The reason? Native 1920x1200 resolution -- the same full resolution of a 23" Apple Cinema Display or a 24" iMac, it is insanely great screen real estate on a workable size, which is ideal for video editors and content creators.
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Why Do People Still Buy The 17" Macbook Pro?
- Thread starter smcgil9899
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I have a 2011 MacBook Pro 17"
I'm sad it's discontinued.
I went to look at a rMBP and... left empty handed.
Retina is nice. I like it on my iPad, I would even like it on my laptop, but...
1440x900 effective just can't compare to 1920x1200 when using palette heavy apps like Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere Pro, etc.
Mine is all pimped out - Crucial M4 SSD. 500GB drive in an Optibay. 16GB ram. SD card reader in the Express Card slot.
It's a great laptop and a joy to work on.
I'm sad it's discontinued.
I went to look at a rMBP and... left empty handed.
Retina is nice. I like it on my iPad, I would even like it on my laptop, but...
1440x900 effective just can't compare to 1920x1200 when using palette heavy apps like Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere Pro, etc.
Mine is all pimped out - Crucial M4 SSD. 500GB drive in an Optibay. 16GB ram. SD card reader in the Express Card slot.
It's a great laptop and a joy to work on.
I got my Early 2011 17" MacBook Pro on November 29, 2011 from the PX on Ft. Eustis, VA. I actually didn't want the 17" model, I wanted the 15". However, the only place that had the 15" MacBook Pro when I got my laptop was the Apple Store in Norfolk, VA. As this was a Christmas present from my mother, she just threw caution to the wind and dished out $2389 for the 17" system because neither one of us felt like driving to Norfolk for a computer. I'm hoping that this computer continues to be trouble-free until at least November 29, 2014, which is when I will start getting ready to replace it with what will likely be either a 13" MacBook Air or a 13" rMBP.
I'm with you. I would love to have 17" rMBP. The 15" I have now is just way too small.
I'm with you. I would love to have 17" rMBP. The 15" I have now is just way too small.
I'd settle for the regular screen - I'm pretty unimpressed with the whole retina thing.
If there had been a 17" version of either the cMBP or rMBP I would have gone that route instead of the 15" I did buy. I like the big screen. My rMBP stays on my desk 90% of the time but there are times I need to take it that I couldn't have gone with the iMac or Mac Pro. I've got a second screen but when I do take the rMBP out with me I'm not taking my second screen. I was really disappointed when they discontinued the 17" size.
Victor
Victor
It's indeed odd what people are willing to pay on eBay compared to what you can get new or refurbished from Apple. I have a friend who listed his 2011 17" model a few months ago. It ended up pulling in $1970 in a regular 3-day auction. Lots of people interested, 40 something bids. It was in pristine condition, though. Mostly used as a mobile desktop, he had rubber feet on the bottom so it didn't even get scratched underneath when moving from desk to desk. He used it with a keyboard skin from day one, so even the keyboard was perfect. He took plenty of close-up pictures to highlight the good condition. It also had six weeks of Apple Care remaining (not a lot, but I guess enough to make people feel a little more secure about bidding).
He took that money and turned around and purchased the same 17" model again (Apple Certified Refurbished) except this time with an anti-glare screen for just under $1500 after tax. That was his plan all along. He prefers the 17" model, but he also likes having AppleCare. It just worked out much better than he was expecting. In short, for about $70, he...
1) Upgraded to an anti-glare display.
2) Reset the clock on Apple Care (via B&H) for another three years.
3) Got a nice 256GB Samsung 840 Pro.
4) Got an optical bay caddy for the stock 750GB HDD.
Not bad for $70. Funny, but if he had remembered to remove his 16GB memory upgrade before mailing the old one (the auction was listed as 8GB), he would actually have come out $60 ahead after all of this. But he had to buy the memory upgrade again. Really, I suspect that he left the memory upgrade in there on purpose because he felt bad that someone was paying so much.
I'm still holding out hope for the return of the 17" MacBook Pro. The performance of the Air and Pro lines is so similar that it seems logical to have one lineup of thin, retina laptops in the near future
11 or 12", 13", 15", and hopefully 17"
I believe an analyst made that prediction last year (although I don't think he said anything about the 17"). In any case, the smaller models could use integrated graphics like they do now and the larger ones could offer discrete graphics as the 15" high end model does. I won't be quitting my day job teaching Beowulf to make decisions for Apple but I'd love to see them go in this direction for a number of reasons. This would make every Apple portable device retina. There has to be some marketing value in that claim. The return of the 17" would also be a great way to extend the commitment to professional users they made with the new Mac Pro. I know a lot of Pros have switched to 15" models by now but many swore by the 17" models until Apple discontinued them. Of course, it all comes down to how well they sell and I know the 17" model wasn't a big seller compared to other sizes.
11 or 12", 13", 15", and hopefully 17"
I believe an analyst made that prediction last year (although I don't think he said anything about the 17"). In any case, the smaller models could use integrated graphics like they do now and the larger ones could offer discrete graphics as the 15" high end model does. I won't be quitting my day job teaching Beowulf to make decisions for Apple but I'd love to see them go in this direction for a number of reasons. This would make every Apple portable device retina. There has to be some marketing value in that claim. The return of the 17" would also be a great way to extend the commitment to professional users they made with the new Mac Pro. I know a lot of Pros have switched to 15" models by now but many swore by the 17" models until Apple discontinued them. Of course, it all comes down to how well they sell and I know the 17" model wasn't a big seller compared to other sizes.
I have about the same thing with a 512 SSD. That is an incredible amount to take in auction. I also understand the sentiment of wanting a current warranty given the logic board deaths from that notebook generation and the issue of an aging battery. I would sell and repurchase at that rate too given the opportunity. The rmbp can also operate like a 1920x1200 screen, but things are small enough on this one at 17" as it is.
My big problem with this approach is that by lumping everyone's needs into one group you invariably short the pros. The current marketing and design is targeted firmly towards hipsters who use their computers in coffee shops (so don't need wired internet connections), don't produce or use large amounts of data (so don't value large internal storage), don't really understand technology (and so never upgrade), and value shape, weight, and flashiness of screen over everything else.
By essentially ditching a real pro line I'm sure they're making more money.
I'd love to see an 'air' line with retina screens, really small, no memory or storage etc, and a 'pro' line with discrete graphics, larger screens, options for upgradable and more internal storage, upgradable RAM etc.
Well said. Do you think they have ditched the real pro line with the 15" retina? It seems to me that they are just taking the same approach they did with the Mac Pro--external rather than internal expansion through Thunderbolt 2. I know a lot of pros don't like that but I don't know that I would call it ditching a pro line. That said, the pro name on the 13" model has always been a bit of a stretch to me. It is perfect for my needs but I can't see this dual core machine with integrated graphics cutting it for someone who does high end professional work.
I'm not sure the Pro line ever really was.
They were slow to make SSD standard. I think 5400rpm drives were even standard up until SSD drives became standard.
The video cards have been a little weak and a little low on VRAM. The 2008 8600GT and now the 2011 AMD have total failure issues.
They never even offered something like a wide gamut or Dreamcolor display.
The 15" really craves more res, like 1680x1050 which was rarely offered.
One definite advantage, the MBPs never acted like fan crazed hairdryers like a lot of Windows laptops.
I have love for my Apple laptops, but, the Pro part always felt a little slim.
They were slow to make SSD standard. I think 5400rpm drives were even standard up until SSD drives became standard.
The video cards have been a little weak and a little low on VRAM. The 2008 8600GT and now the 2011 AMD have total failure issues.
They never even offered something like a wide gamut or Dreamcolor display.
The 15" really craves more res, like 1680x1050 which was rarely offered.
One definite advantage, the MBPs never acted like fan crazed hairdryers like a lot of Windows laptops.
I have love for my Apple laptops, but, the Pro part always felt a little slim.
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- 2.5" SATA bay
- Replaceable RAM
- ExpressCard slot
- Ethernet port
- 3 USB ports
- FireWire port
- Anti-glare screen
- Better at 1920x1200
- non-glued battery
- DVD burner
- line in
What it is missing:
- 2 more RAM slots
- At least 6 SMT fast full cores option
- 17" haptic multitouch swivel anti-glare autostereoscopic wide gamut OLED retina display
- LTE/3G/EDGE (unlocked)
- 2 x4 M.2 slots (one normally used for cellular above)
- DisplayPort 1.3
- 1 more USB port
- At least 2 USB ports should be eSATAp
- HSA
- Magnesium case
- DDR4
- Replaceable discrete graphics card
- 10Gbps SFP+ slot instead of Gbase-T
- Removable battery
- ExpressCard 54 2.0 or better
- OLED or e-ink anti-spill keyboard
- Built-in pen
- BDXL/BD-RE burner
- Fingerprint reader
- Replaceable RAM
- ExpressCard slot
- Ethernet port
- 3 USB ports
- FireWire port
- Anti-glare screen
- Better at 1920x1200
- non-glued battery
- DVD burner
- line in
What it is missing:
- 2 more RAM slots
- At least 6 SMT fast full cores option
- 17" haptic multitouch swivel anti-glare autostereoscopic wide gamut OLED retina display
- LTE/3G/EDGE (unlocked)
- 2 x4 M.2 slots (one normally used for cellular above)
- DisplayPort 1.3
- 1 more USB port
- At least 2 USB ports should be eSATAp
- HSA
- Magnesium case
- DDR4
- Replaceable discrete graphics card
- 10Gbps SFP+ slot instead of Gbase-T
- Removable battery
- ExpressCard 54 2.0 or better
- OLED or e-ink anti-spill keyboard
- Built-in pen
- BDXL/BD-RE burner
- Fingerprint reader
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I'd add internal storage expansion. Either traditional drives or new flash storage. With the new type there's certainly no reason not to offer 2-3 storage bays.
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I care less about the Pro because it's a desktop. I mean, I prefer there not to be a christmas tree of external drives behind my desk, but its not a deal breaker. For a laptop it is.
They don't. It's discontinued. Anyone still buying one or thinking about buying one should think twice. It's an outdated machine.
There's a thriving second hand market. While some specs may seem outdated, no current machine from Apple matches it in a lot of people's view.
And Retina MB"P"s are even more outdated compared to laptops capable of 32GB RAM and at least 2TB of storage.
Even unusable compared to cheap laptops because retina maxes out the storage at 1TB. No, I don't want external.
Yes but come OS X 10.11 or 10.12 or maybe even 10.10 Apple will stop letting 17" MacBook Pro owners update their software.
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That literally makes no sense. The rMBPs are the newest technology. And if you need 2 TB of storage and 32 GB of RAM go buy yourself a Mac Pro.
No one ever said anything about people wanting a portable machine. And the 17 inch MBP is hardly portable. It's around 5 pounds and insanely large. If you're carrying that around it's a bigger problem, you should get a 13 or 15 inch.
Another +1 for screen size.
I have an early 2011 17" MBP. There is just no way around it 15" is smaller than 17". If you work on it all day long 17" is just better. 15" is what I would call a 'powerful portable' but 17" is a 'desktop replacement.'
I was all set to get a new 17 rMBP until they announced the 15" and without even a mention canned the 17."
I have an early 2011 17" MBP. There is just no way around it 15" is smaller than 17". If you work on it all day long 17" is just better. 15" is what I would call a 'powerful portable' but 17" is a 'desktop replacement.'
I was all set to get a new 17 rMBP until they announced the 15" and without even a mention canned the 17."
The 17" is portable.
What is not really portable is a 5.5Kg 12-core laptop, otherwise I would get one.
This is the main reason. All other reasons are a subset of this reason.
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5 lbs. is not heavy, and some people need or want "trucks."