LG UltraFine 5K - Owners Thread

[otakustay]

Mine is planned to ship on Jan.7 when ordered but will ship tomorrow, I'm having a 13' tMBP so I will try to do some test on the 13' + 5K combination, luckily my tMBP's last return date is Dec.29

 

[tomislavf]

<nevermind>

 

[Weaselboy]

Ordered on 12/20 with an ETA of 12/27 or 12/28.

Same here. Mine is now in the hands of FedEx with a delivery date of Wednesday.

 

[iBrooker]

Still not possible to order in Switzerland



iBrooker what does it say for the 5K in the System Report under Pixel Depth (ARGBxxxx)?

30 bit colour

 

[Brookzy]

What a time to be alive...

 

[slaWter]

30 bit colour

Good. Thanks for confirming!
I'd say it's probably the same as for the iMac 5K display and should be ok for most users and workflows.

 

[wiseoak1]

Do you think performance wise, the basemodel (2ghz, 16gb ram, 13") will be able to run smoothly when connected to the LG 5K?

Also, how's the audio compared to the Apple Thunderbolt Display? Similar, better or worse?

 

[Brookzy]

How's the audio compared to the Apple Thunderbolt Display? Similar, better or worse?

I know this is directed at the lucky guys who have the 5Ks but the LG tech specs list the 4K and 5K as having the same speakers and I just saw your post so though I would chime in.

At first, the loudness overwhelms you and fools you into thinking they are good speakers.

Unfortunately, after a few days you realise:

• They are just too loud. 99% of people would never put them above half volume and with a bassy track there is serious distortion beyond 70%
• There is no definition. The sound is flat and muddy
• The volume scale is way off. 2 notches from bottom is easily twice as loud as 1 notch from bottom (i.e. the minimum volume), but 3 notches is barely different from 2

If you have any appreciation for sound whatsoever, your ears will want to bleed listening to them. I'm not an audiophile but I know what good sound is, and it's not this.

The Thunderbolt Display and iMac sounds way better.

 

[wiseoak1]

I know this is directed at the lucky guys who have the 5Ks but the LG tech specs list the 4K and 5K as having the same speakers and I just saw your post so though I would chime in.

At first, the loudness overwhelms you and fools you into thinking they are good speakers.

Unfortunately, after a few days you realise:

• They are just too loud. 99% of people would never put them above half volume and with a bassy track there is serious distortion beyond 70%
• There is no definition. The sound is flat and muddy
• The volume scale is way off. 2 notches from bottom is easily twice as loud as 1 notch from bottom (i.e. the minimum volume), but 3 notches is barely different from 2

If you have any appreciation for sound whatsoever, your ears will want to bleed listening to them. I'm not an audiophile but I know what good sound is, and it's not this.

The Thunderbolt Display and iMac sounds way better.

Thanks for your reply, sad to hear this. I quite like the sound on the Thunderbolt Display...

 

[iBrooker]

I know this is directed at the lucky guys who have the 5Ks but the LG tech specs list the 4K and 5K as having the same speakers and I just saw your post so though I would chime in.

At first, the loudness overwhelms you and fools you into thinking they are good speakers.

Unfortunately, after a few days you realise:

• They are just too loud. 99% of people would never put them above half volume and with a bassy track there is serious distortion beyond 70%
• There is no definition. The sound is flat and muddy
• The volume scale is way off. 2 notches from bottom is easily twice as loud as 1 notch from bottom (i.e. the minimum volume), but 3 notches is barely different from 2

If you have any appreciation for sound whatsoever, your ears will want to bleed listening to them. I'm not an audiophile but I know what good sound is, and it's not this.

The Thunderbolt Display and iMac sounds way better.

Agree with this - notch two and it's too loud!

Shame they didn't add two small tweeters to the forehead of the monitor and used the lower area for bass and mids. This would have sounded pretty awesome. Sigh.

 

[mwalter]

Does anyone know of any posts that explain the process of resolution scaling?

 

[ka-spot]

so how's the base (n)tb 13" with the LG 5k for Lightroom CC (mostly) ?

or I'll be better (performance wise) with the LG 4k ?

I'm guessing that 21.5" will be ok for me, and the 27" is just, kind of... too much.

 

[Konstruktor]

Hey folks,

Did anyone else experience this with the LG 5k?

Every time I let my MBP sleep while connected to the LG 5K and I wake it up again by opening the lid, only the keyboard lights turn on, but not the LG display and also not the MBP display. Some buttons light up on the touchbar, but nothing else happens. All I can then do is manually turn off the MBP by long pressing the touch-ID button en restart it.

Disconnecting the TB3 cable and reattaching it doesn't help either.

Does anyone have a clue about what this might be?

Regards, Vins

 

[iBrooker]

I have had slightly different issues. A few times when plugging the display in my machine has kernel panicked and "restarted because of a problem".

The other issue you have had, with the display being black from wake I have also experienced but only with the inbuilt display. I posted a 'bug' thread in the MBP section, you might be interested in taking a look

 

[Fireball Dragon]

Hey folks,

Did anyone else experience this with the LG 5k?

Every time I let my MBP sleep while connected to the LG 5K and I wake it up again by opening the lid, only the keyboard lights turn on, but not the LG display and also not the MBP display. Some buttons light up on the touchbar, but nothing else happens. All I can then do is manually turn off the MBP by long pressing the touch-ID button en restart it.

Disconnecting the TB3 cable and reattaching it doesn't help either.

Does anyone have a clue about what this might be?

Regards, Vins

YES!! Although I have had this with the LG 4K. Also, if I put the MacBook to sleep whilst connected to the display, the MacBook restarts at some point and I get a sleep-wake error message/restart message. This is not an isolated issue and there are quite a few threads on this.

I am returning the LG 4K and have a 5K on preorder now. It is disappointing to learn that the 5K also suffers from this problem...

 

[nikster0029]

YES!! Although I have had this with the LG 4K. Also, if I put the MacBook to sleep whilst connected to the display, the MacBook restarts at some point and I get a sleep-wake error message/restart message. This is not an isolated issue and there are quite a few threads on this.

I am returning the LG 4K and have a 5K on preorder now. It is disappointing to learn that the 5K also suffers from this problem...

Nice job apple

 

[Fireball Dragon]

I actually returned my November MBP due to all the Kernal panics. I then had to wait 3 weeks for my new machine which I just got last week.

And to think that maybe nothing was wrong with the machine and the kernel panics were probably all due to the LG 4K.... Okay, I have my MacBook now, but quite a sad story.

 

[iBrooker]

I actually returned my November MBP due to all the Kernal panics. I then had to wait 3 weeks for my new machine which I just got last week.

And to think that maybe nothing was wrong with the machine and the kernel panics were probably all due to the LG 4K.... Okay, I have my MacBook now, but quite a sad story.

Have the kernal panics stopped? Aren't they normally software/driver related?

I have actually ordered a new Mac myself, same as this one but with 1TB HD instead.

 

[Fireball Dragon]

Have the kernal panics stopped? Aren't they normally software/driver related?

I have actually ordered a new Mac myself, same as this one but with 1TB HD instead.

I get sleep/wake restarts still if I keep the display connected to the Mac when I put it to sleep. So I now have to disconnect the display each time, which is a mild annoyance.

Now others are also reporting that the 5K does this too, I'm not sure what to do.

I think more than likely I'll wait for the 5K display and return the 4K. I really miss the front camera and would like the TB ports, as well as the larger screen size.

Just hope LG out out a fix for these issues.

 

[iBrooker]

I get sleep/wake restarts still if I keep the display connected to the Mac when I put it to sleep. So I now have to disconnect the display each time, which is a mild annoyance.

Now others are also reporting that the 5K does this too, I'm not sure what to do.

I think more than likely I'll wait for the 5K display and return the 4K. I really miss the front camera and would like the TB ports, as well as the larger screen size.

Just hope LG out out a fix for these issues.

We'll need to contact LG, Apple weren't really interested:

Him -> The most likely cause is faulty software. A kernel panic can also be caused by damaged or incompatible hardware, including external devices attached to your Mac.

Me -> The 'panic' has happened when I've only just connected the monitor (LG 5K UF)
(i.e with nothing else connected)

Him ->
It is possible that it is in need of a software or firmware update and that’s it. You’d have to explore that with the manufacturer directly, however.

 

[garyleecn]

Mine is planned to ship on Jan.7 when ordered but will ship tomorrow, I'm having a 13' tMBP so I will try to do some test on the 13' + 5K combination, luckily my tMBP's last return date is Dec.29

where are you located? how do you know yours was planned on jan.7, I thought they only gave you a range of days... and how do you know yours will be shipped tomorrow???

 

[otakustay]

where are you located? how do you know yours was planned on jan.7, I thought they only gave you a range of days... and how do you know yours will be shipped tomorrow???

I'm in China, I just received the "order shipped" email yesterday, now I have received the monitor, will do some test later.

 

[garyleecn]

I'm in China, I just received the "order shipped" email yesterday, now I have received the monitor, will do some test later.

hand shaken. I am from china lol

now I'm regretting living in the US

 

[otakustay]

I come back to report the experience with 13 tMBP + UltraFind 5K combination:

First a simple photo

A great look, I don't care the thick edge that much.

This is my tMBP, 2.9GHz i5 + 16GB RAM + 256GB SSD + Iris 550 Graphic

Devices

• UltraFine 5K connected to MBP
• Bluetooth connected Magic Keyboard & Touchpad
• Bluetooth connected iPhone
• No other devices connected
• Light up both the 5K display and MBP's internal display
• On MBP I have 2560x1600 backgrounds around 1MB, on 5K display the background is 5120x2880 images about 1.5MB in size

The short answer

It's not a happy experience using this combination, I have returned the 13' MBP, ordering a 15' with 460 graphics instaed

Daily use

• Mission control animation is extremely laggy, after a few times it becomes smooth for a while
• Switching between desktops is also a little laggy

Chrome

Try to open http://www.apple.com/, the animation on the homepage cannot run smoothly, FPS drops

Typing

Using the default input method on Sierra, daily input is smooth, however if a Chrome's active tab has some animation, the input experience is VERY VERY laggy - which I cannot bare

High CPU scenario

Try a ffmpeg to exhaust my CPU:

ffmpeg -i input.mkv -vcodec libx264 -acodec aac -crf 18 output.mp4
​

It runs at 2.1x speed and drain more than 90% of my CPU, I have identical experience in this time, everything formerly smooth is still smooth

Video play

Fail to play a 4K video so I didn't get it tested

 

[hollandog]

I come back to report the experience with 13 tMBP + UltraFind 5K combination:

nice report. I'm sure this will help many with 13" or deciding.