New batch of LG UltraFine 5K displays will have enhanced RF shielding, may not completely ...
After delving into the cause of wi-fi router interference, LG has redesigned the shielding on future production batches of the Thunderbolt 3 UltraFine 5K display -- but not only may this not directly address other user's connectivity complaints, how existing monitor owners will get the problem fixed is not yet clear.
"LG apologizes for this inconvenience and is committed to delivering the best quality products possible," said LG in an emailed statement to Re/Code. "All LG UltraFine 27-inch 5K displays manufactured after February 2017 will be fitted with enhanced shielding."
LG has confirmed that existing models will be able to be outfitted with the enhanced shielding, but how this will be accomplished for owners using the displays now hasn't been announced, other than LG promising "prompt service."
"LG clearly has a responsibility to get [the UltraFine 5K displays currently in the hands of consumers] up-to-date with the new shielding," a person within the company told AppleInsider under a condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. "We have nothing to announce at this time, but we are speaking with LG to figure out how best to get this accomplished."
During the course of AppleInsider's UltraFine 5K review, for example, the evaluation unit was tested in a suburban environment within three feet of two different operating 802.11ac routers, without any problems. The same unit is being used in a city now without close proximity to a Wi-Fi router, and is having connectivity issues manifesting from an unknown source.
AppleInsider announced in-depth testing on a pair of LG UltraFine 5K displays afflicted by the problem on Thursday.
"RFI shielding for electronic gear isn't universal, and this is a complex problem," our test supervisor informed us on Friday morning. "What you shield, with what material, where you put it, and how much of it you use depends on a lot of factors. I don't think that they'll blanket the entire monitor's electronics with a shield plate, because there just isn't enough empty space."
In the course of testing, two of the monitors were disassembled by the team -- one afflicted by the connectivity problems, and one not. AppleInsider was informed that there are no discernible engineering or shielding differences between the two, and the monitors are described as "well-put together" and sufficiently shielded, based on other monitors tested in the past.
"It could also be a combination of factors," we were also told by our test head. "There could be a few places that aren't shielded enough, and if 2 out of 3 are impacted, or 4 out of 7, or if this location is hit by 2.4 GHz wi-fi and that other by something in the 800MHz range, the connection problem may only pop up then."
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.
"LG apologizes for this inconvenience and is committed to delivering the best quality products possible," said LG in an emailed statement to Re/Code. "All LG UltraFine 27-inch 5K displays manufactured after February 2017 will be fitted with enhanced shielding."
LG has confirmed that existing models will be able to be outfitted with the enhanced shielding, but how this will be accomplished for owners using the displays now hasn't been announced, other than LG promising "prompt service."
"LG clearly has a responsibility to get [the UltraFine 5K displays currently in the hands of consumers] up-to-date with the new shielding," a person within the company told AppleInsider under a condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. "We have nothing to announce at this time, but we are speaking with LG to figure out how best to get this accomplished."
Not out of the woods yet
Other users report that they suffer from the same disconnect symptoms as that induced by nearby wi-fi routers, but without a nearby wi-fi router. While the enhanced shielding will probably eliminate issues induced by the networking gear, if the monitor is sensitive to other frequencies the specific shielding may not solve everybody's problem.During the course of AppleInsider's UltraFine 5K review, for example, the evaluation unit was tested in a suburban environment within three feet of two different operating 802.11ac routers, without any problems. The same unit is being used in a city now without close proximity to a Wi-Fi router, and is having connectivity issues manifesting from an unknown source.
AppleInsider announced in-depth testing on a pair of LG UltraFine 5K displays afflicted by the problem on Thursday.
"RFI shielding for electronic gear isn't universal, and this is a complex problem," our test supervisor informed us on Friday morning. "What you shield, with what material, where you put it, and how much of it you use depends on a lot of factors. I don't think that they'll blanket the entire monitor's electronics with a shield plate, because there just isn't enough empty space."
In the course of testing, two of the monitors were disassembled by the team -- one afflicted by the connectivity problems, and one not. AppleInsider was informed that there are no discernible engineering or shielding differences between the two, and the monitors are described as "well-put together" and sufficiently shielded, based on other monitors tested in the past.
"It could also be a combination of factors," we were also told by our test head. "There could be a few places that aren't shielded enough, and if 2 out of 3 are impacted, or 4 out of 7, or if this location is hit by 2.4 GHz wi-fi and that other by something in the 800MHz range, the connection problem may only pop up then."
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
I simply can't shake the image of the bottom-tier GoldStar televisions and radios lining the shelves of Walmart and dollar stores back in the 80s-90s. A name change to LG (Lucky GoldStar) doesn't help. Today, LG makes mid-tier products at best.
That display is butt ugly and does not belong in an Apple Store. It feels cheap quality wise. This is a prime example of "Steve would never allow that". This goes against Apple quoting Steve Jobs about quality. You probably have all heard of the story about how his father taught him about quality with furniture and a fence. This POS display would never be seen at an Apple Store. Tim should have just bought the panels and had his team make a new display. It would have sold better than the gold watch, and cost a lot less.
Its not like Apple has never had issues with their stand-alone displays. If anyone thinks that then they have a short memory. All you have to do is search for it.
You don't know what Steve would do so don't quote Steve and you don't know how an Apple display would sell. They know how their displays sells, who buys them and what they're used for. You don't know shit! You don't have the market research to backup anything you've said. Apple has all the market research they can get their hands on. I love how people know how to run a company who is making Billions in profits with record sales better than the actual company who just did it. Its just great!
If "Apple made this display," they would have to use this same LG hardware because no one else can make IGZO LCDs like this at the present time.
Because, as you must know very well, only LG makes a 5K IGZO LCDs in any quantity whatsoever, but who knows how many they can make..
And as I've pointed out several times here, sometimes to you, who says LG would want to sell Apple any more of their prestige and probably scarce technology for wholesale cheap, when they can get back more of their R&D by selling their own branded monitor?
But yes, maybe Apple would have caught a shielding problem if they were in charge of packaging LG's innards in an Apple monitor.
Contemptible reasoning based on miserable assumptions in your first paragraph.
See my replies above. You have no knowledge of whether LG would sell their 5K "panels," as you call them, over and above what they're already supplying. Do you know what their output and yield rates are? Were you in on the development of this cooperative effort of LG and Apple?
Maybe their internal research says that there isn't a big enough market for that?
Perhaps you are one of those who just look at their kit rather than use it? I don't know and don't really care.
If I could afford to replace my current setup I'd get two 5K screens and use them without worring about how they look. As long as they worked as I wanted them to (no local sources of RF) then I'd be happy.
How it looks is just not important to me.
Naturally if it didn't work then I'd rightly complain.
Your post is pure speculation. Airport, ipods, Air, Pro -- none of those have been announced as canceled. None.
And you're cherry picking with Jobs' ghost. Evidently you've forgotten his canceling the Xserve because no one was buying them, and a very popular ipod at the peak of its popularity.
And the PowerMac G4 Cube which is a failure and was canceled. And, the complete crap eMac which had nothing but issues upon issues and was also dropped. But lets all forget about that. Jobs was god and never did anything wrong and Apple was the perfect company when Jobs was CEO. Remember!!!!