LG’s revised UltraFine 5K display can now sit close to wireless access points

By Mark Coppock March 10, 2017

lg ultrafine 5k display fix 27 inch — Image used with permission by copyright holder

When Apple discontinued its Cinema Display with its ultra-high resolution, LG stepped in with its UltraFine 5K display to fill the void. Apple even promoted the display along with the new 2016 MacBook Pro machines and offered a special price on the LG displays through March 2017.

However, the display suffered a fatal flaw for many people — put it too close to a router, and it caused all kinds of problems from corrupted images to crashing systems. LG recently announced that it was shipping revised versions that resolve the issue, and the fix is apparently working, as 9to5Mac reports.

The problem was pretty simple. If your office setup is such that your Mac and your display are within a few meters of a wireless router or access point of any kind, the signal would render the LG UltraFine 5K display unusable. As 9to5Mac notes, high-bandwidth tasks could cause the issue to occur at even greater distances.

Obviously, not everyone can rearrange their working environments to accommodate such a flaw, and LG recognized that face. The company improved the hardware design of the displays, and the newer models are starting to show up to users.

9to5Mac did some testing of its own and confirmed that the new design solves the problem. The LG UltraFine 5K display can now be placed anywhere without causing any problems with either the display or the connected MacBook Pro. Testing with higher amounts of bandwidth also didn’t show any issues.

In short, you should now feel more confident in picking up the LG UltraFine 5K display for use in your own environment. Apple’s special pricing is still in effect, and so you have some time to pick one up without laying out quite so much cash. If you have the old model, then you need to contact LG for a resolution, although we’re not sure if that means a new display with the updated hardware or a fix.

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