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17" User's: "IF" 17" MBP is discontinued.
- Thread starter Jazwire
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Personally, I don't see a fleeting need for apple to phase out their 17". If it were to be continued, I would suggest downgrading to a 15" MBP, other than that moving to a 17" windows is your other option.
Part of the reason for the higher cost for the 17" is the fact that it is not a high volume model. While the internals are identical to the 15", the other components are not. Larger display, larger panes of glass, larger unibody enclosure etc. Companies can reduce costs for these kinds of components by buying them in volume, but when the volume is so low, that's hard to do.
When setting up for production of the redesigned models, it's quite possible that Apple would choose not to invest in the production facilities needed for the larger model.
If it makes up less than 2% of laptop sales for Apple, that's a really small number. Most of those people will be just fine with a 15" machine and will move there without complaint. Most of the others will begrudgingly move to 15", but will not switch platforms. A small percentage of the current 17" users may opt to switch, but I think that's an acceptable loss for Apple.
As of now, I'm expecting to see the existing 13" MacBook Pro with ODD stay available with a spec update for at least this next generation. Perhaps the 17" model may see a similar update. I don't see it getting a redesign however, and I don't see it lasting beyond this next generation if it isn't killed off altogether.
When setting up for production of the redesigned models, it's quite possible that Apple would choose not to invest in the production facilities needed for the larger model.
If it makes up less than 2% of laptop sales for Apple, that's a really small number. Most of those people will be just fine with a 15" machine and will move there without complaint. Most of the others will begrudgingly move to 15", but will not switch platforms. A small percentage of the current 17" users may opt to switch, but I think that's an acceptable loss for Apple.
As of now, I'm expecting to see the existing 13" MacBook Pro with ODD stay available with a spec update for at least this next generation. Perhaps the 17" model may see a similar update. I don't see it getting a redesign however, and I don't see it lasting beyond this next generation if it isn't killed off altogether.
I guess one possibility is to get something like a HP ProBook and install Mac OS X on it.
I was going to get a 17inch instead of my last 15inch. But when they released the first unibody laptops back in 2008, Apple also jacked their prices up by a few hundred pounds, so it didn't make much sense for me to get one anymore.
I was going to get a 17inch instead of my last 15inch. But when they released the first unibody laptops back in 2008, Apple also jacked their prices up by a few hundred pounds, so it didn't make much sense for me to get one anymore.
Leave them like that over night. You might get lucky and end up with the first Apple 16" laptop.
I'm trying to see the glass as a half full.
On one hand, I will sorely miss the screen real estate. What a difference 2 inches makes when you're working in Adobe Premiere and Maya/Cinema4D!
On the other hand, if indeed my late 2011 17 MBP is the last of the 17inch line. Then it's resale value will hold longer than usual as a result of its somewhat rare status come Monday. Yes, there will still be graphic designers who will pay a premium amount for the last and most powerful 17 inch.
More than likely, this means I can wait until 2014 before upgrading as I'll have made most of my money back.
On one hand, I will sorely miss the screen real estate. What a difference 2 inches makes when you're working in Adobe Premiere and Maya/Cinema4D!
On the other hand, if indeed my late 2011 17 MBP is the last of the 17inch line. Then it's resale value will hold longer than usual as a result of its somewhat rare status come Monday. Yes, there will still be graphic designers who will pay a premium amount for the last and most powerful 17 inch.
More than likely, this means I can wait until 2014 before upgrading as I'll have made most of my money back.
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If 13" gets retina, I will sell my current 17". When I originally got the 17", I chose it due to screen resolution and express card slot. Thunderbolt and USB 3 will replace the express card slot. 1280x800 is way too low resolution for a pro laptop. Nowadays that is a phone resolution.
It's not the size that is the 2% problem, its the price tag, because once you go 17" MBP you don't go back.
I did. It was a beast. Mobile this thing isn't.
Even though the MBP17 costs a king's ransom, it probably isn't cost effective to keep retooling factories to produce low volume parts.
Personally, I'd rather they take "one" person from the MBP17 division and assign him to OSX. (That will bring the team up to 2 people
).Maybe that's why you need at 17 inch machine, all that unneeded eye rolling has caused cornia damage.
Seeing as I will never use a Wintel based Mac, I can tell you my friends(at least one) will be moving back to a business model HP and pay the heavy fee for lusciously spec'd IPS((though I never seen one in person the specs on paper are amazing).
BTW your Mac is a Windows PC of support since there is proper native support with it via bootcamp. So, your house is still partially "infested," but that okay I guess.
I see what you did there...
Practically the exact same size!
Kinda live Venus and Earth, almost identical.
Only about 1 septillion kilos difference in mass.
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I get a lot of use out of my 17", not because of resolution so much, but because of real estate. So I'd likely just buy the latest refurb and use that unless something crazy compels me to buy a 15".
Resolution = real estate. The same resolution will fit the same amount of items on screen unless some kind of resolution independence is implemented.
Not true in real-world experience, or in my experience. Something about a physically smaller screen turns me off. I've owned 7 15" Apple laptops and 8 17" Apple laptops, alternating. I much prefer the 17" purely for it's size. Even if Apple ups the resolution on the 15", I'll still buy a 1920x1080 17" over that.
I *am* older and my eyesight isn't what it was. I currently use a 13" MBA, a 10" iPad and an iphone - with reading glasses. Of course I use them with my 27" Thunderbolt display too. I'm middle aged and I need reading glasses. I accept that.
And for the price difference between the base 15 and base 17, you can buy about 500 pairs of them at the dollar store.
With all the droves of people "needing" 17-inch MBPs it's amazing that so few are actually buying them.
Almost everybody I've met in my industry has one. Then again, that's post-production video and graphic design and motion graphics. But then again, we've seen Apple's approach to that audience before.
With the optional wheels it makes a damn fine truck, so I don't know why you say it isn't mobile.
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By definition, that's a niche group with niche needs. It's great (for you) that at least up until now you've been able to get by with consumer equipment, but if it doesn't pay Apple to produce it it, it doesn't pay them to produce it.
If people can't get by with a 15-inch on the road and an external monitor in the workplace, they'll have to go Windows, although the choices are slim, the weight is more and the battery life is this > < close to being entirely imaginary.
I'm a 13" Pro user, but I can see where the 17" belongs. My Graphics teacher has a 17 inch (an older one, but still 17") and I also agree that the whole "not mobile" stuff is an argument given by the people that don't have one. It's actually more mobile than a majority of other 17" laptops I've seen.
A 17" inch screen can also make a HUGE difference in almost everything: watching videos, doing work, gaming. Same for the ability to support a larger resolution.
I really hope that Apple doesn't kill the 17" because once I manage to get the money that might just be my next Macbook I buy.
A 17" inch screen can also make a HUGE difference in almost everything: watching videos, doing work, gaming. Same for the ability to support a larger resolution.
I really hope that Apple doesn't kill the 17" because once I manage to get the money that might just be my next Macbook I buy.
By growing some muscles. Come on, the 17" is like a 15.6 inch laptop in terms of size. Everybody whines about the size but in reality, just look at the Windows 17" laptops. Psh...