Reports of LG UltraFine 5K Display problems persist, may relate to Thunderbolt cables
Apple's issues with the LG Ultrafine 5K Display may reach further than problems associated with nearby Wi-Fi routers, as users are now reporting worrying hardware troubles unrelated to networking hardware.
After Monday's report of Wi-Fi routers causing problems with some UltraFine 5K Thunderbolt 3 monitors, an ongoing thread on the Apple community support forums refuted that it was the sole cause of the problem, with users still seeing sporadic connectivity.
Regardless of the root cause, the problem does not appear to affect all configurations. During the course of AppleInsider's UltraFine 5K review, for example, the evaluation unit was within three feet of two different operating 802.11ac routers, without any problems manifesting.
The same unit is in a more densely settled residential environment now, and is having connectivity issues from an unknown source.
A second LG UltraFine 5K unit tested on Monday also fails to show signs of the Wi-Fi router issue, nor does it display problems with any other possible source of strong RF interference. Earlier this week, a NetGear NightHawk X6 router was held directly on top of the monitor with no ill effect, and on Thursday AppleInsider plugged in and ran a 1000W microwave less than a foot away from the front and back of the display, also with no problems induced.
AppleInsider confirmed on Monday that both LG and Apple engineers are examining the situation. Possibly related, AppleInsider used three different Thunderbolt 3 cables in three different retail boxes, all purchased online, to connect the monitor to a host Mac.
"At first analysis, it may be an issue with insufficient RFI shielding on a very limited quantity of the cabling bundled with the monitor," a source within Apple corporate told AppleInsider on Monday. "We're continuing to look into the rare trouble reports with the monitor."
In the test environment, two of the UltraFine 5K monitors are exhibiting periodic connectivity issues that are unrelated to display resolution, make and model of laptop, or cabling manufacturer. None of the 4K USB 3.1 Type-C displays are having issues.
More exhaustive testing including controlled RF across many frequencies will continue, and AppleInsider will report back with any findings. The sample size of tested monitors is not sufficient to make any claims about percentages of afflicted monitors, but may shed some light on how the problem can be minimized or ameliorated by users.
The LG UltraFine 5K Display is considered a replacement for Apple's discontinued Thunderbolt Display, offering a 5,120-by-2,880 resolution, a P3 wide color gamut, and the ability to charge a MacBook Pro using the same Thunderbolt 3 cable used for video and data transfer. The monitor is on sale from Apple directly for $974, a discount of 25 percent from the usual $1,299.95 price.
After Monday's report of Wi-Fi routers causing problems with some UltraFine 5K Thunderbolt 3 monitors, an ongoing thread on the Apple community support forums refuted that it was the sole cause of the problem, with users still seeing sporadic connectivity.
Regardless of the root cause, the problem does not appear to affect all configurations. During the course of AppleInsider's UltraFine 5K review, for example, the evaluation unit was within three feet of two different operating 802.11ac routers, without any problems manifesting.
The same unit is in a more densely settled residential environment now, and is having connectivity issues from an unknown source.
A second LG UltraFine 5K unit tested on Monday also fails to show signs of the Wi-Fi router issue, nor does it display problems with any other possible source of strong RF interference. Earlier this week, a NetGear NightHawk X6 router was held directly on top of the monitor with no ill effect, and on Thursday AppleInsider plugged in and ran a 1000W microwave less than a foot away from the front and back of the display, also with no problems induced.
AppleInsider confirmed on Monday that both LG and Apple engineers are examining the situation. Possibly related, AppleInsider used three different Thunderbolt 3 cables in three different retail boxes, all purchased online, to connect the monitor to a host Mac.
"At first analysis, it may be an issue with insufficient RFI shielding on a very limited quantity of the cabling bundled with the monitor," a source within Apple corporate told AppleInsider on Monday. "We're continuing to look into the rare trouble reports with the monitor."
Narrowing down the problem
Sources working with AppleInsider have obtained 8 LG UltraFine 5K Displays and four LG UltraFine 4K Displays for testing. The 12 displays are being evaluated in an RF-controlled commercial test environment simulating a residence or office space.In the test environment, two of the UltraFine 5K monitors are exhibiting periodic connectivity issues that are unrelated to display resolution, make and model of laptop, or cabling manufacturer. None of the 4K USB 3.1 Type-C displays are having issues.
More exhaustive testing including controlled RF across many frequencies will continue, and AppleInsider will report back with any findings. The sample size of tested monitors is not sufficient to make any claims about percentages of afflicted monitors, but may shed some light on how the problem can be minimized or ameliorated by users.
The LG UltraFine 5K Display is considered a replacement for Apple's discontinued Thunderbolt Display, offering a 5,120-by-2,880 resolution, a P3 wide color gamut, and the ability to charge a MacBook Pro using the same Thunderbolt 3 cable used for video and data transfer. The monitor is on sale from Apple directly for $974, a discount of 25 percent from the usual $1,299.95 price.
Comments
Perhaps it has social anxiety disorder. Move it out into the country where it can run free.
Yeah, I know. Why?
I come to this conclusion given not all LG 5K screens have the same issue. I can operate my Airport WAP even almost touching the screen and I have no flickering at all (tested with multiple Airport versions running 2,4 and 5 Ghz band).
In my opinion the Thunderbolt 3 connector on the screen and bad Thunderbolt 3 cabels included with the screens are in many cases the cause off issues shown, together with a component build in the screen which is to sensitive for RF interference by an manufacturing defect where the same component In an other screen doesn't have this defect.
If LG's conclusion would be correct, all the screens should have the same behaviour being close to an WIFI access point. Given this isn't the case and they can solve it with enhanced RFI shielding I guess my thoughts are close to the truth. It is also a shame for this price point how bad the Thunderbolt 3 connector snaps in to the display, It wiggles and you have the feeling it doesn't fit at all given you still see a part iron from the cable connector.
To get this screen decent to work I stopt using Filevault encription and to get rid of the mouse pointer issue: I stopped the service and restarted it with good results the last couple of days (Go to System preferences -> Accessibility -> Display -> "Shake mouse pointer to scale"stop the service reboot and start the service again)