This site may earn affiliate commissions from the links on this page. Terms of utilize.

Last year, when Apple tree canceled its own Thunderbolt-equipped monitor line, it offered LG's UltraFine 5K as a successor. The UltraFine 5K appears to exist a fine monitor, as far every bit it goes, but it suffers from one critical trouble — it dies if yous put it almost a router.

The LG UltraFine 5K is the closest thing to a true Thunderbolt-equipped replacement for the quondam Apple panel, fifty-fifty though information technology lacks some of the flexibility of that older panel, according to 9to5 Mac. Put it within two meters (6.six feet) of a router, however, and it starts going haywire. The closer the console is to the router, the worse the trouble gets. 9to5 Mac reports that the panel would constantly freeze, flicker, and disconnect. At first, they suspected that the monitor was simply defective, just LG Back up technicians identified the router'due south proximity as a potential problem. Moving the monitor to some other room, well abroad from the router, solved the problem altogether.

LG-UltraFine-5K-2

There'southward no give-and-take whether the problem tin can exist solved and LG has stated that this is an result solely for the 5K UltraFine. The company writes: "The issue that you lot are having simply happens for the 5K monitors we have, non to other LG monitors. We recommend to have the router placed at least two meters away from the monitor. If the same upshot persists allow us know so we can help you lot appropriately."

The LG 5K UltraFine is a $1,200 monitor, not a $100 bargain-basement display, but it'due south non clear if anything tin can be done most the problem. Presumably the issue isn't the cablevision, but something to do with the display'south shielding. There may exist aftermarket ways to solve the issue, but most solutions likely involve opening the monitor, and that'll void your warranty.

To make a long story curt — the LG UltraFine 5K appears to be a fine monitor if you can guarantee yous won't need to prepare it up almost a router, and an uncertain buy under all other circumstances. It's definitely not the kind of fire-and-forget purchase Apple has historically claimed to offer, and information technology indirectly speaks to a danger I discussed late last year: Apple built its brand-name, in part, on offering advanced production designs that worked together in means that the PC manufacture rarely matched. Apple peripherals were always more than expensive than their competitors, but they did make a value argument to justify that expense. Now that the company has outsourced its peripheral manufacturing to third parties, its customers are at the mercy of the kind of issues the PC earth is more accustomed to. That may non sit well with Apple customers in general.