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Apple Predicted to Discontinue 17-Inch MacBook Pro

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btbeme

macrumors 6502
Jul 29, 2010
289
749
Nawwww... won't happen anytime soon.

Pure sales numbers can be deceiving. If 17" laptops comprise only 10% of sales, yet cost only a fraction more to produce than a 15" model, that is still profitable. Companies do not often walk away from profitable products.

The 17" isn't a unique design unto itself - it utilizes the same manufacturing process, engineering, and support of the 15" models. Not very different, and certainly not different enough to be considered a drag on the other lines. Nobody is holding their head in their hands wishing they could dedicate the extra assembly lines to building 13" systems.

As far as the 13", the only reasons it outsells the 15" would be weight and cost. If the new Macbook Pros debut as thin and light as expected, that would eliminate one of the concerns. And, I could see the larger 17" form factor as being large enough to house TWO SSD drives, perhaps in a RAID, that would blow away performance specs of any rotating drive system out there at any price.

I think the 17" system is a gotta-have purchase for many of its owners, and the cost is a secondary consideration.
 
macbook pro i5

macbook pro i5

macrumors 65816
May 13, 2011
1,338
1
New Zealand
haruhiko said:
I'm quite disappointed with the sales number of the MacBook Air in the article, especially when it is compared with the strong sales of the MBP 13". MBA 13" is in every aspect much faster than the MBP 13", the screen is a lot better too. When you take the price of an equivalent SSD in the consideration, MBA 13" is much cheaper too.

So are people buying the 13" MBP just for the word "Pro"?
Click to expand...

Can you add more then 4GB of RAM to a MacBook Air?.Can you add a larger then 256GB SSD?
Does the Air have 2.3 GHZ i5 processer? plus all the ports on the pro that the air doesn't,Dont forget that some people cant afford the 15" pro but need the upgradability that the 13" pro even offers.
 
M

mrmcgoo

macrumors newbie
Apr 23, 2010
17
8
Please be wrong

I hope this is wrong.

As a developer and contractor working at various client sites, the MBP 17" has been the only desktop replacement laptop I've found up to the task over the last 6 years.

But when buying a new one and when you are spending that sort of money, I always keep an eye on the next updates from Apple because I want to maximize what I get for that amount.

I suspect there is quite a bit of pent up demand for the next Ivy Bridge refresh.
Maybe not massive numbers but enough to keep the line going I'd wager.

A 15" with an iPad as extra monitor might cut it, but it's a cumbersome solution if you need that screen real estate. A retina display on the 15" might also help.
 
B

btbeme

macrumors 6502
Jul 29, 2010
289
749
haruhiko said:
I'm quite disappointed with the sales number of the MacBook Air in the article, especially when it is compared with the strong sales of the MBP 13". MBA 13" is in every aspect much faster than the MBP 13", the screen is a lot better too. When you take the price of an equivalent SSD in the consideration, MBA 13" is much cheaper too.

So are people buying the 13" MBP just for the word "Pro"?
Click to expand...

One word - ports.
 
Yebubbleman

Yebubbleman

macrumors 603
May 20, 2010
5,789
2,379
Los Angeles, CA
MacRumors said:
[url=http://cdn.macrumors.com/im/macrumorsthreadlogodarkd.png]Image[/url]


Research analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has in the past offered accurate information on Apple's Mac product roadmap, recently took on a new position with KGI Securities and has published a new report today indicating that Apple may be preparing to drop the 17-inch MacBook Pro from its lineup due to weak sales.

Image


Kuo's prediction comes as Apple is expected to introduce new notebooks that serve as a hybrid between the current MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models, offering greater power than the Air but greater portability than the Pro. Kuo believes that Apple will elect to drop the 17-inch size as part of this revamp in order to streamline the company's product offerings.According to Kuo's estimates for the first calendar quarter of 2012, Apple sold roughly 3.1 million notebooks, with nearly half of them being the 13-inch MacBook Pro, far and away the company's best-selling Mac product. But while Kuo predicts sales of nearly 1.5 million units of the 13-inch MacBook Pro, he sees much lower sales of roughly 500,000 15-inch models and only 50,000 17-inch models.

Kuo estimates Apple's first quarter MacBook Air sales at roughly 1.1 million, split nearly equally between 11-inch and 13-inch models. He believes that the MacBook Air is only meeting Apple's expectations and not exceeding them, in large part because solid-state drives are not yet available in large enough capacities to satisfy consumers. But the trend of abandoning optical and traditional hard disk drives from notebooks will continue, and solid-state drives will continue to become more cost competitive over time.

Article Link: Apple Predicted to Discontinue 17-Inch MacBook Pro
Click to expand...

Ming-Chi Kuo is clearly full of crazy talk. If Apple slims down the 15", power will be sacrificed and for those that need it in a portable machine, the 17" MacBook Pro will be the final option. Otherwise, you're going to have a lot of people jumping ship from Mac laptops, and Apple's all about people joining the MacBook party not leaving it.
 
N

nangariel

macrumors member
Oct 18, 2011
44
0
haruhiko said:
MBA 13" is in every aspect much faster than the MBP 13", the screen is a lot better too.
Click to expand...
What the hell are you talking about? The only aspect where the MBA is faster is the hard drive because it comes with an SSD. However that doesn't mean that you can't customize the MBP to come with an SSD too (on Apple's webpage) or even put it there yourself.
 
G

gpzjock

macrumors 6502a
May 4, 2009
798
33
Thunderbolt and lighterfootprint.

So Apple sell smaller, lighter, cheaper laptops that can run huge displays with ease or iMacs with huge screens built in for cheaper too.
£2000 to £3650 for a desktop replacement when you can replace your desktop with a 13" or an Air for a grand and still use a bigger screen when at your desk. Even a maxed out 27" iMac is £500 cheaper than a maxed out 17". :eek:
Can't think why they sold so few.....
 
macbook pro i5

macbook pro i5

macrumors 65816
May 13, 2011
1,338
1
New Zealand
nangariel said:
What the hell are you talking about? The only aspect where the MBA is faster is the hard drive because it comes with an SSD. However that doesn't mean that you can't customize the MBP to come with an SSD too (on Apple's webpage) or even put it there yourself.
Click to expand...

dont forget more then 4 gig of RAM:rolleyes:
 
G

gibbo132

macrumors regular
Jan 8, 2010
139
0
Well after using the 13" air I can't wait to get rid of my 15" MBP. It was a much nicer machine to use and felt much faster!
I looked at the 17" and I think it looks ridiculous, far to big for a laptop. Plus you can get the extra power of the 17" in the 15". If you really need the power get a Mac Pro!
 
ciociosan

ciociosan

macrumors member
Apr 10, 2009
91
21
Lund, Sweden
I know the stock price has been going up since the iTransition, but seriously, Apple! Don't abandon all of your professional customers! Some of us dinosaurs actually like having a large computer. Can we please be allowed to? Either that, or bring back the clones.

Yeah you heard me. I used the c-word.
 
N

nangariel

macrumors member
Oct 18, 2011
44
0
Mr. Retrofire said:
Not very realistic. The MBPs offer easy expandability, compared to the MBAs.
Click to expand...

Exactly... and also a firewire port, the possibility to use an IR remote control, better thunderbolt chip that allows you to hook up two external monitors at the same time, better FT camera, and an optical audio out.
 
bharatgupta

bharatgupta

macrumors regular
Feb 28, 2012
156
0
i think the analyst is correct in predicting this, since 17 inch notebooks are large and heavy and myself 3d professional even i look for 15 inch notebooks, satisfy my working needs, but anyone who has used 17 inch mb pro powerhouse will know the value of the machine, its simply great its as great as mac pro systems which are also rumored to be axed out by apple.

thinner form factor might not support this rumor and we ll see evolution of 17 inch mb pro, these machines are "literally" desktop replacable, very powerful for pro people and great battery life unlike nothing in the market

P.S. - hey apple plz allow keyboard with num pad in ur 17 inch notebook as options, pro people need number pads, yeah it makes sense to add in that.

Hail apple pro products!
 
AlBDamned

AlBDamned

macrumors 68030
Mar 14, 2005
2,641
15
haruhiko said:
So are people buying the 13" MBP just for the word "Pro"?
Click to expand...

When I went 'Pro' over 'Air' in 2010 it was for the upgrade factor and the fact that it was cheaper than the Air. My (previous gen) 2.66Ghz 13-pro has 8GB RAM (OWC) and a 240GB Mercury SSD (OWC). At the time, it cost about the same as a maxed out 2.13Ghz, 4GB RAM Air that 50% of my colleagues went for.

I do like the Air, and its portability factor, but I loved the additional power of the Pro. Having said that, next time round it will be hard to not choose an Ivy Bridge Air.

Edit: additional ports was also a factor. CD Drive, not so much.
 
bharatgupta

bharatgupta

macrumors regular
Feb 28, 2012
156
0
AlBDamned said:
When I went 'Pro' over 'Air' in 2010 it was for the upgrade factor and the fact that it was cheaper than the Air. My (previous gen) 2.66Ghz 13-pro has 8GB RAM (OWC) and a 240GB Mercury SSD (OWC). At the time, it cost about the same as a maxed out 2.13Ghz, 4GB RAM Air that 50% of my colleagues went for.

I do like the Air, and its portability factor, but I loved the additional power of the Pro. Having said that, next time round it will be hard to not choose an Ivy Bridge Air.
Click to expand...

13 inch mb pro is a consumer grade product not meant for serious work yet very capable n "reliable" machine that can do few pro tasks very well, compare it with other notebooks on market then u ll know the value of the machine, its great and i recomend it to my friends who r not that pro people.
 
nuckinfutz

nuckinfutz

macrumors 603
Jul 3, 2002
5,539
406
Middle Earth
It's plausible that the the MBP 17 gets cancelled. The only real difference is an inch and a half of screen, ExpressCard slots which few use and a slightly higher resolution.

If the 15" could offer 1920x1200 resolution or higher it would basically get rid of the need to offer the 17"

The numbers are probably true. There's little reason for most MBP buyers to carry around the extra bulk of a 17.

Pro probably buy a majority of the 15 as well.
 
David085

David085

macrumors 6502a
Nov 9, 2009
811
3
Wonder if I should sell my 2010 17" MBP on ebay if it will cover the cost for the 2012 MBP 15", Just have to wait and see when is up on there website.
 
D

Daniel L

macrumors 6502a
Sep 15, 2009
525
270
This Ming-Chi Kuo guy has been right about everything in the past, including iPad 2 rumors and iPhone 4 / 4S rumors.
 
D

didda

macrumors newbie
Mar 29, 2012
14
0
If they really remove the 17" modell they should at least increase the 15" screen's resolution. 1440*900 as standard is just bad. 1680*1050 should be standard and 1920*1200 BTO or even higher would be nice for people who need the resolution of the 17".
 
C

ChrisA

macrumors G5
Jan 5, 2006
12,578
1,695
Redondo Beach, California
needfx said:
yeah, drop mac book pro 17", mac pro, whats next?

enough
Click to expand...


Likely next they drop the Mac Pro and then software like Logic and so on. There are so many more content-comsummers than there are people who make stuff. Why not sell to the larger group?

But really for most people 15" is a good compromise and they can connect to a 27" monitor.
 
vincebio

vincebio

macrumors 6502a
Jun 27, 2005
792
48
Glasgow
Absolute utter tripe from another 'anal'-yst looking for his name in the news today...

Sure they wont launch with the 17", they never do...
 
bharatgupta

bharatgupta

macrumors regular
Feb 28, 2012
156
0
David085 said:
Wonder if I should sell my 2010 17" MBP on ebay if it will cover the cost for the 2012 MBP 15", Just have to wait and see when is up on there website.
Click to expand...

if i were u i d keep the machine, that extra screen space, expand it with good ssd and ram and i dont think u would need an upgrade its a serious pro machine, i recomennd u hold on to it
 
M

mrmcgoo

macrumors newbie
Apr 23, 2010
17
8
nangariel said:
What the hell are you talking about? The only aspect where the MBA is faster is the hard drive because it comes with an SSD. However that doesn't mean that you can't customize the MBP to come with an SSD too (on Apple's webpage) or even put it there yourself.
Click to expand...

I just added a 750Gb hybrid drive to a 2008 MBP 17" and it is just flying along.
Also squeezed 6Gb RAM in there too. The idea was that it will tie me over to release of next 17" MBP. But the point to the post was to back up nangariel, the Pro's do have extra processing power which some of us need and can easily beat the MBA with the right extras.
 
bharatgupta

bharatgupta

macrumors regular
Feb 28, 2012
156
0
mrmcgoo said:
I just added a 750Gb hybrid drive to a 2008 MBP 17" and it is just flying along.
Also squeezed 6Gb RAM in there too. The idea was that it will tie me over to release of next 17" MBP. But the point to the post was to back up nangariel, the Pro's do have extra processing power which some of us need and can easily beat the MBA with the right extras.
Click to expand...

totally agree with u and i would say this machine pays off the investment, very durable and made for long run
 
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