LG UltraFine 5K monitor 27" webcam choppy working with new MacBook Pro 13" 2020

I have the same problem with a brand new UltraFine 5K Monitor (2020) and brand MacBook Air 13" (2020) running Catalina 10.15.6

I spent extra money on this screen to get the integrated camera/mic/speakers (rather than using an external webcam, etc) and so I really do hope this is a software fix...

Anyway, just confirming another person with the same problem here...

I'm having the exact same issue. For the past 4 years, I ran a 13" 2016 Macbook Pro and connected it to my LG Ultrafine 27" 5k monitor. The webcam worked perfectly. Exactly same frame rate on both my Macbook webcam as the external monitor's webcam.

Last week, I upgraded to the 2020 Macbook, and the Macbook's webcam works fine. However, the LG Ultrafine's webcam is now essentially unusable. It's incredibly choppy.

Would really like to prioritize a fix for this. I spent a lot of money on this monitor, recommended by Apple, and I shouldn't have to buy an external webcam to make this work like it used to.

Not to bother everyone, but as a side note and curious to see if others are having this issue with the new 13" MacBook pro 2020: I record audio/midi on occasion as a hobby in Logic Pro and I have severe latency that I'm not able to squash with the normal means of doing so. My previous MacBook Pro easily could record 8-12 tracks no problem with effects and monitoring audio or software instruments while recording had no perceptible latency. But now, with one track I get really bad latency. I've gone through all the logic settings but the problem persists - is it possible this could be related to the choppy webcam issue? (which I also experience). Curious if anyone else with the same hobby noticed this. Thanks!

Same issue for me as everyone else.

I was using a 2018 MBP 15 with the LG 5k Ultrafine without problem. Wanting the new keyboard and a lighter computer, I tried the 2020 MBA, but the video feed from LG was laggy. I returned the MBA thinking the lag was due to the MBA's weaker specs and bought the 2020 13" MBP. Then when I got the MBP this week the video feed from the LG to the 13" 2020 MBP is also laggy.

I have filed a report.

I don't have a new MacBook Pro, but I can confirm that the issue also exists with a new Dell XPS laptop. Yes, it works for beautiful 5k resolution on Windows! Bummer that the webcam is choppy And Flutters. I found this board searching for Windows drivers due to the choppy video feed.

I've got the same problem. Upgraded from a 2016 13" MBP to a 2020 13"MBP and the problem started. Worked perfect with the 2016 model. Seems to be a driver issue that needs to be resolved for the new model. I upgraded to Big Sur on both the 2016 and 2020 MBP but the issue remains with the 2020 model. Hope they get this fixed once Big Sur is released to the public because this is really poor for video conferencing.

I just upgraded from a 2016 MBP 15" to a 2020 MBP 13" and am having the exact same issue. This is deeply frustrating. I have the LG 5k display, and if I use the built in webcam on a Zoom, FaceTime or any other video chat, my video is super choppy and will occasionally freeze. I do not want to buy an external webcam. It is crazy to me that a laptop that is 4 years newer would have this problem. You shouldn't need a dedicated GPU for smooth webcam video.

I'm using 10.5.6.

I have exactly the same problem with an LG UltraFine 5K 27" monitor (purchased August 2020) and a MacBook Air 2020 (purchased July 2020 and running 10.15.6).

I'm running the LG UltraFine 5K 27" display in "default for display" resolution, so this is not a problem related to using "scaled" resolution (which takes more processing power from the MacBook).

Purchasing a separate Logitech webcam is not the solution to this problem (in fact, it creates other problems with having the sound input via the webcam microphone and the sound output via the laptop/screen).

The choppy video doesn't always happen immediately... sometimes it runs fine for 5-10 minutes and then it jams up the whole computer.

Anyway, I purchased this expensive screen so that I would have an all-in-one solution for webcam/microphone/speaker but it simply doesn't work.

Hoping that Apple get a fix on this really soon...

I too started this year with a new MacBook Pro 2020 and just recently got a brand new LG 5K monitor so I could finally have a good work space setup but - the only time I got the LG camera to even start was with Photo Booth, one pic taken and then it froze never to start again. For all applications it basically says "camera is starting" and the camera view is completely black. The green light is turned on though, indicating the camera is on.

I tried turning it off and on again, changing USB outlet, installed latest Big Sur on the Mac, used a sudo killall command and have now run out of black magic to try. Great screen, but would be nice to have a working webcam/integration to MacBook 13" 2020.

The LG Ultrafine 5k webcam continues to be laggy to the point of unusable on my new MacBook Pro 13" (2020), even after upgrading to MacOS Big Sur. I'm forced to use an external Logitech HD 1080p cam.

It's disappointing that this thread has so many people repeating the same issue with brand new Apple hardware, and there's no solution or response from Apple. LG support is not helpful.

Hi Same issue!

When MacBook pro conneceted to LG Ultrafine monitor, I cant get webcam on LG monitor to function. It was going well, but I recently removed my macbook and when I reconnected only the MacBook webcam is functioning!

How do I fix this so I can use the LG monitor webcam?

Thanks

You would think that Apple would support a configuration that they sell. I hope at least there is a non-trivial hardware or software issue and not an intentional decision to not support the LG monitors. Auto brightness never came to the original 5K even though the monitor has a sensor, so I wouldn't get your hopes up.

I've read this entire post (after I ordered the LG 5K monitor). Ordered the monitor to use with a brand new 2020 MacBookAir purchased 30 days ago. I'm not even going to take the monitor out of the box. It arrives today, I've already printed the return label. Apple just needs to drop the screen from its catalogue. Not good for them (or LG) to have this much 'noise' for 6 months.

I reported this issue previously with my mid-2020 MBP Intel which I bought in June and promptly ditched when the late-2020 M1 came out. I bought one of the first ones, about a month ago. The webcam on my LG Ultrafine 5K monitor connected to my MBP M1 works perfectly and smoothly.

By the way, I have never been more disappointed with a piece of computer hardware than I was with that last MBP Intel with the fans that screamed incessantly, the monitor webcam bug, and 2.5 hours batter life for a 'new' machine. I gladly ditched it and gave up the difference of a trade-in to get my M1. And I have never been more happy with a piece of computer hardware than the M1. The battery lasts 8~10 hours and I've heard the fan only once in the past month - and I use Lightroom all the time. Happy customer. Good riddance to the Intel books.