I bought mine, and I love the screen, but everything else is problem after problem.
I move the cord at all, and the image cuts out. The cords attached to the monitor sometimes don't work until I plug and unplug them. My Macbook Pro randomly shuts down when connecting or disconnecting if I use clamshell mode. I don't have mine by a router, but that's a future potential problem, too.
You realize this article is a direct result of them identifying problems, so there's fixes on the way. Are you not making arrangements to send yours for a fix?
Regarding the cable problem, make sure you're getting a full connection, no lint inside the port. I'm sure that's not the cause, since your hardware is likely very new. I've noticed that mini-DisplayPort connections are not as reliable as I expect them to be, which surprises me given that it's a relatively new port type.
One more reason to show it was a bad idea for Apple to get out of the display business. I had a LG refrigerator that was a piece of crap. It is highly unlikely that I will ever buy a LG product again.
I strongly agree that it was a bad idea. I doubt they'll reconsider, but we can dream.
btw, I was in BestBuy over the weekend and one of the Macs on display was a Mac Mini attached to a Thunderbolt display. It made me sad that this is the face of the Mac being presented to the wider world. Meanwhile, 20 feet away were Windows PCs. Guess what -- the PCs weren't over 800 days old and attached to a discontinued monitor. Sad, sad, sad.
How many Apple displays have you bought? I've never bought one. I have three macs currently, seven in the last 11 years, but no apple branded displays.
We can say we don't like it, but that doesn't mean it was a bad idea for them to leave a market that bore little fruit.
The last Apple display I bought was for my Mac Cube. Since that time, I've purchased 4 (or so) iMacs and a bunch of laptops and a couple (used) Mac minis (which are hooked up to that OLD Apple display). I did buy a (now dead) Dell monitor at some point since the price/value was better than whatever Apple was selling. I think Apple knows what they are doing buy getting out of the branded-monitor biz. It's not their fault that LC screwed the pooch.
I don't have a problem with them getting out of the display market, but I don't really understand why you'd go to the trouble of designing a really lovely bit of hardware in the new Macbook Pro and then rely on third party partners for docks and displays.
Dell, HP and Microsoft all make laptops and docks - two of them make displays (and really well too) - and they are current.
Right now I need a new laptop, I work between two sites and home. I don't care if it's a 6th or 7th generation processor, 16Gb is enough (as is the Radeon 450) but I do care that I can dock the bloody thing and use an external display, external drive, ethernet, keyboard and trackpad at each location. I don't want to buy three iMacs: I do want to buy a Macbook Pro and three docks.
There are still no TB3 docks available, and when they come they are third party - no doubt with issues just like this LG problem. Currently, I need to run a script to get my Dell monitor to be recognised correctly, I need to buy a third party keyboard to get a numeric keypad (the Apple USB keyboard repeatedly fails, nobody knows why) and until a dock comes I need to buy a handful of adpaters.
They aren't exactly making it easy for me. There's a nice new XPS 15 which has launched with a dock. I don't like the keyboard (it rattles) and I'm not crazy on the trackpad - but at least I can configure it for how I need to use it - and frankly Adobe CC looks the same on both platforms and Office on Win10 has many more features. Looking like a return to Windows - I'm sure Apple won't care if the door smacks me on the arse on the way out.
One more reason to show it was a bad idea for Apple to get out of the display business. I had a LG refrigerator that was a piece of crap. It is highly unlikely that I will ever buy a LG product again.
Apple does make displays.
its called the iMac.
The iMac is a fucking computer, not a display. How is that relevant for those looking to get an external monitor for their Macbook?
But, this is a trend with your posts, as everyone knows. You love to distort the facts to champion Apple when stock is high, and you do the same thing to shit on them when stock is low. For you, nothing is based on facts or truth, just whatever you happen to think of Apple's stock at the moment, which colors every single one of your opinions. It got old years ago, but for some reason the mods still grant you posting privileges.
The iMac is both a computer and a display.
if you want an Apple branded display you need to buy an iMac. Simple right?
You can't expect Apple to make products that are niche and non-profitable. I'm not here crying that Apple does not make 60 inch TV for my AppleTV4.
People need to stop living in the past
wow sog so how much does Apple make from selling iPhone covers or that battery case or Apple pencil ? So unless it makes as much money as iPhone Apple shouldn't bother with it ? Ok and here I thought Apple was an ecosystem
I don't have a problem with them getting out of the display market, but I don't really understand why you'd go to the trouble of designing a really lovely bit of hardware in the new Macbook Pro and then rely on third party partners for docks and displays.
Dell, HP and Microsoft all make laptops and docks - two of them make displays (and really well too) - and they are current.
Right now I need a new laptop, I work between two sites and home. I don't care if it's a 6th or 7th generation processor, 16Gb is enough (as is the Radeon 450) but I do care that I can dock the bloody thing and use an external display, external drive, ethernet, keyboard and trackpad at each location. I don't want to buy three iMacs: I do want to buy a Macbook Pro and three docks.
There are still no TB3 docks available, and when they come they are third party - no doubt with issues just like this LG problem. Currently, I need to run a script to get my Dell monitor to be recognised correctly, I need to buy a third party keyboard to get a numeric keypad (the Apple USB keyboard repeatedly fails, nobody knows why) and until a dock comes I need to buy a handful of adpaters.
They aren't exactly making it easy for me. There's a nice new XPS 15 which has launched with a dock. I don't like the keyboard (it rattles) and I'm not crazy on the trackpad - but at least I can configure it for how I need to use it - and frankly Adobe CC looks the same on both platforms and Office on Win10 has many more features. Looking like a return to Windows - I'm sure Apple won't care if the door smacks me on the arse on the way out.
Yes Apple should copy Dell, HP, and Microsoft's hardware strategies....................NOT
Which line did I say that on? You've made nearly 12k posts, does that leave you time to read other people's posts, or just jump on the defensive by default?
I want to go and buy a Macbook Pro tomorrow and three docks to use as described. I can do it from other vendors, but have been an Apple user for a long time and happen to like the OS. What do you suggest?
One more reason to show it was a bad idea for Apple to get out of the display business. I had a LG refrigerator that was a piece of crap. It is highly unlikely that I will ever buy a LG product again.
I strongly agree that it was a bad idea. I doubt they'll reconsider, but we can dream.
btw, I was in BestBuy over the weekend and one of the Macs on display was a Mac Mini attached to a Thunderbolt display. It made me sad that this is the face of the Mac being presented to the wider world. Meanwhile, 20 feet away were Windows PCs. Guess what -- the PCs weren't over 800 days old and attached to a discontinued monitor. Sad, sad, sad.
How many Apple displays have you bought? I've never bought one. I have three macs currently, seven in the last 11 years, but no apple branded displays.
We can say we don't like it, but that doesn't mean it was a bad idea for them to leave a market that bore little fruit.
I've bought one and I'm using it right now. It's the 27" display prior to the Thunderbolt display (so it has mini display port but not thunderbolt). It's a great product.
One more reason to show it was a bad idea for Apple to get out of the display business. I had a LG refrigerator that was a piece of crap. It is highly unlikely that I will ever buy a LG product again.
Apple does make displays.
its called the iMac.
The iMac is a fucking computer, not a display. How is that relevant for those looking to get an external monitor for their Macbook?
But, this is a trend with your posts, as everyone knows. You love to distort the facts to champion Apple when stock is high, and you do the same thing to shit on them when stock is low. For you, nothing is based on facts or truth, just whatever you happen to think of Apple's stock at the moment, which colors every single one of your opinions. It got old years ago, but for some reason the mods still grant you posting privileges.
The iMac is both a computer and a display.
if you want an Apple branded display you need to buy an iMac. Simple right?
You can't expect Apple to make products that are niche and non-profitable. I'm not here crying that Apple does not make 60 inch TV for my AppleTV4.
People need to stop living in the past
wow sog so how much does Apple make from selling iPhone covers or that battery case or Apple pencil ? So unless it makes as much money as iPhone Apple shouldn't bother with it ? Ok and here I thought Apple was an ecosystem
There is a HUGE difference between selling accessories like phone covers that have MASSIVE profit margins and take very little space.
Monitors are expensive to make, take a ton of space, and have high warranty costs. Plus people just don't want them enough to pay Apple's premium prices. Apple knows this.
A monitor has nothing to do with a ecosystem. Its just a DUMB screen. It adds nothing to the ecosystem. Its the same reason Apple does not make 60 inch TV's.
MASSIVE profit margins ? Data please, if no one wants them, I don't even know where you got that from as clearly people were buying enough for Apple to sell them at they're stores, but hey more power to twisted logic man, how quickly it is to forget at one stage Apple was this profit oriented and it all most killed them, do you know which CEO and company had the policy "55%" or die ?
Whenever they endorse another company's products, they risk this kind of thing. An Apple monitor may not be a big profit center for them, but it'd still be a good ecosystem addition.
I bought mine, and I love the screen, but everything else is problem after problem.
I move the cord at all, and the image cuts out. The cords attached to the monitor sometimes don't work until I plug and unplug them. My Macbook Pro randomly shuts down when connecting or disconnecting if I use clamshell mode. I don't have mine by a router, but that's a future potential problem, too.
Regardless...I still don't see Apple making displays again.
They don't have to, but they have to be involved with the manufacturer as if they were. With all of Apple's resources, it's an embarrassment that this expensive monitor has all these problems.
Not picking on AI here, but what amazes me is the amount of problems that did not come up in any review of these displays. Not catching the interference problem is understandable, but are all the other problems we hear about now (except for the design, which was a clear negative for everybody with eyes) something that only showed up in production units? Most reviews were rather positive, and I would assume that the reviewers have tested clamshell mode etc. Can't really imagine so many people missed so many things?!
I didn't have the problem. At all. Yes, I tested in clamshell mode. Yes, I had TWO 802.11ac routers within three feet of the display, well inside the 6.6-foot range.
Then, like we said in our articles in collaboration with the test facility, the monitor was shipped to NYC, where it sits unused, as the problem manifests there. That, in part, spawned our testing.
And even then, only two of the eight monitors we got our hands on had the problem.
So much forest-for-the-trees nonsense going on, both here and at Apple.
Apple succeeded in the past by controlling the ecosystem - hardware and software. And not just some of it - all of it. In doing so the whole customer experience was something a customer could count on. That things would just work. And well.
Now that Apple is seemingly moving away from that, these kinds of issues are sure to follow. And Apple can't simply point at the supplier/manufacturer and say "It's their fault". Especially if Apple is going to actively promote this (the LG monitors) as their preferred solution.
Those of you that point to "niche" or "profit" or "economics" for Apple stepping away from monitors, routers, etc. are totally missing the boat - Apple will lose customers for these things because the ecosystem is incomplete and incompatible and nowhere near the total Apple experience that they have been known for.
My first Apple product was the Apple II+ in 1978. I've owned or led the purchase of just about every model since. I've been an active developer program participant since Rhapsody. Despite the rosy economic numbers, Apple today across hardware and software (both released and in current beta that I've experienced) feels eerily like the way the Sculley/Spindler era progressed. I would love to see a surprise on the Hardware or OS front but Tim has been saying "we've got great products in the pipeline" for years and has yet to deliver anything that anyone could describe as truly groundbreaking.
Vindication. It's design is not truly Apple-like anyway, so as fate would have it, this problem has halted sales (temporarily or not).
Regardless of whether Apple restarts sales after they with with LG to certify the monitor, I do hope this negative experience will push Apple to do the right thing and bring us well-made Apple branded displays that look lovely to behold. For crying out loud, this is an always-in-your-face "DISPLAY," not an ugly eGPU box you intend to hide under a desk.
Pretty simple solution - sell an iMac without the motherboard and storage. Essentially it's now an external monitor. Just need input ports, and display circuitry. AND IT WILL BE THE SAME HEIGHT AS AN IMAC! Come on TIm Cook!
I think it was on Gruber's The Talk Show that it was mentioned that he'd heard that the work that went into a Display was almost the same as a complete system (e.g., iMac), hence that's why they decided to palm this one off to LG (after doing a lot of work on a TB3 display themselves).
Whilst the iMac shell is slightly longer vertically (to accomodate the chin), it would probably be better to have people complaining about a chin on a TB3 display based closely on a 27" iMac than the issues that have accompanied the LG monitor.
I love my 27" Thunderbolt(2) Display, hopefully after all this fuss Apple will decide to get back to it.
LG used to be GoldStar. Remember GoldStar? That brand of VCRs you could only get at Kmart or other lame department stores in the late 80's. Well, they only changed their name. The level of product is actually still the same but looks nicer. And because they have a different name, people will pay more for it because they think it's a premium brand.
Comments
You realize this article is a direct result of them identifying problems, so there's fixes on the way. Are you not making arrangements to send yours for a fix?
Regarding the cable problem, make sure you're getting a full connection, no lint inside the port. I'm sure that's not the cause, since your hardware is likely very new. I've noticed that mini-DisplayPort connections are not as reliable as I expect them to be, which surprises me given that it's a relatively new port type.
Dell, HP and Microsoft all make laptops and docks - two of them make displays (and really well too) - and they are current.
Right now I need a new laptop, I work between two sites and home. I don't care if it's a 6th or 7th generation processor, 16Gb is enough (as is the Radeon 450) but I do care that I can dock the bloody thing and use an external display, external drive, ethernet, keyboard and trackpad at each location. I don't want to buy three iMacs: I do want to buy a Macbook Pro and three docks.
There are still no TB3 docks available, and when they come they are third party - no doubt with issues just like this LG problem. Currently, I need to run a script to get my Dell monitor to be recognised correctly, I need to buy a third party keyboard to get a numeric keypad (the Apple USB keyboard repeatedly fails, nobody knows why) and until a dock comes I need to buy a handful of adpaters.
They aren't exactly making it easy for me. There's a nice new XPS 15 which has launched with a dock. I don't like the keyboard (it rattles) and I'm not crazy on the trackpad - but at least I can configure it for how I need to use it - and frankly Adobe CC looks the same on both platforms and Office on Win10 has many more features. Looking like a return to Windows - I'm sure Apple won't care if the door smacks me on the arse on the way out.
I want to go and buy a Macbook Pro tomorrow and three docks to use as described. I can do it from other vendors, but have been an Apple user for a long time and happen to like the OS. What do you suggest?
Apple succeeded in the past by controlling the ecosystem - hardware and software. And not just some of it - all of it. In doing so the whole customer experience was something a customer could count on. That things would just work. And well.
Now that Apple is seemingly moving away from that, these kinds of issues are sure to follow. And Apple can't simply point at the supplier/manufacturer and say "It's their fault". Especially if Apple is going to actively promote this (the LG monitors) as their preferred solution.
Those of you that point to "niche" or "profit" or "economics" for Apple stepping away from monitors, routers, etc. are totally missing the boat - Apple will lose customers for these things because the ecosystem is incomplete and incompatible and nowhere near the total Apple experience that they have been known for.
My first Apple product was the Apple II+ in 1978. I've owned or led the purchase of just about every model since. I've been an active developer program participant since Rhapsody. Despite the rosy economic numbers, Apple today across hardware and software (both released and in current beta that I've experienced) feels eerily like the way the Sculley/Spindler era progressed. I would love to see a surprise on the Hardware or OS front but Tim has been saying "we've got great products in the pipeline" for years and has yet to deliver anything that anyone could describe as truly groundbreaking.
Whilst the iMac shell is slightly longer vertically (to accomodate the chin), it would probably be better to have people complaining about a chin on a TB3 display based closely on a 27" iMac than the issues that have accompanied the LG monitor.
I love my 27" Thunderbolt(2) Display, hopefully after all this fuss Apple will decide to get back to it.