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Ok.

Apple is going after a bigger base of consumers. The amount of people who bought 17" were low. Sorry.
The amount of people who bought Apple's 17" was low, since they chose to only offer a crazy expensive premium model in that size.

The amount of people who buy 17" laptops from other brands isn't low. Nothing to do with professionals vs consumers. In Europe the 17" size is more popular than 11" and 13" combined (see attached pic). 60% of all laptops never leave people's homes, so they choose screen real estate over portability. This notion that consumers only want dinky stuff is something that Apple invented.
 

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I was sad when Apple discontinued the 17" MBP though not sad when they got rid of the white MacBook. Maybe I was being swayed by popular opinion.

My favorite product is the Mac mini and some could argue the use of that I bet.

I want Apple to have equal products for all from the iPad mini for basic uses to a high end professional notebook with everything one could possibly want.

I think any company to put it into perspective should offer everything from Kias to Ferraris without overcrowding things as it was before Steve's return in 1996.

I am not in the Apple board rooms so perhaps I don't get the reasons for certain decisions.

Could anyone have even seen a 17" retina down the road?
 
The amount of people who bought Apple's 17" was low, since they chose to only offer a crazy expensive premium model in that size.

The amount of people who buy 17" laptops from other brands isn't low. Nothing to do with professionals vs consumers. In Europe the 17" size is more popular than 11" and 13" combined (see attached pic). 60% of all laptops never leave people's homes, so they choose screen real estate over portability. This notion that consumers only want dinky stuff is something that Apple invented.
Oh we moaned for years for a budget 17" MacBook or Air. People looking at a 17" notebook are looking for something to sit on the desk or lap and yet still be able to move around the house. Not Apple's idea that screen size is something to sell at a premium.
 
Oh we moaned for years for a budget 17" MacBook or Air. People looking at a 17" notebook are looking for something to sit on the desk or lap and yet still be able to move around the house. Not Apple's idea that screen size is something to sell at a premium.
Yes, exactly. The biggest possible screen you can have without sitting at your damn desk all the time, something you can bring to bed or the couch or the kitchen table. An ultraportable with a stamp sized screen defeats the whole purpose, those are for yuppies with BT headsets glued to their ears. The notion of 17" being a niche product for professionals comes from the fact that the only 17" Apple ever made... was a niche product that only professionals could afford.
 
My prediction, it will come in at a few hundred below the 15" retina MBP, it will have basically the same spec.
 
60% of all laptops never leave people's homes, so they choose screen real estate over portability. This notion that consumers only want dinky stuff is something that Apple invented.

While some consumers do want larger laptops, the trend has been the opposite. There was a recent NPD study that found the average screen size in all devices, including mobile phones and televisions, have increased except one, the laptops. This was Despite the fall of netbooks, which as you have shown in your data was the most popular of them.
 
While some consumers do want larger laptops, the trend has been the opposite. There was a recent NPD study that found the average screen size in all devices, including mobile phones and televisions, have increased except one, the laptops. This was Despite the fall of netbooks, which as you have shown in your data was the most popular of them.
Average screen size on a a notebook? It is ~15" and it has been for about a decade now. Before that you are looking at 14.1". If you go EVEN further back you might be arguing dual scan vs. active matrix.
 
Average screen size on a a notebook? It is ~15" and it has been for about a decade now. Before that you are looking at 14.1". If you go EVEN further back you might be arguing dual scan vs. active matrix.

I made a mistake: overlooked that the study actually included tablets as part of PCs, which would explain it.
 
I have given the pricing some thought.

Even though it is $1699 (more than we expected) I have thought about it...and it is not a bad value. If it has 256 SSD, 8 gigs of RAM... that's pretty good! This configuration is $1599 on the Macbook Air. Not only will the rMBP have an outstanding screen, it will have a much better processor than the Macbook air as well. So weighing this all in, the 13 rMBP is not a bad deal at all, especially for us who were considering the max'd out MBA. It is really only $100 more than the MBA. Even though its not cheap, I consider it a fair price.

Anyone else agree?


Way off. It will have a 128gb ssd standard, just like the 15". Why would you think 256gb?? Wow.

Also, upgrade to 256gb will be $300. So your config will be $2000. For a baby size 13" laptop. Seems a bit much wouldn't you say my dear madam?


.
 
Seems like a realistic price for the 13inch, any Mac / Apple fan could have seen this coming to be fair, retina display is always going to put another couple of hundred pounds on top of the current premium.

The real question is, is it worth the money just for a better display, as essentially that will be the basics and its selling point. The mac is already fast enough, and anyone who hardcore photographer or into editing on the move and need a work horse, will more than likely already have the 15inch MBP or will dish out the extra couple of hundred for the bigger screen, purely as you will get more for your money, especially when editing photos on the go.

Its a shame about the internal drive though, call me old fashioned but this is still a useful feature, i appreciate sacrifices have to be made for innovation in products, but £299 more for a retina display 25% thinner with slightly better processor and flash memory is a bit much for me. Think i will pick up a cheap end of range model of last years stuff on PC world
 
I mean there is no doubting that these are fantastic laptops, but the prices are just too high, for that same money you can get a PC laptop that might not have a better screen, but does give you better Hardware specs.

Then go and buy a PC laptop. It's not the same thing you know. As you said, you don't get the better screen - that's the WHOLE POINT of a retina MacBook Pro. If you don't want / need the retina screen, buy something else. Duh!

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If it was real world and Apple had to fight like everyone else does in the market.

Which world / market _does_ Apple fight in then??
I'm sure Dell would gladly take money from "richers and cash-chuckers" too. Do you realize that Apple does compete side by side with other computers (& phones etc) and yet somehow manages to become the most profitable company in the market. Sure must be a lot of dumb cash-chukers around… I wonder why they don't do something better with their money.
 
#downvote

Way off. It will have a 128gb ssd standard, just like the 15". Why would you think 256gb?? Wow.

Also, upgrade to 256gb will be $300. So your config will be $2000. For a baby size 13" laptop. Seems a bit much wouldn't you say my dear madam?


.

#downvote

Fail.
 
Holy crap

Let's see here...

1. Bottom of the barrel hard drive with no SSD? Check
Wrong! This will have SSD. Look at the 15in rMBP

2. Dual-Core processor that was outdated 2 years ago? Check
Wrong! My Air is less than 2 years old and it has a Core2Duo. Given that the 13in rMBP is going to have Corei5 at least, I think you need to check your timeframe here.
3. No dedicated graphics? Check
Wrong! The retina models will have discrete graphics.
4. 1/2 as much RAM as laptops 2 years ago? Check
Wrong! The 2010 13in MBP shipped with 4GB RAM. If you think this is shipping with 2GB RAM you're high.
5. Ridiculously overpriced? You bet your ass, Check!
Wrong! Compared to what??? The 15in rMBP is CHEAPER than an equivalently spec'd non-retina MBP. Comparing it to anything else is like comparing a Toyota Corolla to a Lexus LF-A.
5. Retina display so we can talk about how magical it is so people overlook the ****** specs? CHECK!!!
 
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Wrong! The retina models will have discrete graphics.

You can't say he's wrong and state this as a fact. For all we know, the 13" rMBP will only have a Intel HD 4000.

You only think it will have a dedicated graphics processor at this point. This sure isn't a certainty considering the 13" MacBooks haven't had one... ever I think. The iBooks were the last ones in the small laptops with these GPUs.

Wrong! Compared to what??? The 15in rMBP is CHEAPER than an equivalently spec'd non-retina MBP. Comparing it to anything else is like comparing a Toyota Corolla to a Lexus LF-A.

A base 15" rMBP is equivalent in specs to a base 15" non-Retina model if you add 4 GB of RAM and swap out to the 256 GB SSD. The price is the same for both models, except you get the retina screen at the cost of the optical drive.

And this brings me to a general point about this rumor : it makes no sense in this context.

The only reason I would see for 1699$ being the base price is if they leave the base Retina configuration with 4 GB of RAM but put in a 256 GB SSD. This is a seriously dumb configuration if you ask me. 8 GB of RAM at 128 GB SSD for 1499$ would be a much better base price point (always keeping in mind that the pricing should be the same as an upgraded current model) and if they really wanted to ditch the 128 GB SSD, then 8 GB of RAM and 256 SSD would place the base price of the 13" Retina at 1799$.

Something's just wrong with the 1699$. Either they choose a really poor base configuration or they are charging a premium for the Retina model for some other reason that's not found in the 15".
 
Let's see here...

1. Bottom of the barrel hard drive with no SSD? Check
2. Dual-Core processor that was outdated 2 years ago? Check
3. No dedicated graphics? Check
4. 1/2 as much RAM as laptops 2 years ago? Check
5. Ridiculously overpriced? You bet your ass, Check!
5. Retina display so we can talk about how magical it is so people overlook the ****** specs? CHECK!!!

Adding this up, we have half the amount of features/specifications of today's laptops at double the price. Better hit up mommy and daddy boys and girls because that's who'll be getting these laptops, the children who need to absolutely have an Apple branded pile of garbage.

What are you doing on this website?
 
Look at his sig and his avatar. Guy is an iPhone user. That's what he's doing on this site. Apple has more than 1 product line-up and people will have varying opinions about different models and different products they sell.

It's very ironic, because you can easily piece up a list like that for an iPhone 5 as well. Copying his style:

1. Pathetically small 4" screen? Check
2. Dual-Core processor that was outdated 2 years ago? Check
3. GFX only got 3 cores? Check
4. 1/2 as much RAM as the Galaxy S3? Check
5. Ridiculously overpriced? You bet your ass, Check!
5. New diamond-polished edges so we can talk about how magical it is so people overlook the ****** specs? CHECK!!!

I still don't know why he's here. Given his ignorance of the Mac family's consumer appeal, I frankly have no clue why he'd buy an iPhone in the first place, wouldn't you agree?
 
Wondering what all this event will hold. Apple is really behind the release schedule on a lot of products, besides which there's the whole Lightning thing with the iPad. iMac, Mac Mini, USB 3 on the Thunderbolt Display, extending the Retina line, extending the iPad line, and I haven't even gotten started on the one product that Tim Cook himself has told us to wait until next year for.
 
Given his ignorance of the Mac family's consumer appeal, I frankly have no clue why he'd buy an iPhone in the first place, wouldn't you agree?

Frankly, with the number of iPhone and iPad units they're pushing, they have taken the Mac's place as Apple's top product lines. A lot of non-Mac users are drawn to the different iOS devices but not to Apple's Mac line-up these days.

Now why he's in a thread about the MBP if he's an iOS device user that's not really into Macs ? Same reason some Mac users hang out in iOS threads, to see what's going on and preach about their disdain for that particular product segment of Apple.

Maybe deep down he wished the Mac appealed to him as much as his iPhone.
 
Now why he's in a thread about the MBP if he's an iOS device user that's not really into Macs ? Same reason some Mac users hang out in iOS threads, to see what's going on and preach about their disdain for that particular product segment of Apple.

That's precisely what I find confusing. To me, the iOS family and the Mac family have always had very similar customer appeal. I don't get how you can like one but dislike the other. All the criticisms are the same, are they not? Overpriced, underpowered...there's not much difference, really.

I think people who hate both Macs and iOS devices are a lot more understandable than those who hate one but like the other. If you want power and good prices, you'd get PCs and Android devices. If you don't mind spending a lot of money purely because you want a more integrated and polished user experience, you'd buy Macs and iOS devices.

iOS devices don't even live out their full potential if you don't have a Mac.
 
Which world / market _does_ Apple fight in then??
I'm sure Dell would gladly take money from "richers and cash-chuckers" too. Do you realize that Apple does compete side by side with other computers (& phones etc) and yet somehow manages to become the most profitable company in the market. Sure must be a lot of dumb cash-chukers around… I wonder why they don't do something better with their money.

They play in a reality distortion field environment. Where you can discontinue and gut most all of your product line and have the fans cheer it on, but if they ever need to add products they will cheer that on because when they say jump...you know the rest.

Raise prices is my suggestion actually. Entry level MBP $1499, Entry level ipad $699, iphone tack on $100 more, etc.. lets see how smart the masses are, my guess they still will buy it like crack. Then raise them again and milk them for all you possibly can.

Richers and cash chuckers is a south Park reference, I believe I said that in my post.

Defend the holy grail !!!
 
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They play in a reality distortion field environment. Where you can discontinue and gut most all of your product line and have the fans cheer it on, but if they ever need to add products they will cheer that on because when they say jump...you know the rest.

You don't make sense. They now have three laptop product categories, air, pro and retina pro. If this 13" retina model is released they are adding a product to the high end category which currently is only available in 15".
 
You don't make sense. They now have three laptop product categories, air, pro and retina pro. If this 13" retina model is released they are adding a product to the high end category which currently is only available in 15".

I'll clear it up even better for you, then it's football time!!!

MBP's the fat ones apparently, 13 and 15 inch will be dropped next year and the Retina's should take their place. The 13" Air will be the replacement for the low end model, I do not count an 11 inch laptop for 1k. 1k goes a LONG way with normal vendors, for Apple you get an 11 inch with a 64GB SSD... yeah.

The line is thin but thats the way they like everything so there ya go.

13" Air
13" Retina
15" Retina

All pretty similar in a lot of respects.
 
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