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ixodes

macrumors 601
Jan 11, 2012
4,429
3
Pacific Coast, USA
Top Ten Reasons To Kill Off The MBP 17"

1) It's a very well refined, superbly performing model that showcases Apple's expertise.

2) I've owned three over a six year period and every one has been as close to perfect as any laptop can be.

3) It's the thinnest, lightest, best designed 17" laptop on the market.

4) The high resolution display is simply exemplary with well balanced colors.

5) As an amatuer photographer, it fits my needs perfectly. No compromises.

6) The price, given the terrific features and benefits, is very reasonable.

7) Customer service is exceptional and it's annual reliability ratings have been the highest.

8) It's Apples coolest running model in the MBP lineup, thereby assuring maximum lifespan.

9) The spacious palm rest, and comfortable fast keyboard are amongst the finest on the market.

10) They have the lowest return rate of any of Apple's laptops.
 

G51989

macrumors 68030
Feb 25, 2012
2,530
10
NYC NY/Pittsburgh PA
Not an Apple Laptop user, but I have owned MANY laptops over the years. Some were as small as netbooks, and some were easily larger than the 17 inch MPB.

The 17 inch MBP is by far the best 17 inch laptop out there, sure it kinda falls flat on its face in the GPU department. But meh. Other than that, its light, it feels nice, ( I almost bought one, but don't want a Mac following me around all day, at home is enough lol ), great battery life, VERY nice screen.

Apple would be foolish to kill it off.

Also, people, seriously. Why do you care about weight so much? How small are you guys? I used to carry around a Alienware 17inch laptop, before Dell bought them, it had 4gb of ram, optical drive, 250gb hdd, Mobile Geforce FX5970 ( I THINK ), and a Pentium 4 EE processor. The thing annilated batteries in about 2 hours TOPS. And weighed 9.8 pounds, 11 pounds with case and charger. And I did that for three years. And I travel a TON, it was one of the only laptops at the time with the kind of power I needed on the go. So I just delt with it, you people with your 4 pound laptops should feel lucky :p

I can't even feel that weight, even on very extended walks. Whats the big deal about 4 pounds? My HP Laptop weighs about 6 and a half pounds. I don't notice it.
 
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KnightWRX

macrumors Pentium
Jan 28, 2009
15,046
4
Quebec, Canada
Also, people, seriously. Why do you care about weight so much? How small are you guys?

I can't even feel that weight, even on very extended walks. Whats the big deal about 4 pounds? My HP Laptop weighs about 6 and a half pounds. I don't notice it.

Good for you. My Macbook Air + my gym stuff + all my other crap on my back, pulling at my shoulders at 100 km/h+ I can feel. It's not walking that's a problem, and the laptop is added weight on top of everything else I carry.

The less weight I can carry around the better. I've noticed since I swapped to my MacBook Air.
 

G51989

macrumors 68030
Feb 25, 2012
2,530
10
NYC NY/Pittsburgh PA
Good for you. My Macbook Air + my gym stuff + all my other crap on my back, pulling at my shoulders at 100 km/h+ I can feel. It's not walking that's a problem, and the laptop is added weight on top of everything else I carry.

The less weight I can carry around the better. I've noticed since I swapped to my MacBook Air.

100km an hour? Motor Cycling to work? I'm a biker myself given good enough weather.

Idk, at the time, I carried the Alienware+ all its crap+ gym stuff + going out after work if I did stuff all in one backpack. And I still do, yes the HP is about half the weight, and I feel the difference slightly, but for me I don't notice it ( I am 6' 4" and like 250lbs lol, and I do some working out maybe thats why? ).

A Macbook air for me, would be something I would have LOVED to take on flights, giant laptops almost don't fit on the tray. I could find a use for it their.

The only issue I have is that I NEED tons of power, a MBA ain't gonna do it. But I can see where it could do it for alot of people depending on what you do.
 

KnightWRX

macrumors Pentium
Jan 28, 2009
15,046
4
Quebec, Canada
100km an hour? Motor Cycling to work? I'm a biker myself given good enough weather.

Idk, at the time, I carried the Alienware+ all its crap+ gym stuff + going out after work if I did stuff all in one backpack. And I still do, yes the HP is about half the weight, and I feel the difference slightly, but for me I don't notice it ( I am 6' 4" and like 250lbs lol, and I do some working out maybe thats why? ).

Again, good for you. I lift 5 days a week and frankly, motorcycling around, I'd rather have a light pack than a heavy pack. The MBA is plenty of computer anyhow for my needs (Programming and Unix administration) so why not save on the weight and size ?
 

G51989

macrumors 68030
Feb 25, 2012
2,530
10
NYC NY/Pittsburgh PA
Again, good for you. I lift 5 days a week and frankly, motorcycling around, I'd rather have a light pack than a heavy pack. The MBA is plenty of computer anyhow for my needs (Programming and Unix administration) so why not save on the weight and size ?

What do you ride? JW.

Yeah I could see that, I do wish they could cram enough computer in a MBA for me to use, but it won't happen :(. At least any time soon.

Back to topic.

If Apple is making money on the 17, why get rid of it?
 

KnightWRX

macrumors Pentium
Jan 28, 2009
15,046
4
Quebec, Canada
If Apple is making money on the 17, why get rid of it?

Investment vs return would be the reason. You can make money on something, but it'll cost X. If you invest the same X in something else, you can make more...

That would be the reason Apple does it, it's basically what they use as a reason each time they discontinue a product. Has the 17" MBP reached that point ? Apple won't tell us until it's a done deal.
 

jcpb

macrumors 6502a
Jun 5, 2012
860
0
A Macbook air for me, would be something I would have LOVED to take on flights, giant laptops almost don't fit on the tray. I could find a use for it their.
IIRC in the early part of the previous decade Dell had a "laptop" with a huge 19" or some monstrously-sized screen. One of the blogs had its editors test-drive it inside the NYC subway. Made me cringe to imagine using that in economy class of a transcontinental flight.
 

G51989

macrumors 68030
Feb 25, 2012
2,530
10
NYC NY/Pittsburgh PA
IIRC in the early part of the previous decade Dell had a "laptop" with a huge 19" or some monstrously-sized screen. One of the blogs had its editors test-drive it inside the NYC subway. Made me cringe to imagine using that in economy class of a transcontinental flight.

I remember those, I never had one. ( see above for Specs on my old Alienware, 9 pounds on the laptop, 11 pounds total, I need it lol ). The 9 pound Alienware was pretty big.

19 inch Laptop? I can see a use for it. Or this

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1808177&CatId=4938

Thats a big boy :D
 

Renzatic

Suspended

Oh GAWWD. Everytime I see an Alienware, I want to punch someone in the face and shout "NUB JUST GOT PWNED OLOL BOOM HEADSHOT".

You know, I'm not that hung up on computer aesthetics, but Alienwares are just...there's no other word to describe it...corny looking. It's like the next logical step after buying one is getting a tattoo of an alien wearing Jncos flashing a peace sign surrounded by a bunch of tribal squiggles.

Also the alien is wearing Oakleys.

edit: I broke my usual rule of "voting is stupid" and upvoted myself. It's rare for me to laugh at something I write, but damn...that's funny.
 
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G51989

macrumors 68030
Feb 25, 2012
2,530
10
NYC NY/Pittsburgh PA
Oh GAWWD. Everytime I see an Alienware, I want to punch someone in the face and shout "NUB JUST GOT PWNED OLOL BOOM HEADSHOT".

You know, I'm not that hung up on computer aesthetics, but Alienwares are just...there's no other word to describe it...corny looking. It's like the next logical step after buying one is getting a tattoo of an alien wearing Jncos flashing a peace sign surrounded by a bunch of tribal squiggles.

Also the alien is wearing Oakleys.

edit: I broke my usual rule of "voting is stupid" and upvoted myself. It's rare for me to laugh at something I write, but damn...that's funny.

Well, when I bought mine, it litterally had the Desktop P4 EE 3.6gzh I think in it, 4gb of ram, and some really high end FX mobile video card. REALLY crazy for back in the day, it was not that crazy looking tho, but I NEEDED the power.

And, computers like that have a use, despite being bought by dell, that is a portable gaming laptop..

I LOVE how it looks. Not everyone likes the Apple esc make it as simple as possible look, I love the lights, the logos, the crazy case.

Sure, its funny. But at the same time its awesome.

Some of my older gaming rigs had clear cases STUFFED with LED fans and all that lol.

Even tho Dell bought Alienware, its like when Ford bought Volvo, they pretty much left it alone, they just made the profit.

Crazy specs, huge screens, retarded mobile or even desktop GPUs in some cases ( back in the old days, Desktop CPUs as well, hence the 10 pounnd weight, warped cases and random CPU failures ), lights, LEDS, crazy logos and cases. it stands out, and its awesome.

Its the Alienware way as much as sublet and simple is the Apple way.
 
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Benbikeman

macrumors 6502a
May 17, 2011
616
1
London, England
Investment vs return would be the reason. You can make money on something, but it'll cost X. If you invest the same X in something else, you can make more...
This is true, but not the whole picture.

Apple is mostly in the business of selling its ecosystem: it wants customers to own a Mac, iPad, iPhone, buy music and other content from iTunes, use iCloud, use iTunes Match ...

There are many people whose entry point into the ecosystem is an iPhone, but there are also many for whom it is a Mac. Since many of us absolutely need a 17-inch laptop for all the reasons mentioned, that entry point exists for us. Without a 17-inch, we wouldn't be using Macs and thus iPhones, iPads, iCloud, etc, etc.
 

deconstruct60

macrumors G5
Mar 10, 2009
12,298
3,893
Video/photography/audio etc. professionals should have this option too.

I can somewhat see the video and photography. But where is the screen size motivation for audio? More virtual dials/knobs/sliders in the screen at the same time? Or is this some historical "bigger form factor has higher computational performance " rule of thumb ? Or just dropping the audio folks into the same bucket as the rest because professionals have to do all three ?
 

kazmac

macrumors G4
Mar 24, 2010
10,086
8,627
Any place but here or there....
...

I can somewhat see the video and photography. But where is the screen size motivation for audio? More virtual dials/knobs/sliders in the screen at the same time? Or is this some historical "bigger form factor has higher computational performance " rule of thumb ? Or just dropping the audio folks into the same bucket as the rest because professionals have to do all three ?

Not screenwise no, I meant professionals in several areas of video/audio/design production.

While I am not a pro by any means, I would hate to see Apple discontinue hardware geared toward the people who have supported them through thick and thin.
 

deconstruct60

macrumors G5
Mar 10, 2009
12,298
3,893
Not screenwise no, I meant professionals in several areas of video/audio/design production.

Either they use the larger pixels in larger numbers or they don't.
If they don't need larger pixels then it is possible to put the same pixels into a smaller space. In that case they are not taking anything away from those professional. It is the same functionality in lighter, more portable equipment. I don't know many professionals that need to move around that like lugging around stuff that is more heaving and larger than it has to be.

For example, the new Nikon 800 takes photos that are 7360 x 4912. What is going to be better at displaying all those pixels to the "pro". A 1920 x1200 screen or a 2880 by 1800 screen ? Similarly for high end video folks moving to 4K resolutions. Better on 1920 x1200 or 2880 x 1800 ?
(and if need a fancy external full size, standard pro studio monitor , then don't need a 17" screen http://www.aja.com/en/products/t-tap/#/overview )


If Apple killed off the 17" display and didn't add a higher res 15" screen that would be a regression. This can easily be moving forward if the rumored more high density screens roll out, but with a smaller form factor.


I would hate to see Apple discontinue hardware geared toward the people who have supported them through thick and thin.

This is just the FUD spread when some minority niche wants to puff themselves up to be more significant. The Mac has always been created for everybody. "The computer for the rest of us" .... not "The computer for the artsy elitist" If all the non a/v folks had not bought Macs over the years the Mac would have died off long ago. The a/v crowd didn't save the Mac by themselves. That is just often repeated folk tales.

If those people bought Macs and got a good value then they made an equivalent exchange with Apple. Apple doesn't "owe" them anything any more than they owe Apple something (are required to buy an Apple product in the future).

Fact is that in general over an extended period of time computers tend to get smaller and more capable. Primarily, that is the factor that is killing off the 17" Mac.
 

G51989

macrumors 68030
Feb 25, 2012
2,530
10
NYC NY/Pittsburgh PA
Please post video of you using your desktop PC on a plane, train and in the back of a taxi.

HA! You think this guy is nuts huh? Your wrong /s

Ive listed the specs on my Workstation I use at work to many times to do it again ( it weighs almost 80 pounds lol ). All I would need to do is lug that around, with a gas generator, cables, and a monitor and keyboard and I'm good to go.

Or I could stick with my Alienware 18 inch laptop or if my work was on OSX could just get a 17 inch Macbook Pro.

I wonder whats better?:rolleyes:
 

jcpb

macrumors 6502a
Jun 5, 2012
860
0
HA! You think this guy is nuts huh? Your wrong /s

Ive listed the specs on my Workstation I use at work to many times to do it again ( it weighs almost 80 pounds lol ). All I would need to do is lug that around, with a gas generator, cables, and a monitor and keyboard and I'm good to go.

Or I could stick with my Alienware 18 inch laptop or if my work was on OSX could just get a 17 inch Macbook Pro.

I wonder whats better?:rolleyes:
I see your workstation and raise you a 20-inch laptop... from almost 6 years ago:

dellxpsm2010-subway.jpg

link
 

G51989

macrumors 68030
Feb 25, 2012
2,530
10
NYC NY/Pittsburgh PA
I would not enjoy sitting next to that guy...

Hahaha yeah.

As cool as that Laptop is, its not the most useable thing ever.

Still though, the cloest thing the Mac side has to my Alienware is the 17 inch Macbook Pro, and its a really well made laptop. Apple should stick with it, im sure it makes money.
 
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