So what's the deal with Apple's display situation

[eulslix]

The LG Ultrafine 5k is sold out since months, the other vendors charge premium for it and considering all the QA issues I've read about this screen, I would never spend that much money for such an ugly monitor in the first place, especially considering it's year by year less impressive comparative performance.

So what's the options, if you want to have a decent peak brightness, good color accuracy and a DCI-P3 color gamut, without having to sell your liver for it (lets skip the 5K for now, since there is no other monitor in that class). Is Apples only option nowadays their Pro Display XDR? I don't have the needs to justify spending that amount of money on such a monitor, as do many other people to my understanding. So what's Apples plan here? Let the LG slowly phase out and basically shove their niche monitor down peoples throat? Is this what the new ARM Macs will be paired with as an offering? A potentially sub 1k notebook paired with a 6k monitor?

I didn't hear of any rumours concerning a new Apple display, but it certainly would be nice to have something new in the 1500$ range. Right now I kind of feel lost and left alone in the Wild West of the third party screen manufacturer market to be honest, the only thing coming close to what I need would be the Dell U2720Q, but that one only features a peak brightness of 350 nits.

 

[arche3]

I think LG 5k2k is the best right now. Besides the XDR pro obviously.

 

[ght56]

I agree Apple could really use something to replace the LG UltraFine 5K. They did a great job with the XDR, but it's out of reach for many customers, myself included. The U2720Q is a spectacular display, as is its 25-inch QHD sibling...Dell is crushing it with panel quality relative to pricing. If Apple could deliver something similar to that with 10 additional watts of charge power + actual TB3 with a downstream TB3 port, maybe a high resolution webcam, enhanced speakers, greater HDR capability, and a little more brightness (and of course a slightly more aesthetic form factor that is common of Apple displays), we'd have a big winner and Apple would probably have a profit.

 

[oppastopa]

I hope Apple actually kills off the UltraFine line. It was a fun ~4 year experiment but the QC is terrible and when buying Apple "Gear" one should not have to play the lottery in doing so. Not being able to fix the monitor at an apple store is a red flag. Now you cannot get them repaired at most LG locations, you need to find a third party. I feel like this is a reason why Apple has "stopped" selling them, they cannot sell these for 1,300 and then say 'Good Luck!'.

Despite all this I would not be surprised if we get an UltraFine 6k in 32 inch for something like 2k-3k$.

I would like Apple to continue the Pro Display line, and just drop the XDR$ features for the people who want an Apple branded monitor and one that works flawlessly with their mid-range/high-range Macs.

 

[eulslix]

I hope Apple actually kills off the UltraFine line. It was a fun ~4 year experiment but the QC is terrible and when buying Apple "Gear" one should not have to play the lottery in doing so. Not being able to fix the monitor at an apple store is a red flag. Now you cannot get them repaired at most LG locations, you need to find a third party. I feel like this is a reason why Apple has "stopped" selling them, they cannot sell these for 1,300 and then say 'Good Luck!'.

Despite all this I would not be surprised if we get an UltraFine 6k in 32 inch for something like 2k-3k$.

I would like Apple to continue the Pro Display line, and just drop the XDR$ features for the people who want an Apple branded monitor and one that works flawlessly with their mid-range/high-range Macs.

That would be a monitor I would be interested in (more in the 2k range). I could see them optimizing their MiniLED supply chain, being able to deliver hdr1000 like specs in that package. That would still be enough differentiation to their xdr pro (hdr 1600 is kind of unique on the market... so far). It’s also quite common for Apple to release pricier versions of their products for earlier adopters, which is pretty much the case for the iMac Pro, being obsolete other than the fact that there’s xeons and ecc inside.

 

[SomeMacGuy]

This problem has been holding me up on a computer purchase too. Currently still running a max-spec 15" 2015 MBP and a Thunderbolt display and it is starting to feel a little sluggish. Looks matter to me and I'm not interested in aftermarket displays at all. If they had a pro-sumer display product for $2500 or less I would have bought it along with another MBP by now. Isn't a laptop / external display a popular setup for creatives? Frustrating!

 

[Erehy Dobon]

I hope Apple actually kills off the UltraFine line. It was a fun ~4 year experiment but the QC is terrible and when buying Apple "Gear" one should not have to play the lottery in doing so.

I was under the impression that UltraFine was an LG marketing name.

 

[Lammers]

This problem has been holding me up on a computer purchase too. Currently still running a max-spec 15" 2015 MBP and a Thunderbolt display and it is starting to feel a little sluggish. Looks matter to me and I'm not interested in aftermarket displays at all. If they had a pro-sumer display product for $2500 or less I would have bought it along with another MBP by now. Isn't a laptop / external display a popular setup for creatives? Frustrating!

I switched from dual Apple Thunderbolt Display to dual LG 5K UltraFine some time ago, somewhat hesitantly, but my first thought after making the switch was that I waited too long to do it and should have done it sooner. The improvement in user experience from the Retina display every single second that you use the machine more than makes up for the real or perceived degradation in aesthetics and design. Like you, I'd prefer an Apple-badged and Apple-designed unit, but at this point the Apple Thunderbolt Display does look very dated, and I was pleasantly surprised at how the slimmer bezels and slimmer design of the UltraFine, especially in a dual-monitor setup, turned out to actually be an aesthetic improvement over the Thunderbolt Displays in many respects. And paired with the Space Grey Magic Keyboard and TrackPad it looks good altogether.

So I'd just caution you on holding out too long - by waiting for a possible future Apple display you are missing out on very meaningful value that you could be benefiting from now.

 

[Lammers]

That would be a monitor I would be interested in (more in the 2k range). I could see them optimizing their MiniLED supply chain, being able to deliver hdr1000 like specs in that package. That would still be enough differentiation to their xdr pro (hdr 1600 is kind of unique on the market... so far). It’s also quite common for Apple to release pricier versions of their products for earlier adopters, which is pretty much the case for the iMac Pro, being obsolete other than the fact that there’s xeons and ecc inside.

The trouble is that at this point the evidence indicates that Apple has no interest in offering that kind of product. Presumably their view is that it's not a market big or important enough to be worth bothering with.

 

[randy85]

I got the LG 5K as a stopgap until I had the cash for the XDR display. It's totally fine, but it's obviously isn't quite at the level of an Apple product.

They should do a new version of the Cinema Display.. although perhaps the hold up is them waiting for a leap in screen technology to justify the Apple premium? There would be little point in repackaging something similar to the 5K panel.

However, I would argue that it's actually a huge market right now....think about how many people are working from home and would benefit from the ergonomics of an external monitor.

Even for creative agencies & post production companies who have outfitted everyone with Macbook Pros, it's probably too expensive to outfit everyone with an XDR display. They can literally buy them all a separate iMac for the price of the XDR.

 

[eulslix]

I switched from dual Apple Thunderbolt Display to dual LG 5K UltraFine some time ago, somewhat hesitantly, but my first thought after making the switch was that I waited too long to do it and should have done it sooner. The improvement in user experience from the Retina display every single second that you use the machine more than makes up for the real or perceived degradation in aesthetics and design. Like you, I'd prefer an Apple-badged and Apple-designed unit, but at this point the Apple Thunderbolt Display does look very dated, and I was pleasantly surprised at how the slimmer bezels and slimmer design of the UltraFine, especially in a dual-monitor setup, turned out to actually be an aesthetic improvement over the Thunderbolt Displays in many respects. And paired with the Space Grey Magic Keyboard and TrackPad it looks good altogether.

So I'd just caution you on holding out too long - by waiting for a possible future Apple display you are missing out on very meaningful value that you could be benefiting from now.

My problem here is that I can only get the ultrafine 5k for 1500€ from resellers. For just 500 more, I can get a brand new iMac 27 2020 in minimum configuration, which not only gives me pretty much the same panel, but packages in a nice look and offers me full customer support from Apple, and of course a perfectly capable workstation included.

However, I just don’t need that workstation and I can’t connect my MBP either. I had that kind of setup before already, where I had to sync my MBP with the iMac over the cloud all of the time, it just didn’t work well tbh.

Bottom line, I don’t know why I’m supposed to pay that amount of money for a third party product which is apparently overpriced even if they were including an Apple tax. Apple could easily change this, but they don’t want to. Which kind of strategical thinking is behind that I don’t know, but it definitely isn’t customer friendly.

 

[randy85]

My problem here is that I can only get the ultrafine 5k for 1500€ from resellers. For just 500 more, I can get a brand new iMac 27 2020 in minimum configuration, which not only gives me pretty much the same panel, but packages in a nice look and offers me full customer support from Apple, and of course a perfectly capable workstation included.

However, I just don’t need that workstation and I can’t connect my MBP either. I had that kind of setup before already, where I had to sync my MBP with the iMac over the cloud all of the time, it just didn’t work well tbh. But bottom line, I don’t know why I’m supposed to pay that amount of money for a product which is apparently overpriced even including an Apple tax. Apple could easily change this, but they don’t want to. Which kind of strategical thinking is behind that I don’t know, but it definitely isn’t customer friendly.

Yes it's a weird situation when you can pay slightly more and get a whole computer.

You would think with the resources that Apple have they'd develop their own monitor to work with Macbook Pros, Mac Mini's. I think the cost of the display should not exceed the device driving it for these customers.

I expect the must be working on this. They can't be super pleased with the availability of the LG monitors... similar to waiting on Intel, it just makes more sense for them to have control over this part of the ecosystem.

 

[Che Castro]

apple needs to make a non pro monitor for around $500

 

[AppelGeenyus]

You can check here for both upcoming panels and actual products and their expected availability, some good stuff scheduled between now and 2021:

New Monitors In 2024: What To Expect [Professional, Gaming]

Find out what LG, Samsung, and AU Optronics panel manufacturers have in store for us in 2024. There are some exciting models coming up!

www.displayninja.com

I think a lot of panels were scheduled for 2020 but probably delayed by covid.

 

[Lammers]

Yes it's a weird situation when you can pay slightly more and get a whole computer.

You would think with the resources that Apple have they'd develop their own monitor to work with Macbook Pros, Mac Mini's. I think the cost of the display should not exceed the device driving it for these customers.

I expect the must be working on this. They can't be super pleased with the availability of the LG monitors... similar to waiting on Intel, it just makes more sense for them to have control over this part of the ecosystem.

Of course they have the resources to develop their own monitor. They’re just choosing not to - presumably they don’t think it’s worth their while.

 

[Lammers]

My problem here is that I can only get the ultrafine 5k for 1500€ from resellers. For just 500 more, I can get a brand new iMac 27 2020 in minimum configuration, which not only gives me pretty much the same panel, but packages in a nice look and offers me full customer support from Apple, and of course a perfectly capable workstation included.

However, I just don’t need that workstation and I can’t connect my MBP either. I had that kind of setup before already, where I had to sync my MBP with the iMac over the cloud all of the time, it just didn’t work well tbh.

Bottom line, I don’t know why I’m supposed to pay that amount of money for a third party product which is apparently overpriced even if they were including an Apple tax. Apple could easily change this, but they don’t want to. Which kind of strategical thinking is behind that I don’t know, but it definitely isn’t customer friendly.

Fair enough. Worth looking at the second hard market though to see if that changes the economics. Both of my 5K UltraFines were bought from eBay - one new, one used.

 

[GumaRodak]

If i have to spend 1000 for monitor, there is only one option. EIZO

 

[RNA_man]

I certainly hope that there will be a "cheaper" Apple branded display, I would be willing pay up to $2,000 but of course $1,500 would be a sweet spot. I have been spoiled by the high DPI that a majority of monitors just don't have. I tried ultrawides, but just not for me. I'd love a 16:10 monitor form Apple again, but that won't happen.

The options for high DPI monitors are pretty limited, even Dell stopped selling their 5K monitor (I guess they replaced it with their 8k model, but for the same price I'd rather get the XDR). I would buy the 27 inch LG Ultrafine, but hard to find in stock around me.

At work I have two of the LG Ultrafine 22 inch displays, they are nice displays, however they are starting to bleed a pink hue at the corners that is very noticeable on white backgrounds. Bummer that LG will not repair them (I would be willing to pay) and third party repair shops basically told me to just buy a new one. They are only a couple years old and having issues but my 9 year old Thunderbolt display is basically flawless at home.

 

[ght56]

At work I have two of the LG Ultrafine 22 inch displays, they are nice displays, however they are starting to bleed a pink hue at the corners that is very noticeable on white backgrounds. Bummer that LG will not repair them (I would be willing to pay) and third party repair shops basically told me to just buy a new one. They are only a couple years old and having issues but my 9 year old Thunderbolt display is basically flawless at home.

Why won't they? Isn't it only a 4 year old product?

 

[RNA_man]

Why won't they? Isn't it only a 4 year old product?

They told me that since it is past the one year warranty, I should take it to an authorized shop to be repaired. I used the online search to find a place near me that would do it and contacted the shop, but they told me they only really work on TV's. I recently contacted another shop, so we will see.

 

[ght56]

They told me that since it is past the one year warranty, I should take it to an authorized shop to be repaired. I used the online search to find a place near me that would do it and contacted the shop, but they told me they only really work on TV's. I recently contacted another shop, so we will see.

I hope you can find a shop that will repair them (and at a reasonable price.) That's a lot of money in displays for only a few years of service life.

 

[oppastopa]

I certainly hope that there will be a "cheaper" Apple branded display, I would be willing pay up to $2,000 but of course $1,500 would be a sweet spot. I have been spoiled by the high DPI that a majority of monitors just don't have. I tried ultrawides, but just not for me. I'd love a 16:10 monitor form Apple again, but that won't happen.

The options for high DPI monitors are pretty limited, even Dell stopped selling their 5K monitor (I guess they replaced it with their 8k model, but for the same price I'd rather get the XDR). I would buy the 27 inch LG Ultrafine, but hard to find in stock around me.

At work I have two of the LG Ultrafine 22 inch displays, they are nice displays, however they are starting to bleed a pink hue at the corners that is very noticeable on white backgrounds. Bummer that LG will not repair them (I would be willing to pay) and third party repair shops basically told me to just buy a new one. They are only a couple years old and having issues but my 9 year old Thunderbolt display is basically flawless at home.

Same thing happened to my 5K display as well. A pink Hue appeared across the edges of the entire monitor, very noticeable while watching animations or working with a white background. Seems as if over time the pink band will increase in size as well.

I called LG myself for kicks and they told me they are no longer able to repair these. A great finesse.

 

[eulslix]

Same thing happened to my 5K display as well. A pink Hue appeared across the edges of the entire monitor, very noticeable while watching animations or working with a white background. Seems as if over time the pink band will increase in size as well.

I called LG myself for kicks and they told me they are no longer able to repair these. A great finesse.

That's actually another reason why I'm so reluctant about this display. I had the opportunity to buy a used one roughly 35% off. However, when I inspected it, it had a blue hue all over the place. The buyer was well aware of it, but tried to gamble his way through, trying to sell me his unit without demoing it at first. Pretty sure he wasn't able to send it in for repair either.

There is times where Apple's lack of transparency is really hurting their consumers and themselves. Just tell us whether you're going to address this issue anytime soon, and most of us will happily withdraw their money from the competition until its done. Most of us DO want an Apple product and most of us would regret buying a third party product instead, especially if it's of the same quality level as those LG displays. And no, the "upsell" strategy won't work if your offer is 300% above the target budget (but who knows, maybe the XDR profit margins are so high, that it pays off if only 1 out of 10 customers convert into buying it instead. Given the amount of high tech components in there and the amount of R&D behind it, I highly doubt it though).

 

[RNA_man]

That's actually another reason why I'm so reluctant about this display. I had the opportunity to buy a used one roughly 35% off. However, when I inspected it, it had a blue hue all over the place. The buyer was well aware of it, but tried to gamble his way through, trying to sell me his unit without demoing it at first. Pretty sure he wasn't able to send it in for repair either.

There is times where Apple's lack of transparency is really hurting their consumers and themselves. Just tell us whether you're going to address this issue anytime soon, and most of us will happily withdraw their money from the competition until its done. Most of us DO want an Apple product and most of us would regret buying a third party product instead, especially if it's of the same quality level as those LG displays. And no, the "upsell" strategy won't work if your offer is 300% above the target budget (but who knows, maybe the XDR profit margins are so high, that it pays off if only 1 out of 10 customers convert into buying it instead. Given the amount of high tech components in there and the amount of R&D behind it, I highly doubt it though).

I wish Tim Apple could see this. If Apple extended the warranty and service the monitor themselves, I would consider buying the 5k. If they said they are working to address the issue, I would ABSOLUTELY hold off on looking at any other monitors, but I am not going to spend 1300+ on something that has a 1 year warranty and so many issues. When I bought the my current one, the guy told me he bought it in 2018. In just 2 years it already has a pink hue that takes up 35% of the edges and issues of image retention, that is so unacceptable. And I know people that have similar issues.

 

[fgengineer]

You are guys are making me question my recent purchase of my LG 5K. The difference between this and my previous monitor is huge. However, all these issues I am reading about make me question my purchase.

I used to think purchasing the LG 5K display was a waste since you could almost buy an iMac for the same price. That is exactly what I did and now I have a 27 inch iMac that I don't use anymore sitting in my closet. The computer is outdated, but the screen is still among the best. I moved to Windows because of work (and cough cough the mac pro was priced out of my range), but I kept wishing I had the iMac display until I finally just went out and bought the 5K LG.

After all of this, I am still trying to figure out a way to buy the XDR pro display. The LG 5K ultrafine looks so good, it makes me want the Pro XDR even more.

I am hoping a display gets announced to go along with all the new macbooks that are going to be announced in a few days. Although my wallet would probably cry.