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17" gone for good?

N

Necross

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 31, 2011
131
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Seems like the new MacBook Pros are doing well .. does anyone know and/or care to speculate if Apple will release a 17" version? I really would like a new MBP but I want a larger screen. They did the 17" a while back, I'd be first in line to get one if they bring it back with the new guts.

I know there's a bunch of PC laptops now that have 17" 4K screens, so I think that would work well in a MacBook as a retina screen too.
 
It has been gone for years now... Apple dropped it the very moment when higher-resolution screens became available. You can have more content on the 15" display then you could ever fit on the 17" MBP, so why carry around a heavier weight? It is true that there is a market for larger, workstation-level laptops, but Apple was never interested in offering a machine like that.
 
A 17" MacBook Pro is about as likely to return as a CRT based iMac. If you want a 17" MBP, you're going to need to find a used one.
 
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AppleNewton said:
maybe, but as one of the replies indicated, its more about resolution than actual screen dimensions. you can adjust your resolution to have a similar experience.
Click to expand...

Up to a certain point of course, everything would get so small you'd need a loop.

From 17" to 15" for me wasn't a big deal though. But I do not use the highest setting on my 15" unless I really need the space because it gets so small.
 
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If a 17" does return, I'd say offer it as an online only BTO with only the 2.9GHz i7 CPU, 16GB ram, the 4GB 460 graphics, and a 1TB SSD as the default. The only option would be to upgrade to 2TB SSD. Also, let that notebook have 6 TB3 ports. Someone buying the 17 is likely not price sensitive at all, so just make the base with all souped up parts and offer a 2TB option to go even further. Nice and simple. Not much inventory to maintain.
 
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Necross said:
does anyone know and/or care to speculate if Apple will release a 17" version?
Click to expand...
There is no speculation. Its been almost 5 years (April of 2012) since Apple discontinued the 17" laptop, I think its time of anyone hoping to see one to realize the writing has been on the wall for a very long time.
 
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in general i like the idea about a 17 inch version. they could add some stuff to it some people complain about not being pro. :)

not very likely to happen and i also don't want to think about the price tag.
 
Although I for one - and I know others too - would like an updated MBP 17” I don’t have any disillusions of this happening. APPLE just isn’t the same company it was. It’s now a consumer product company with the iPhone as its main earner, and no longer any interest in being a computer company. Interesting that I just read this, which outlines fairly well why some of us would like a new MBP 17”.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3144...pro-17-and-make-your-laptops-great-again.html

I’ve got 2 MBP 17” here at home. No, I don’t need the smallest and lightest portable, just something to move around the house and a trip in the car most weeks where it sits on another desktop. I want and enjoy a big screen, not just pixels, my anti-glare screen is just fine too, sound is good (I imagine a new model could be even better), lots of ports and works with [like most of us] my older drives, have 2tb of SSD and 16gb of RAM in the last version which I upgraded myself. Like the keyboard action and the ‘novelty’ of things like a meg-safe power adapter (which must have saved me many times), ethernet port (there are those times), in and out sound ports (yes, I do plug in some times). Apple has done its best to try and cause problems by disabling the SuperDrive (so replaced it with another storage drive) and ExpressCard port with the latest operating system OS and I read its now a ‘legacy’ computer so ‘what do you expect’, and advised by some like here ’I should move on’, but these old 17” still have the form factor and extras I can’t get in the newest versions.

Till APPLE comes out with a real ‘PRO’ version geared towards professional needs and use, they should just drop that name and call it for what it is a high-end MacBook.
 
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elmarjazz said:
Interesting that I just read this, which outlines fairly well why some of us would like a new MBP 17”.
Click to expand...
Great article, but with the computer industry shrinking - the market as a whole is in contraction, does it make sense to roll out a large laptop that will have limited appeal?
 
Well, with APPLE's resources and established customer base it is one company that could make a product like a larger screen professionally oriented portable that fills a need and/or develops a niche. But the chances of this happening are fairly slim to nill. The 'vision' APPLE has these days is more of $ signs, and as said, computers are just not a major part of their profits these days.
 
elmarjazz said:
APPLE just isn’t the same company it was. It’s now a consumer product company with the iPhone as its main earner, and no longer any interest in being a computer company.
Click to expand...
I thought this was very clear when Apple changed their name from "Apple Computers" to "Apple Inc." exactly ten years ago. :p
 
Gone for good?

No, I've still got one and take it out of it's cupboard and stroke it occasionally...
 
sunapple said:
We'll probably lose 15" at some point too. Thinner smaller and lighter will take its place.
Click to expand...
I can't see that happening. After using Logic Pro on a 13" for several years I can understand why any serious professional would need at least 15". 13" just isn't doable and if you make everything smaller to fit on the screen it would be too small to see.
 
Unfortunately, Tim Cook's obsession with throwaway razor thin laptops almost certainly means that the 17" MacBook Pro is not coming back until he is fired.
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leman said:
It has been gone for years now... Apple dropped it the very moment when higher-resolution screens became available. You can have more content on the 15" display then you could ever fit on the 17" MBP, so why carry around a heavier weight? It is true that there is a market for larger, workstation-level laptops, but Apple was never interested in offering a machine like that.
Click to expand...

Blah blah blah.

Excuses! Excuses!

Nothing can make up for having a smaller display.
[doublepost=1484321502][/doublepost]
Hrududu said:
A 17" MacBook Pro is about as likely to return as a CRT based iMac. If you want a 17" MBP, you're going to need to find a used one.
Click to expand...

Nah. It depends on when Tim Cook gets fired ... eer... I mean departs.
[doublepost=1484321648][/doublepost]
AppleNewton said:
maybe, but as one of the replies indicated, its more about resolution than actual screen dimensions. you can adjust your resolution to have a similar experience.
Click to expand...

This is a bunch of nonsense.

Having higher resolution does not make up for having a smaller display.
[doublepost=1484321806][/doublepost]
Samuelsan2001 said:
Yes it's gone it's never coming back, it's been 6 years get over it.
Click to expand...

That's not a certainty if Tim Cooks... err ... departs.
 
tubeexperience said:
Blah blah blah.

Excuses! Excuses!

Nothing can make up for having a smaller display.
Click to expand...

Erm... The 17" display panel had the dimensions of around 36cm x 20cm (and then there was a huge bezel). The new 15" has the panel with the dimensions of about 33cm x 20xm. Are you really saying that 3 cm of width is such a big deal to cry about? That is the reduction in width of 9%!
 
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Samuelsan got it right in reply 8 above.

The 17" MacBook is gone and it ain't comin' back, ever.

It's amazing that after being discontinued for 6 years, there are still folks who believe that they're going to revive it.

How many are still waiting for the next LaserWriter?
C'mon. Admit it. Come clean!
 
leman said:
Erm... The 17" display panel had the dimensions of around 36cm x 20cm (and then there was a huge bezel). The new 15" has the panel with the dimensions of about 33cm x 20xm. Are you really saying that 3 cm of width is such a big deal to cry about? That is the reduction in width of 9%!
Click to expand...

I don't know what school you want to, but the normally, people would be interested in comparing the area.

17" (16:10) is 21.86% bigger than 15.4" (16:10).
 
tubeexperience said:
I don't know what school you want to, but the normally, people would be interested in comparing the area.

17" (16:10) is 21.86% bigger than 15.4" (16:10).
Click to expand...

Ah, sorry, my bad, I had the wrong horizontal number. Yes, there is also around 2 cm of vertical difference. I still don't understand what's the big deal of having a screen thats 3cm larger in one dimension and 2cm larger in another. The difference in area means that objects will appear 1/5 times smaller on the 15.4" screen. E.g. if you have an object thats 10x5 cm on the 17" display, it would be 8.9x4.47cm on the 15" display, and a 1cmx1cm would become 0.9cm*0.9cm. Are there really any practical disadvantages that come with such a minor decrease of dimensions? Unfortunately, I don't have a 17" here, but I'd really like to compare them side by side. I'm really curious now.
 
I watched a few unboxing videos of the 17". I think it would be cool if there was one. I'd never buy it, not in my capacity, but I can see why some people would want it. Makes sense for there to be a semi-portable Mac for people who need a real powerhouse. What would they have to lose making BTO one?
 
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