LG UltraFine 5K Display now for sale through Apple, first orders ship in January [u]
One month after it debuted onstage at Apple's MacBook Pro event, LG's UltraFine 5K Display went up for sale on Monday exclusively through Apple's online storefront for $974.
As of this writing, orders placed through Apple's website will ship within 6 to 8 weeks, meaning the first units are unlikely to arrive in 2016. Apple previously said the LG UltraFine 5K Display would be available to purchase in December.
Measuring 27 inches on the diagonal, the 5K UltraFine Display was developed in partnership with Apple and supports resolutions up to 5,120-by-2,880 with DCI-P3 color, matching the latest MacBook Pro hardware unveiled in October. With built-in speakers, three USB 3.1 ports and 85 watts of charging power, the display acts as a hub for Apple's I/O constrained notebooks and serves as a suitable replacement for the erstwhile Thunderbolt Display.
While the display does not ship until January, customers thinking about buying a unit should do so before the end of the year. Earlier this month, Apple slashed 25 percent off retail pricing for both the 5K model and its smaller 21.5-inch 4K sibling. Available until Dec. 30, the limited time offer drops the 5K model down to $974 from $1,299.95, while the 4K version moves to $524 from $699.95.
LG's UltraFine 4K Display went up for sale alongside Apple's new MacBook Pro notebooks in October. Early preorder customers began receiving shipments some two weeks ago.
Update: Apple is no longer listing the LG 5K Display as available to purchase, with the product page now showing estimated availability in December. The reason for the change in status is unclear, though customers were able to place orders during a short window earlier today.
As of this writing, orders placed through Apple's website will ship within 6 to 8 weeks, meaning the first units are unlikely to arrive in 2016. Apple previously said the LG UltraFine 5K Display would be available to purchase in December.
Measuring 27 inches on the diagonal, the 5K UltraFine Display was developed in partnership with Apple and supports resolutions up to 5,120-by-2,880 with DCI-P3 color, matching the latest MacBook Pro hardware unveiled in October. With built-in speakers, three USB 3.1 ports and 85 watts of charging power, the display acts as a hub for Apple's I/O constrained notebooks and serves as a suitable replacement for the erstwhile Thunderbolt Display.
While the display does not ship until January, customers thinking about buying a unit should do so before the end of the year. Earlier this month, Apple slashed 25 percent off retail pricing for both the 5K model and its smaller 21.5-inch 4K sibling. Available until Dec. 30, the limited time offer drops the 5K model down to $974 from $1,299.95, while the 4K version moves to $524 from $699.95.
LG's UltraFine 4K Display went up for sale alongside Apple's new MacBook Pro notebooks in October. Early preorder customers began receiving shipments some two weeks ago.
Update: Apple is no longer listing the LG 5K Display as available to purchase, with the product page now showing estimated availability in December. The reason for the change in status is unclear, though customers were able to place orders during a short window earlier today.
Comments
As for the criticism of the black bezel, my ordered MBP w/TB will have a black bezel. I think the two will go together better than an aluminum display would. And besides, that's mere cosmetics. The 5K has more important assets.
I hope that someone will make a USB-C monitor that better matches Apple styling and hopefully also has at least 2 USB-C inputs and a built-in KVM switch. Given that HP has copied the Macbook style in some of their laptops, they may create a better Apple monitor.
Yes, I think it's a bogus issue. It is not an Apple monitor; it's a monitor built by LG with input from Apple to make sure that it works properly with Apple kit, and that is all. At the end of the day, Apple is carrying none of the development costs associated with developing it, and LG will pick up the tab if they fail to sell a single one. LG will be looking to sell this beyond the Mac market and so has come up with a fairly generic look that will suit a much wider range of machines used by professionals. The plain black bezel is preferred by professionals because it is less distracting (and by professionals I mean real professionals, not the posers and shills who usually infest Mac forums). True professionals will also prefer the fact that you can adjust the height, tilt and swivel on this monitor. The Thunderbolt display only allowed you to tilt it, which meant you had to stand it on something. How does that gel with your delicate sense of the aesthetic? If Apple insisted on making the outside match their external cases of the machines then I'm pretty sure that LG would have refused, because at the end of day, machines with dark exteriors outsell Apple machines even if they don't make anywhere as much money.
Also bear in mind that Apple kit now comes in slate grey, silver and gold. Should LG make three different bezel colours (in aluminium) to match them all?
And apologies for the #yawn.
Apparently it's not. All of a sudden, after years of complaining that Apple cares more about form than function, the black bezel is a problem.
Unbelievable.
Schiller mentioned the monitor on stage and he also mentioned the Pegasus RAID box a couple of seconds later. They also mentioned Photoshop and DJay Pro. Do you think Photoshop should display a big Apple logo when it starts up. I would imagine that Apple had some input when it came to implementing the touch bar functionality, so why not?
How about this: if LG makes the screens for the iMac, then maybe LG should get a sticker on each iMac sold; a nice big silver one, like the ones plastered all over Windows laptops from every manufacturer who contributed a screw.
It's really simple. Monitors are a commodity. Since it's unlikely that many people actually bought a Mac monitor then they're probably not much help for brand recognition. So producing one for a handful of people who suddenly find the look of a plain black monitor a problem is probably not a wise use of resources.