It looks like the interference issue on the LG UltraFine 5K displays available through Apple have been resolved.
Following continued testing, the new monitors are apparently very slightly sensitive to high-powered RF emissions like from a very close cell tower or military radar like any monitor, the interference problems are rectified, with older monitors retrofitted by authorized third parties even less sensitive to the same emissions.
The new units, which have a slightly different shielding plate than the first run of fixed units. While the vast majority of users won’t see a problem, users within about 50 feet of an active cell tower, or a civil or military radar installation are experiencing the disconnect issues.
As it turns out, most monitors can be impacted up to 35 feet from a very powerful emitter. An original LG UltraFine 5K display with the retrofitted shielding is protected to 21 feet, better than average.
The testers offered the following comments:
“The new plates look externally the same, but there are some material differences from the first ones that we saw,” our testers said on Tuesday. “As a result, the LG UltraFine 5K is very slightly susceptible to very high-power RF, but 99.9 percent of users won’t ever be put in a position that it will make a difference.”
“Regardless of which plate you get, the fix is a good one,” said our testers. “It’s not great that it came to this, but the fix works.”
LG has urged customers that are afflicted by the disconnect problem even after moving Wi-Fi gear 6.6 feet away from the original batch of displays to contact LG service for assistance. Since a previous report found confusion with LG support, the situation has improved dramatically with most users sending the displays to one of a variety of third parties for the shielding retrofit with a 7-10 day turnaround.
The LG UltraFine 5K display boasts 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 unit is on sale from Apple directly for $974, a discount of 25 percent from the usual $1,299.95 price.
If you’ve gotten your hands on an LG UltraFine 5K monitor and have any feedback to offer, let us know in the comments.
Via AppleInsider