Apple Delays Sales of UltraFine 5K Display as LG Works on Shielding Fix

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As LG works on a fix for a Wi-Fi router issue plaguing its UltraFine 27-inch 5K Display, Apple has delayed shipments for the accessory and removed in store pickup options.

New orders for the LG UltraFine 5K Display will now ship out in five to six weeks, ensuring buyers will get a display with updated hardware that fixes the Wi-Fi interference problem.

lgultrafine5kdisplaydelayed
Prior to the shipping change, the displays were shipping out in a couple of weeks, and for a period in January, shipping estimates were as low as three to five days.

The shipping delay can be attributed to an issue that first popped up shortly after the displays began shipping out to customers in December. Users began noticing display glitches and freezes that were eventually attributed to interference caused by close proximity to a Wi-Fi router. Last week, LG confirmed the existence of a problem, apologized, and announced an official hardware fix.

Going forward, all UltraFine 5K Displays manufactured after February 2017 include additional shielding, protecting them against electromagnetic radiation from routers.

Existing models are also able to be retrofitted with the same improved shielding, and customers who have already purchased a display will need to get in touch with LG support to arrange a repair to solve the problem.

Created by Apple and LG to work with the new 13 and 15-inch MacBook Pro models, the UltraFine 5K Display continues to be available for $974, a 25 percent discount off of the standard $1,299.95 price tag. Special pricing, part of a sale on USB-C accessories, will be available until March 31.

Update: In line with Apple removing its in-store pickup tool, the LG UltraFine 5K Display appears to be temporarily out of stock at all Apple retail stores. A tipster informed us the Apple Store in Walnut Creek, CA was unable to process his LG UltraFine 5K Display purchase on Thursday:

When the Apple Store manager tried to sell it to me, the internal system would not allow him to sell it. As an experiment, he tried inputting a 4K model, successfully, which confirmed that the sales lockout only applies to the 5K monitor.

MacRumors called Apple Stores in New York, Toronto, and elsewhere, and all of the locations confirmed the display was out of stock. Apple's central call center is also unable to check availability of the display.

Tag: LG
Related Forum: Mac Accessories

Top Rated Comments

PatriotInvasion Avatar
83 months ago
Yuck, yuck, yuck. Imagine working your way through 14 automated voice menus calling LG for some script reader to tell you to ship it to them for repair a few weeks after you dropped a grand on this thing?

Apple, bring back the Thunderbolt Display please.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
simonmet Avatar
83 months ago
This is Tim Cook's Apple people!
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iMi Avatar
83 months ago
The fact that Apple is selling monitors that are stylistically and visually so different from the computers they are intended to match shows the lack of attention given to the user experience.

Brand cohesiveness is out the Windows, I guess.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Naraxus Avatar
83 months ago
I foresee more and more problems like this in the future for Apple....
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacDarcy Avatar
83 months ago
Apple should have never stopped making the Cinema Display. Quality control goes right out the window. How hard can it be? Just release a 5k IMac without the computer. They are halfway there. I really don't understand why Apple handed over such a huge component to home computing to an outside company. The LG display doesn't even look like an Apple product. I don't know about y'all, but I want my Apple MacBook Pro to aesthetically match my external display. It's just so un-Apple like to mix & match like this. Boo!
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MistrSynistr Avatar
83 months ago
Besides being the absolute cheapest, garbage design it's also internally a POS. Don't purchase this plastic hunk of crap.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)