Published in Graphics

Apple suspends LG monitor sales

by on14 February 2017


It is borked but Apple is still displaying it


After keeping rather quiet about faults on the LG's UltraFine 5K monitor which it suggested fanboys bought to plug into their Macs, Apple appears to be delaying sales for a couple of months until the borked units can be replaced.

We say appears, because Apple is doing its best to make it look like there is nothing wrong and the product is still on sale.

Apple decided it did not want to make monitors anymore and called in its partners at LG to come up with an expensive 5K monitor to fill the gap. The result was the UltraFine 5K cost $974, and was built specifically with the 2016 MacBook Pro in mind, connecting to the laptop through Thunderbolt 3 while offering three USB-C ports of its own.

However, users were less than happy with the monitor’s performance which lacked proper shielding from wireless interference. This made it a little problematic for those who had wi-fi connections, or placed their monitors too close to the router.

But Apple has not exactly been forthcoming about the issue. In fact, even though it clearly was planning to pull the product, Apple retail staff have been ordered to keep the product on display yet not sell any units if people asked. The idea appears to be to give the impression that the product was still on sale and hope no one noticed.

Other members of the press found that Apple was removing the product from sale of the Thunderbolt 3 display. But still sources inside Apple were not talking.

Off the record, staff were saying that Apple was retaining demonstration displays, but not selling any stock on-hand that it may receive that may have the shielding fix, nor filling any pending orders until otherwise informed. It looks like this will take six weeks to two months.  The USB-C-based LG UltraFine 4K display remains on sale.

Last modified on 14 February 2017
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