Hands-On With the 17" LG Gram and a Look at Apple's Old 17" MacBook Pro

[MacRumors]

LG recently introduced a 17-inch ultralight laptop, which we thought would be interesting to take a look at in light of rumors suggesting Apple may be planning to introduce a 16 to 16.5-inch MacBook Pro in the future.

We compared the LG Gram to a 15-inch MacBook Pro, but we also thought it might be fun to take a look at Apple's old 2011 17-inch MacBook Pro at the same time, as it was the last larger-display notebook Apple released.

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Priced at $1,700, the 17-inch LG Gram features a 2560 x 1600 display with a slim and light enclosure. It has a full keyboard and a decent-sized trackpad, with speakers built into the bottom of the device.

The bezels at the top and the sides are super slim, and bezel size reduction is one of the ways Apple could expand the size of its current MacBook Pro lineup without making the enclosure larger.

The 17-inch LG Gram weighs just under three pounds, making it a pound lighter than the 15-inch MacBook Pro. The LG Gram is an impressive demonstration of how far technology has come over the course of the last eight years, as compared to Apple's 2011 17-inch MacBook Pro, it's so much lighter, thinner, and sleeker.

Apple's 17-inch MacBook Pro weighs a whopping 6.6 pounds, but back in the day, components were larger and Apple also packed an entire SuperDrive for CDs and DVDs inside. The elimination of large components like this is a major reason why notebook computers today are so much thinner than they were in the early 2010s. The larger size of components in 2011 is also the reason why Apple's 17-inch MacBook Pro has so much more open space than the LG Gram around the trackpad.

The LG Gram offers three USB-A ports, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a micro SD card slot, an HDMI port, and a USB-C port, which is a better variety of ports than we're likely to get in a future MacBook Pro, even if it is larger. Apple has transitioned to all USB-C ports on its notebooks, which we don't expect will change.

Apple's MacBook Pro used a 1920 x 1200 panel, so while it's not quite as nice as the 2560 x 1600 display in the LG Gram, it's not too bad. The current 15-inch MacBook Pro uses a 2880 x 1800 display, and we expect Apple will use a similar pixel density expanded to the new 16 to 16.5-inch size.

We loved the larger size of the 17-inch LG Gram, and we're hoping those rumors of a 16 to 16.5-inch MacBook Pro are accurate. Apple probably isn't going to significantly increase the size of the MacBook Pro, but may instead cut down on bezel size to provide more available display area in a slim package. We wouldn't mind having a super large display in a bigger body, though.

What do you think of the 17-inch LG Gram? Are you hoping Apple releases a similar machine that's closer in size to its original 17-inch MacBook Pro? Let us know in the comments.

Article Link: Hands-On With the 17" LG Gram and a Look at Apple's Old 17" MacBook Pro

 

[JetTester]

I'd only use something that big as a desktop replacement, even though it weighs less than 3 pounds. Size matters!

 

[cmChimera]

“Better variety of ports”

You mean “more limited variety of ports”.

 

[alexandr]

i still have the 17" mbp, it's my european backup)
it was an amazing computer when it came out. i still miss 3 usb ports...
but as technology is evolving i wouldn't get anything that big again. in fact i don't think i'd even get a 15" at this point. maybe it's the way i'm evolving.

 

[BuffaloTF]

The 15" is already waaayyyyyyyy too big. I'd just get a desktop at this point and not tie myself down with mobile components.

 

[kwikdeth]

stop saying "we"... its I, me, you, your. The article's byline is an individual, not a group of people nor an indication of a collaborative effort.

 

[nitropowered]

If the physical size doesn't get much bigger than the current 15", it'll be a winner. I'd like to see a slightly thicker case for more battery and the sd slot brought back. I've transitioned enough to USBC that the ports aren't an issue.

I recently had my 2016 15" stolen and just bought a 2018 2.6i7/32gb/1TB/Vega20 machine. I wish the timing was better for the refresh (well getting your stuff stolen is poor timing anytime).

 

[StellarVixen]

I have thought that 17 inch laptops are thing of the past.

stop saying "we"... its I, me, you, your. The article's byline is an individual, not a group of people nor an indication of a collaborative effort.

Why not, comrade? What's wrong with we, and ours?

 

[Sawdustman]

I still have a 17” which I use in my RV when traveling to Art Shows so for me it’s used primarily as a travel desktop. Would love to replace it with something similar. Been hoping for a new 17”.

 

[dazzer21-2]

I tossed up between buying a Macbook Pro with a second screen or an iMac. I went for the iMac because I could get a much larger screen for desktop use, but the Macbook would have had to have been 13" due to its cost. That would have meant that I could plug a nice big screen into it as a desktop but was condemned to 13 puny inches when on its own. I was already spoilt in that I have previously had a 15" MacBook but if a 17" existed, I would have completely foregone the iMac idea.

 

[Falhófnir]

Looks like larger screen machines are making a comeback across the industry which I welcome. Being able to offer a halfway house option between a 15 and 17 inch is a nice solution, I just hope they don't price it out of existence again like they did with the 17" in the first place!

 

[Freida]

17" MBP was my craving for years when I had to travel from time to time and needed desktop replacement. I had to settle with 15"rMBP as Apple failed me on that one. I wanted 17" in 2012 up until about 2018 but now I'm done with notebooks. My next computer will be either iMac or Mac Pro depending what gets offered. Or Hackintosh if Apple fails on both products. My patience with Apple is getting shorter and shorter these days so they are on the last leg with me.

 

[spaceballl]

What a great machine. If Apple just took that design, applied their aluminum build aesthetics and quality, and shipped it with OS X, that'd be a buy for me.

 

[Marcus PM]

I like the form factor of my 15"MBP. It's perfect for desktop and not too large to travel with. More screen in the same real-estate would be fine but not a larger device to carry around.

 

[gugy]

17" MBP with matte screen and ports. Wow, we can only dream about it. Do it Apple!
As for the size, if Apple get rid of those large screen bezels the size would not be that much bigger than the current 15".

 

[MikeyMondy]

When working with two apps side by side, the 15 inch becomes too small. Some apps don’t show the entire ui. Of course you can change resolution but it get very small. I was sorry to see the 17 go, and I’ll be glad to have something similar back.

 

[hdrummon]

stop saying "we"... its I, me, you, your. The article's byline is an individual, not a group of people nor an indication of a collaborative effort.

I believe we is very appropriate English since multiple people (editors) were most likely involved in editing the article. We means MacRumors who are a group of people(editors). I did not see a single name as author related to the article, so I assumed that we meant the editors of Macrumors contributed.

 

[slvrscoobie]

I bought the 17" in 2012 (they did refresh the CPU early 2012) and still use it nearly daily. My work PC was a 13" with a 1024x768 screen that i HATED for 4 years, compared to the near retina of the 17" display. I kept waiting to replace it with a new one but wouldnt settle for the smaller screen. but now work has given me a 15" MBPr and the screen is simply amazing. I would LOVE to see it across 16.5".. i could even deal with a larger package.
And my 17" macbook was like 1/2 the weight of the Dell Alienware 17" I had replaced with the apple.

 

[kgelner]

What do you think of the 17-inch LG Gram? Are you hoping Apple releases a similar machine that's closer in size to its original 17-inch MacBook Pro? Let us know in the comments.

I have the original 17", I think from the year before they were discontinued - still in use daily, and works great.

I have a 15" as a followup from four or so years ago, but I have really been longing for a return of the 17" form factor, at least for a somewhat larger screen size than the 15" offers. The 15" having higher resolution is nice but you just cannot beat a larger screen.

If they have anything close to the original 17" in size I'm buying that for sure.

 

[kalafalas]

yeah but the LG runs windows so...... nope

 

[BobK60517]

Reading this on my 2011 17" Macbook Pro which I still love and hope Apple comes out with another one near that size again in the near future.

 

[kwikdeth]

I did not see a single name as author related to the article, so I assumed that we meant the editors of Macrumors contributed.

the main page entry has a byline directly beneath the headline. Single person.

 

[TheIguana]

Looks like they got the keyboard right, I just want Apple to get rid of the god-awful butterfly keyboards and Touch Bar.

 

[sumisu3]

One of my favorite commercials was for the 17

 

[drumcat]

Actually surprised it isn't 4k.