Why Do People Still Buy The 17" Macbook Pro?

toke lahti said:

Somehow I and a lot of other people missed the news about TB2 when new mbp was introduced. Maybe because there weren't drivers at that time to use 4k @60Hz. I just thought than newMP was first with TB2...

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It's still really hit and miss in terms of what works at 60hz. I think anandtech had an article on that about the lack of standard specifications for MST. I don't think Apple would intentionally hold back the macbook pro. It sells many more units than the mac pro while retaining a strong ASP.

Mike Boreham said:

Thanks, makes sense. I didn't realise there was a 480 3G available from OWC.

My system profiler also says it "supports" 6G in the optical bay, as do most MBPs, but most are very flaky with a 6G device in the optical and OWC recommends against it. Did you put a 3G SSD in your optical because you know this or for another reason?

I have 6G HGST 1.5Tb HDD in my optical but I have used HGST Tools to reset it as 3G device so it works fine.

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Hi Mike, I installed the 3G SSD in the optical bay because I wanted my faster SSD in the main bay, I was a little suspicious about the 6G capacity of the another bay.

thekev said:

It's still really hit and miss in terms of what works at 60hz. I think anandtech had an article on that about the lack of standard specifications for MST. I don't think Apple would intentionally hold back the macbook pro. It sells many more units than the mac pro while retaining a strong ASP.

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I think the situation is more complicated than just "holding back".
I guess there would be a lot of pissed customers, if TB3 comes in summer or fall. It doesn't make product owning experience good if it obsoletes within first year. In the past Apple has been holding back some things and also offered various compensations, although those have usually been because product's price has gone down. Now the value might go down, not so easy to calculate.

smcgil9899 said:

OK everyone. I have a decision to make soon. I have opportunity to buy one of two laptops. The first is a early 2011 Macbook Pro 17 with 16GB RAM and 512GB Samsung EVO Pro SSD drive, AppleCare until June 2015, and a glossy screen. It is good condition. It cost $1200. The other laptop is a Samsung Gamer NP700g7c-01US. It has 16GB RAM, nVidia GTX 675m, and 1.5TB hard drives. Here is a link to more details: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Series-NP700G7C-S01US-17-3-Inch-Laptop/dp/B006MX0WHU . It will cost me $850. It is in good condition.

Which one do I get? I will probably just use it for Photoshop and video editing. I want something to last for a couple years. I want something fast too. Each machine has their pros and cons for me. Which one and why? Thank you.

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I personally wouldn't buy either for many reasons, but I highly doubt you are going to find anyone here on this forum that will tell you to buy that Samsung; including me.

smcgil9899 said:

OK everyone. I have a decision to make soon. I have opportunity to buy one of two laptops. The first is a early 2011 Macbook Pro 17 with 16GB RAM and 512GB Samsung EVO Pro SSD drive, AppleCare until June 2015, and a glossy screen. It is good condition. It cost $1200. The other laptop is a Samsung Gamer NP700g7c-01US. It has 16GB RAM, nVidia GTX 675m, and 1.5TB hard drives. Here is a link to more details: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Series-NP700G7C-S01US-17-3-Inch-Laptop/dp/B006MX0WHU . It will cost me $850. It is in good condition.

Which one do I get? I will probably just use it for Photoshop and video editing. I want something to last for a couple years. I want something fast too. Each machine has their pros and cons for me. Which one and why? Thank you.

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I wouldn't personally get either machine as both are old machines now, especailly if you want a machine to last a few years.

The MacBook Pro is lighter at 6.6 lbs versus 8.4 lbs.
The MacBook Pro has a higher resolution display at 1920x1200 versus 1920x1080.
The Samsung is almost 2 inches thick and apparently only runs off it's battery for just over 2 hours when it was new, so don't really expect to use it much whilst on the move.

Why are you looking at computers of this size in the first place?
If you are considering the Samsung do you even need a laptop, or whould a desktop be a better and cheaper solution?
Would a laptop or desktop with a decent external display be a better option.

From what you want to do, Photoshop, light editing of videos and editing a website, any current machine should be more than capable.

The software which you currently use, is it for Windows or OS X as I would take that into account as well.

smcgil9899 said:

early 2011 Macbook Pro 17 or Samsung Gamer NP700g7c-01US.

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I'd get none of those. But if you have to choose consider this:
*are you gaming on it? (-get the Samsung)
*are you working on OS X or Windows (what software do you already own)
*do you need to work on battery?
*the Mac will FEEL faster because the SSD improves UX a lot. (furthermore I have seen too many HDDs fail in Notebooks, I'd never buy a mobile machine with an HDD again).

Personally I'd go for a used or refurbished rMBP, but if I had to choose I'd take the Macbook out of these two. Just seems like the overall better machine

edit: afaik the GT650M in the Mac is kepler based while the GT675m is fermi architecture. Not that this makes a big difference but still it needs to be mentioned

smcgil9899 said:

early 2011 Macbook Pro 17

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This is the last one that can run Snow Leopard, but if you want that, get the previous model. If you don't care, get the following one.

To-ppeinado...
I just bought the exact same late 2011 with i7 Sandy Bridge processor. I purchased a Samsung 840 pro 512 SSD to replace the boot drive. Who made your 1TB drive and what brand DDR3 did you purchase. I am setting up the hardware side to support my Black Magic 4K. My interest was peeked when you said you were running Divinci with no problem. This machine is only rated for 1334 DDR specs and some people claim kernel failure with the 1600 DDR3 which occasionally would cause overheating and window shading. Have you experienced any overheating, or window shading of this type? Is graphics card the stock 6770 that Apple began quietly inserting in late 2011? I was going to repave with a nvidia FX4800. How is your battery life after the upgrades?

I'd like to know some of these things as I upgrade since our machines are identical and my goal is the same as what you have accomplished. Your opinion could help me make some costly decisions. Mac techs in the cert. stores have their heads so far up their apple that they sometimes can't think outside the box and violate Apples specs. in order to build a race horse.

Separate Comment ---As to the original ? that started this thread regarding this old technology. Apple has abandoned all of guys who made them famous for graphic arts. The 17" mac pro that got discontinued is a workhorse. The real estate on the desk top is awesome if you need to run multiple windows or your editing more than one camera or running CS programs side by side on the same screen. Once you beef these machines up, max the ram, add SSD's, graphic cards, extra storage they do amazing things

ppeinado said:

People that work in media production: cinematographers, live streamers, fcpx editors, visual compositors, etc.

The 17 MBP is a better option than rMBP for these jobs.

I have a 17 late 2011:
2.5Ghz i-7 w/ AMD 6770 1GB
16gb DDR3 1600Mhz
500GB Boot SSD & 1TB 7200 RPM drive in optical bay

My geekbench score is 12,000 which is only a few hundred points lower than the 2013 haswell macbook.

Apple uses opencl for graphics acceleration and AMD seems to handle opencl better than nvidia.

I can run autodesk smoke 2013 and da vinci resolve with no problems on this machine. It can handle a 4 camera HD livestream.

Biggest advantage of newer macbook pros is better battery life. They really havent gotten much faster over past couple years as intel is focusing on power consumption.

Newer isn't always better!!!!!!

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Try doing design work on a 15". My 2014 15" rMBP trumps my 2009 17" MBP in every way possible, except for screen real esatate.

I recently reformatted my 17" to give it to my dad, and man, that resolution. I could fit a billion windows at once, Photoshop tools didn't cramp around like they do now and AutoCAD didn't require constant zooming.

I love my 15" and all but the downgraded screen size has made me seriously consider getting a 5k Screen (whenever Apple decides to release it).