are super adjustable.

Best desk setup I've seen so far.

Thanks!

What's the brand of the Macbook Pro holder? Looks good!

It's the BookArc mod from Twelve South. It manages to fit the new MBP pretty well, though not as snug as the older Retina MBP I had.

 

[rtkane]

Anyone know if the monitor will output sound through one of the USB-C ports through a USB-C to 3.5mm audio adapter? I was initially thinking it would, but am not sure it'll work. Was hoping to remove one more cord (the 3.5mm audio plug) from my MBP and have it plugged into the display. Bought one of the adapters, but it doesn't seem to work and I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong or it's just not a viable option.

 

[Pedromalacara]

I'm worried about battery cycles, how many hours You consider to keep the battery full charged while working with the LG display in Clamshell mode?

Thanks! 😵😵😵

 

[Weaselboy]

I'm worried about battery cycles, how many hours You consider to keep the battery full charged while working with the LG display in Clamshell mode?

Thanks! 😵😵😵

Don't sweat it. I run my MacBooks in clamshell for weeks at a time plugged into the power and it does not hurt the battery. Once the battery is fully charged, it stops charging and will not overcharge. I'm doing the same with my new 13" TB model and this display.

 

[Dukat]

Don't sweat it. I run my MacBooks in clamshell for weeks at a time plugged into the power and it does not hurt the battery. Once the battery is fully charged, it stops charging and will not overcharge. I'm doing the same with my new 13" TB model and this display.

My 1.5 year old Macbook has 6 cycles, capacity indicator in Coconut looks like there's no issue with the battery.

 

[rtkane]

Don't sweat it. I run my MacBooks in clamshell for weeks at a time plugged into the power and it does not hurt the battery. Once the battery is fully charged, it stops charging and will not overcharge. I'm doing the same with my new 13" TB model and this display.

Agreed. The MacBook Pro's battery cycle is 1000 charges. I just sold my previous Mac (Early 2013) which was almost always plugged into power (rarely left the house) and it only had 50 cycles on the battery. Not bad for a nearly 4 year old computer.

 

[tomislavf]

I'm worried about battery cycles, how many hours You consider to keep the battery full charged while working with the LG display in Clamshell mode?

Thanks! 😵😵😵

Try to discharge it fully at least once per month.

Apple used to have a webpage recommending that. Even a iCal event that you could add to your calendar.

 

[Weaselboy]

Try to discharge it fully at least once per month.

Apple used to have a webpage recommending that. Even a iCal event that you could add to your calendar.

That is not necessary and is not recommended by Apple. All that is doing is adding unneeded battery charge/discharge cycles.

 

[Pedromalacara]

That is not necessary and is not recommended by Apple. All that is doing is adding unneeded battery charge/discharge cycles.

I read at batteryuniversity.com/ about discharge once per month is ok, to calibrate. But Ok, I'll not plug in my MacBook Pro 24/7. But I often work in the office for 10 hours or more. That means at least 2 battery cycles. I want to know the better battery usage to do not destroy it early. if I keep it at 100% 8 hours or more somedays.

 

[Weaselboy]

I read at batteryuniversity.com/ about discharge once per month is ok, to calibrate. But Ok, I'll not plug in my MacBook Pro 24/7. But I often work in the office for 10 hours or more. That means at least 2 battery cycles. I want to know the better battery usage to do not destroy it early. if I keep it at 100% 8 hours or more somedays.

You do not need to calibrate or intentionally discharge MacBook batteries. It won't hurt a thing to leave it plugged in all the time. Just use it on battery when you need to, and otherwise leave it plugged in.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1446

http://www.apple.com/batteries/

Here is Apple's official information on batteries.

 

[Mike Delta]

I wonder if we will see any shipping notices tomorrow for the 5-19th group?

 

[triumph71]

I wonder if we will see any shipping notices tomorrow for the 5-19th group?

I had hoped my order would move to "Preparing for Shipment" today, so it would have time to get shipped tomorrow, for a delivery on the 5th. But no movement so far 🙁