Following the discontinuation of its five-year-old Thunderbolt display last summer, Apple revealed the monitor's spiritual successor - LG's Ultrafine 5K Display - alongside its new MacBook Pro line a few months later.

LG's monitor, which is discounted to $974 from its $1300 regular price until March 31, only started shipping from Apple's online store this week, but there have already been numerous reports of it suffering from a major issue. According to 9to5Mac, the 27-inch version of the Ultrafine flickers when placed within two meters (6.5 feet) of a wireless router. Any closer causes the monitor to become completely unusable, and it can even freeze a connected MacBook Pro.

The publication contacted an LG support rep, who confirmed that the issue was due to the proximity of a wireless router. Writer Zac Hall was told to place his router "at least two meters away" from the monitor. LG said that only the 5K display suffered from the problem, so it seems the 21.5-inch 4K model isn't affected.

Ars Technica notes that a key part of the monitor may not be correctly shielded from electromagnetic radiation, "and that part of the monitor is probably oscillating at a harmonic of Wi-Fi (2.4GHz or 5GHz) radiation."

LG hasn't said what, if anything, it plans to do about the fault. Just keeping the router a set distance away from the monitor isn't exactly fixing the problem, and anyone with limited space may struggle.

Judging by the customer reviews on Apple's website, router interference is just one of several issues found in LG's display. Everything from sound problems, to port failure, to frequent and unexplained crashes have been reported.