LG announces UltraFine 5K and 4K monitors for Macs

LG has two new ultra high definition displays, designed specifically to work well with Macs. There is the UltraFine 5K Display and then the UltraFine 4K Display.

The UltraFine 5K Display is a Thunderbolt display. It has a 27-inch IPS panel with 5120 x 2880 resolution. It has 500 nits maximum brightness and supports the DCI-P3 color space. On the back of the display are four USB Type-C connectors, one of which is a Thunderbolt 3 input and the remaining three are USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports with 5Gbps bandwidth each. You can hook up your new MacBook Pro to the display over the Thunderbolt connector and get three additional USB ports, and also power the integrated webcam and speakers on the display. The display can also provide 85W of power to charge your MacBook Pro over the same Thunderbolt connection. The integration with macOS means you can control the brightness and volume of the display through your Mac. The monitor supports tilt and height adjustment and the power supply is integrated.

The UltraFine 4K Display, on the other hand, is not a Thunderbolt display. It has a 21.5-inch IPS panel with 4096 x 2304 resolution, 500 nits maximum brightness, and DCI-P3 color space support. On the back is a USB-C input, which makes it compatible with USB Type-C enabled Macs, such as the new MacBook and MacBook Pro. Apple's website claims a requirement of macOS Sierra 10.12.1, so I'm not sure if this will work with other Type-C devices, such as Windows PCs and Android smartphones. This display also has three Type-C ports on the back for peripherals but only support USB 2.0 with 480Mbps speed each due to the limited Type-C bandwidth compared to Thunderbolt 3. It still has stereo speakers built-in but there is no webcam. Also, it can only provide 60W of power to the connected Mac over Type-C. The monitor supports tilt and height adjustment and the power supply is integrated.

The UltraFine 5K Display is priced at $1300 and the UltraFine 4K Display at $700.