Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

How likely will Apple relase something larger than the 15" rMBP?

Having owned two 17" MacBook Pros I wish they would bring it back in Retina form with a 4K Display. But honestly I don't see it happening.

The older models obviously didn't sell well enough. I would snap one up in a second if they came out with one, no hesitation.

I wish Apple would at-least try, give it a 4K display, 2x 1920x1200 that would be amazing, I actually think that would sell decently among professionals it would be the first laptop with a true 4K display everything else is below that res even the new Samsung notebooks.
 
Personally I don't think its very likely that Apple will release a larger laptop. I could be wrong (I am frequently wrong :D) but they stopped selling it for a reason. My guess is because it wasn't selling in the numbers to be profitable.

Only time will tell if we see something from them with the Haswell refresh but I suspect we'll be having a lot of disappointed members here who were hoping to see the return of the 17" MBP.
 
hajime said:
As far as I recall, the laptop I got about 20 years ago cost around $3400. If they can make a 17" rMBP, I have no complain.
Click to expand...

Yeah, you may be willing, but how many other people? Apple needs to be able to justify mass producing this laptop without having trouble making their money back. I personally would also love a 17 rMBP, but I wouldnt be willing to spend anywhere near 3k on a computer :[
 
sonicrobby said:
Yeah, you may be willing, but how many other people? Apple needs to be able to justify mass producing this laptop without having trouble making their money back. I personally would also love a 17 rMBP, but I wouldnt be willing to spend anywhere near 3k on a computer :[
Click to expand...

If you can't spend $3k+, then Mac computers are not for you... :D
 
I can't understand maybe it's just me.

I just don't see using a 17inch laptop, and carrying it around. If you have to do that, considering purchasing a 17inch macbook, meaning that you are quite wealthy, you should be quite pleased with the idea of buying another iMac at the place you often go to. And for the places you don't often go to, a 15inch would serve the purpose.

So why, why why why do you want a 17inch laptop? How would that extra 2 inch be so important that you can't lose?
 
The 17" was a very small segment of the MBP line. I've seen estimates that it was less than 5% of total MBP sales. So I see little chance of bringing it back.

However I hold out hope that in the near future the 13" and 15" will lose some of the bezel and be closer to 14" and 16" without increasing the size of the footprint. If they are shrinking the bezel on the iPad which people actual use to hold, then why not shrink the size of the bezel on laptops that nobody touches.
 
jxie0755 said:
I can't understand maybe it's just me.

I just don't see using a 17inch laptop, and carrying it around. If you have to do that, considering purchasing a 17inch macbook, meaning that you are quite wealthy, you should be quite pleased with the idea of buying another iMac at the place you often go to. And for the places you don't often go to, a 15inch would serve the purpose.

So why, why why why do you want a 17inch laptop? How would that extra 2 inch be so important that you can't lose?
Click to expand...

portable-imac.jpg


:D
 
Very well said.

sofianito said:
If you can't spend $3k+, then Mac computers are not for you... :D
Click to expand...

Very well put and agreed. High art, high fashion and high prices for the best is not for everyone. They will make anything and design anything they want regardless of the times, trends and numbers of what ever sales, or fails, this company will produce what ever it wants with no regard to any of us.

So stop thinking you even know what happened to the 17"MBP. As long as they didn't invite you for tea and talked at length into your ears about their decisions, and ideas for the future, just sit back and let the imaginations run wild. WHY are people so afraid to dream and hope? Stop following and start making your lives richer with imagination and filled with great hope.

The 17"MBP is still alive and well, this is a very - tiny community compared to what is out there. Many, many professionals are still using larger and larger notebooks for what ever reason, we just don't always know and that is okay.

^_^

----------
sofianito said:
Image

:D
Click to expand...

I would LOVE to see someone bring their eyeMak to a tiny cafe, I love to see the humor in everything. Why do people have such a problem with other peoples choices' in technology?

Some people like 11inches while some people prefer 17inches. There will always be something for everyone to buy. You don't run the world business economy, it doesn't think about you, it only wants to make you spend, spend and spend more. Don't forget.
 
vpro said:
I would say people who own a 15"rMB are the "enthusiasts" - I happen to own one, for me they are really quite a beauty to 'look at' but that is about it. I can only do light to medium work on her, while most of my production is thoroughly completed with my 17"MBP, she is the only one I get the most done around my business. The iMAC is great for the kids.

They should bring back the 17"MBP in all her new glory because it isn't about size, it is about what it represents: Integrity, Productivity, Professionalism, Powerful, Portable, Upgradeable and most importantly Longevity. This is the standard set by the 17"MBP when she was first introduced.....
Click to expand...

I stopped reading at about here. I've officially lost all hope this forum. Do you realize who ridiculous you sound? What it represents? It's a 17" laptop.

It's all about it's size, other wise why would the 17"represent all those things over the 13" or 15" Macbook Pros? SIZE was it's only real difference. It was no more a less a Macbook Pro than the other sizes, ESPECIALLY the 15" for which it basically shared SAME DAMN SPECS.

This forum has officially lost it. I'm done.
 
Woah.

TechZeke said:
I stopped reading at about here. I've officially lost all hope this forum. Do you realize who ridiculous you sound? What it represents? It's a 17" laptop.

It's all about it's size, other wise why would the 17"represent all those things over the 13" or 15" Macbook Pros? SIZE was it's only real difference. It was no more a less a Macbook Pro than the other sizes, ESPECIALLY the 15" for which it basically shared SAME DAMN SPECS.

This forum has officially lost it. I'm done.
Click to expand...

Cool off there friend. You're really passionate. This is a great thing. Never stop feeling. Good luck to you.
 
azentropy said:
The 17" was a very small segment of the MBP line. I've seen estimates that it was less than 5% of total MBP sales. So I see little chance of bringing it back.
Click to expand...

When I was in high school, I was the only one in the entire school who had a laptop computer. Over the past 20 years, more consumers are buying laptop computers. Even the number of pro may stay fairly the same or increases, the number of consumers who buy non-17" has increased much more. This may partly be due to the popularity of the iPhone, iPad, iPod, etc. So, relatively, the segment of pro users is small.
 
NewbieCanada said:
Literally 99% of Mac buyers did not share your problem.
Click to expand...
Care to cite the sales figures from Apple to prove that?

No one knows except Apple & they haven't divulged the breakdown between each of its notebooks. The only thing people are basing this on is an analyst that doesn't work for Apple.
 
DHagan4755 said:
Care to cite the sales figures from Apple to prove that?

No one knows except Apple & they haven't divulged the breakdown between each of its notebooks. The only thing people are basing this on is an analyst that doesn't work for Apple.
Click to expand...

They (we) are also basing it on common sense. We live in the real world. We know what our colleagues, family and friends own. We know what we see around us at the coffee shop, on commuter trains and on planes. For that matter, we can just look in the signature lines of this forum - and if they don’t have a significant presence here, they don’t have one anywhere.

And most of all we know that last year, when Apple could have updated it like the other cMBPs, kept it in production as is, or immediately pulled it out of the Apple store, they chose to do the latter. Notably they did NOT do that with the Mac Pro when it became outdated and they didn’t have a redesign ready.

Now I happen to like Mac Minis. But I’m not going to delude myself into thinking they’re popular, and if Apple pulls the current model instead of refreshing it, I’m going to accept what that means and not pretend it means something else.
 
NewbieCanada said:
They (we) are also basing it on common sense. We live in the real world. We know what our colleagues, family and friends own. We know what we see around us at the coffee shop, on commuter trains and on planes. For that matter, we can just look in the signature lines of this forum - and if they don’t have a significant presence here, they don’t have one anywhere.

And most of all we know that last year, when Apple could have updated it like the other cMBPs, kept it in production as is, or immediately pulled it out of the Apple store, they chose to do the latter. Notably they did NOT do that with the Mac Pro when it became outdated and they didn’t have a redesign ready.

Now I happen to like Mac Minis. But I’m not going to delude myself into thinking they’re popular, and if Apple pulls the current model instead of refreshing it, I’m going to accept what that means and not pretend it means something else.
Click to expand...

Lol. I hope you are joking...
 
NewbieCanada said:
They (we) are also basing it on common sense.
Click to expand...
You're assuming because you saw no one with them that's why it was discontinued? Could it also be that Apple made a 15-inch computer with more resolution than the 17-inch ever had, and was more expensive than the 17-inch? Sure Apple could have updated it to Ivy Bridge like they did with the 13- and 15-inch "classic" MacBook Pros but then some would buy the 17-inch over the new retina. It's forced obsolescence on Apple's part. It could also be that a 17-inch retina panel is so expensive it wasn't worth offering. There could be a number of reasons. But just because you didn't see anyone with one was...well anecdotal...not common sense.
 
DHagan4755 said:
...It's forced obsolescence on Apple's part. ...
Click to expand...

That's the part which bothers me most. They could, but they don't (and I don't like the reason behind it)...

And, it seems that others decide for you what you need (Matte display, nah, you don't need that one, the new glossy-coating only annoys you half as much as the previous one; LAN-port, nah, that's yesteryear and you can always carry around an adapter, same as with the DVD-drive; no Retina? then u no pro, [insert random personal insult here])...
 
jav6454 said:
They nixed the 17" for a reason....
Click to expand...

The reason Apple stopped making 17" MBPs is that, a year ago, yields on 17" Retina displays were so low that the prices would have been prohibitive. Prices have since fallen and continue to fall, as yields improve. Apple could now offer a 17" rMBP for about $1000 less than they could have a year ago.
 
First of all to start off, the sales argument is misleading because people imply that the 17 sold low (and since they personally didnt have it) they figure nobody else wanted it.

No.

There were many more people who wanted it than people who actually had it.

It was over 2500 dollars! Of course it wasnt accessible to sell massively like a 999$ laptop in a 700$ laptop world...

Despite that I lately do agree that 15 is a sweet spot (partially by having no choice but to feel that way)

But the aspect of it just being an Ultimate beast of size and power (when maxed out) was what made it so flashy and exciting. Many people would objectively take one if they could because it wasn't much bigger than a 15 and the screen was nice.

That was back when Airplay Secondary monitors weren't common household setups. We have gradually worked up to where its common for anybody to just have an external display one way or another. Having the largest screen possible was nice back then but is less of a priority today. .

The lack of availability of 17 retina does give me a glimmer of hope it could be reintroduced. Maybe that is part of the reason. But it would be years before this would be a non-issue that allows for the potential for a re-introduction.

Its probably a combination of reasons. But Apple usually does things in context of the uniformity of its whole line and the scope products represent on a total marketing level. Its not simply an approach of looking at the sales to production cost ratio. Its a choice of philosophy first, not numbers.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back