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The LG UltraFine 4K Display is Crowned by Apple as its Preferred Display for the MacBook Pro (Late 2016)

The MacBook Pro (Late 2016) removed the Mini DisplayPort and HDMI connectors found on previous generations of MacBook Pro's.  So how do you connect displays to the Thunderbolt 3 enabled USB Type-C ports found on the Mac?

To help answer this question, Apple introduced the LG UltraFine 4K Display at the same event that it announced the MacBook Pro (Late 2016).  This display offers 60 watts charging to the MacBook Pro (Late 2016) while delivery 4K through DisplayPort 1.2 technology over a single USB 3.1 Type-C cable.  If paired with the 15" MacBook Pro (Late 2016), charging will be slower than the included adapter that provides 87 watts.  Interestingly enough, the LG UltraFine 4K Display only supports USB 2.0 (480 Mb/s) speeds over its 3 downstream USB Type-C ports.  

Unlike LG's first USB Type-C monitor, the LG 27 inch Class Ultra HD IPS 4K 27UD88-W Monitor (click here for pricing on Amazon), the LG UltraFine 4K Display only has USB Type-C ports and has removed the HDMI and standard DisplayPort connectors.  This is a pretty bold move by LG since most displays usually have multiple video interfaces to support the maximum number of hosts. 

In a way, the LG UltraFine 4K Display replaces Apple's own legacy Thunderbolt Display which also didn't have other video connectors other than Thunderbolt.  However, one important difference though is that LG UltraFine 4K Display doesn't support Thunderbolt itself- rather, it supports DisplayPort Alt-Mode, USB 2.0, and USB Power Delivery over USB Type-C.  That means it doesn't have enough bandwidth to support other features like Ethernet, SD Card, USB 3.1 Gen 1, etc. which are found on other docks.

We look forward to testing the LG UltraFine 4K Display with other USB Type-C based Windows PC's and Chromebooks.