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I really appreciate my 17" MBP

S

Sal Collaziano

macrumors 6502
Original poster
I've had three MBPs now since switching from Windows. My wife has had two or three and a bunch of our family and friends have made the switch as well. I'm the "go to" computer guy around here (which isn't saying a whole lot) so everybody followed me over.

One thing that has really disappointed me is the lack of a 17" notebook screen on new MBPs. Since I couldn't buy a 17" a couple of months ago, I figured I'd just go with the smallest display and reap the benefits of a small computer - which is great in some ways.

These days I keep my main 13" computer attached to a large monitor in my office -- and my older 17" computer beside my bed -- which I carry around the house from room to room. I must say, I really appreciate the 17" screen after using the 13" screen for awhile. I find 13" too small and I have a feeling I won't be too thrilled about a 15" either.

Is this really the END of the 17" notebook computer from Apple? Does anyone have any insight into the possibilities in the not too distant future? I kinda fear the day this 17" MBP stops working... I REALLY appreciate the large screen...
 
Yes, I do believe that it is the end. The market is way too small to be worth considering as an option in their line-up anymore. You'd be surprised at how much bigger the 15" feels compared to the 13"
 
I replaced my 17" for a rMBP 15".

I was very sceptical at first, but the 15" is definitely a much better compromise.
 
With the MBP's going Retina the 17" was not ideal, it had a 1920x1200 screen didnt it? So the retina one would have had to be 3840x2400 which is taller than 4K. So wouldnt it take a hell of a lot to power a 17" 4K screen? (Im talking GPU power here)

I think it will happen eventualy as it makes sense for 4K vid editors
 
I would love a 17" rMBP but am very happy with my 15". I cam from a 17" Windows laptop with a 1920x1080 screen so it was a big improvement in my eyes to go with the retina screen. If they made a 17" I would buy it as soon as it came out but am perfectly happy with what I have. I just think I could get by with the 17" without a second monitor which would help clean up my desk a little bit.

Victor
 
I see the appeal of 17" if someone wants a desktop replacement. 17" seems like it could be a good compromise if you don't feel like hooking it up to an external monitor. I hook up my 15" to a 24" or 27" depending where I am working, but I don't mind using 15" if I need to do something quick for work. I think I would go crazy with a 13" though.
 
I have the last gen of the 17. It's my company laptop. I am using it daily eight hours or more. I enjoy and love using it at my office. I have the late 15 retina high end for personal, which I rarely use. I like them both. I also have 13 MB Air that I now gave it to my wife and she loves it.
 
I'm still not sure why they killed it. People say poor sales but they really weren't. I just went back to a thread I was on just before the 17" was canned and the sales figures were steadily 50k units per quarter (out of the 5.1million macs sold). So yes thats 1% of Mac sales.

So its not the best seller as a percentage of the Macs but 50k units a quarter is 200,000 units per year. Assuming a 30% markup (could be more) and average price of $2500 thats $150million profit a year. Which is a nice chunk of cash to have.

Znet have the same theory I have. They wanted to go retina and there were no vendors producing 17" retina screens. Maybe the 17" will return when they do. [Fingers crossed smiley]. Also a 17" retina could be 4k which could be unveiled as a new product to keynote fanfare apple style.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/why-apple-dumped-the-17-inch-macbook-pro/20761
 
Okay, so poor sales is not the reason the 17" MBP went away. Me, personally, I don't care about Retina displays. I'm happy with the way my screens have looked since I started using them - without Retina. I'd love to buy a new 17" MBP, but I can't. It's a shame. I'm not thrilled with my 13" MBP and I doubt I'm going to feel much better about a 15"... I really hope this old 17" keeps working for a long time...
 
Sal Collaziano said:
I've had three MBPs now since switching from Windows. My wife has had two or three and a bunch of our family and friends have made the switch as well. I'm the "go to" computer guy around here (which isn't saying a whole lot) so everybody followed me over.

One thing that has really disappointed me is the lack of a 17" notebook screen on new MBPs. Since I couldn't buy a 17" a couple of months ago, I figured I'd just go with the smallest display and reap the benefits of a small computer - which is great in some ways.

These days I keep my main 13" computer attached to a large monitor in my office -- and my older 17" computer beside my bed -- which I carry around the house from room to room. I must say, I really appreciate the 17" screen after using the 13" screen for awhile. I find 13" too small and I have a feeling I won't be too thrilled about a 15" either.

Is this really the END of the 17" notebook computer from Apple? Does anyone have any insight into the possibilities in the not too distant future? I kinda fear the day this 17" MBP stops working... I REALLY appreciate the large screen...
Click to expand...

To be honest, it was a large, clunky, and heavy computer. However, the additional power was great and the desktop real estate was fantastic. I think Apple hit the nail on the head with the 15" with Retina display by giving you the option "for more space". I would say go to an Apple Store and see the 15" by turning it from "Retina" to "for more space". I can assure you it is great!

The 17" was essentially for the mobile professionals who needed massive amounts of power like video editors. It came with a price tag that said that too. Now with the rMBP 15" I feel like Apple compromised by giving the power of the 17" models in a thin and light package without loosing too much screen real-estate.
 
What I bolded below... What do you mean?

Altemose said:
To be honest, it was a large, clunky, and heavy computer. However, the additional power was great and the desktop real estate was fantastic. I think Apple hit the nail on the head with the 15" with Retina display by giving you the option "for more space". I would say go to an Apple Store and see the 15" by turning it from "Retina" to "for more space". I can assure you it is great!

The 17" was essentially for the mobile professionals who needed massive amounts of power like video editors. It came with a price tag that said that too. Now with the rMBP 15" I feel like Apple compromised by giving the power of the 17" models in a thin and light package without loosing too much screen real-estate.
Click to expand...
 
Sal Collaziano said:
What I bolded below... What do you mean?
Click to expand...

In System Preferences ---> Displays there are two buttons.

If you select "Scaled" and change it from Retina to "More Space" it emulates a high res display giving you a larger real-estate. The Retina display is 2880 x 1800 but it scales down to emulate a 1400 x 900 display albeit with the sharpest picture you will ever see. Changing it to "More Space" bumps up the resolution to a higher amount but preserves the amount of sharpness for the most part. It will go to 1920 x 1200 I believe.
 

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Thank you. I'll have to test this out at the Apple store. My 17" MBP is set at 1920x1200...

Altemose said:
In System Preferences ---> Displays there are two buttons.

If you select "Scaled" and change it from Retina to "More Space" it emulates a high res display giving you a larger real-estate. The Retina display is 2880 x 1800 but it scales down to emulate a 1400 x 900 display albeit with the sharpest picture you will ever see. Changing it to "More Space" bumps up the resolution to a higher amount but preserves the amount of sharpness for the most part. It will go to 1920 x 1200 I believe.
Click to expand...
 
Pentad said:
You do realize that the 17" MBP sold better than the MP. Poor sales indeed...
Click to expand...

The Mac Pro is a completely different market. It's produced in small quantities and it's a very basic manufacturing & assembly process compared to the expensive & sophisticated MacBook manufacturing process.

Apple have a large client base that also spends a lot of money on Apple software & services so the Mac Pro is highly profitable for such a low volume of sales.
 
They call it more space because "cramming the resolution of the 17" into a screen thats 18% smaller" didn't sound as good for marketing 😉


Subtext translation:
Having the more space option on the 15inch is nice. But theres just no getting around that the 15" is 18% smaller and feels cramped by comparison.
 
Last edited:
whitedragon101 said:
They call it more space because "cramming the resolution of the 17" into a screen thats 18% smaller" didn't sound as good for marketing 😉


Subtext translation:
Having the more space option on the 15inch is nice. But theres just no getting around that the 15" is 18% smaller and feels cramped by comparison.
Click to expand...

I had a feeling that would be the case but I'll give it a try anyway. The good thing about the 17" screen at the same resolution is everything is surely bigger. I'm really going to miss this MBP when it dies...

Maybe by then Chromebooks will be good enough to replace it with.
 
if you have a "looks like" 2560x1440 scaled resolution option on a 17" rMBP it would have to get renderd at double that (5120x2880), then scaled down, i think its too many pixels for the GPU just yet, unless they leave out "more space" scaled options
 
andeify said:
if you have a "looks like" 2560x1440 scaled resolution option on a 17" rMBP it would have to get renderd at double that (5120x2880), then scaled down, i think its too many pixels for the GPU just yet, unless they leave out "more space" scaled options
Click to expand...

Not right now I agree. But I think the planets are aligning though to make this possible. I think the panel technology is mature enough to make the 17" retina screens and Broadwell or Maxwell are the final piece of the puzzle to provide the GPU power.
 
whitedragon101 said:
Not right now I agree. But I think the planets are aligning though to make this possible. I think the panel technology is mature enough to make the 17" retina screens and Broadwell or Maxwell are the final piece of the puzzle to provide the GPU power.
Click to expand...

...maybe there IS hope after all...
 
Personally, I've gotten 3 MacBook Pro 17" in the past from 2008 thru 2011 (early 2011 MacBook Pro 17" - which I still am using).

The problem with the 17" is the size. It's quite large and the screen real-estate + size of the screen is really nice to work on that is on a desktop, permanently. For portability say to a coffee shop, it's quite lame. It's just too big.

I went with the 17" because of the screen resolution and the screen size. But I would like to get an MBA 13" for it's sheer portability and having 1440x900 isn't that bad considering in the past the 15" MacBook Pro has used 1440x900. But if you wanted larger, you can always plug into a 24" monitor or larger. That's why it's more appealing for smaller laptop these days. Right now my 17" is used as primary "desktop".

the MacBook Pro 15" is quite perfect size but the MBA 13" is just more favorable for me personally - being light and portable is really great. Try to use a MacBook Pro 17" on an airplane lol. No way. at least not in coach!
 
Sal Collaziano said:
...maybe there IS hope after all...
Click to expand...

I speak from experience. I have a 17" PowerBook so maybe this isn't exactly fair but it gives me a rough idea. I have a 13" MBP with the 1280 x 800 display panel and I can do fine but a 15" classic MBP is right in my sweet spot. However if I was going after a 17" I would get the 15 with Retina display.

Like I said, Apple didn't keep the 17" around for the niche market probably as they were selling way more small computers like the MacBook Air series and the 13" Pro. They probably said, who would want to carry this around? And so they found a way to give the same real estate for the most part in a thin and light package. I am happy, and my back is happy from carrying the PowerBook.
 
Sal Collaziano said:
I've had three MBPs now since switching from Windows. My wife has had two or three and a bunch of our family and friends have made the switch as well. I'm the "go to" computer guy around here (which isn't saying a whole lot) so everybody followed me over.

One thing that has really disappointed me is the lack of a 17" notebook screen on new MBPs. Since I couldn't buy a 17" a couple of months ago, I figured I'd just go with the smallest display and reap the benefits of a small computer - which is great in some ways.

These days I keep my main 13" computer attached to a large monitor in my office -- and my older 17" computer beside my bed -- which I carry around the house from room to room. I must say, I really appreciate the 17" screen after using the 13" screen for awhile. I find 13" too small and I have a feeling I won't be too thrilled about a 15" either.

Is this really the END of the 17" notebook computer from Apple? Does anyone have any insight into the possibilities in the not too distant future? I kinda fear the day this 17" MBP stops working... I REALLY appreciate the large screen...
Click to expand...

The problem with the 17" MacBook Pros, is the fact that there was no problem. I had three, each of which were simply stellar.

Yet they lacked a single "revolutionary" feature that Apple could parlay into something they could exaggerate and bragg about inventing. The well worn and very pathetic excuse was lack of demand and the fact that weren't making a veritable killing in profits.

Given the fact they'd been around and more than paid off their R&D and production costs, that still wasn't enough for the profit addicted Apple. Finally it's important to remember Apple cares very little about computers other than giving lip service.

The trash can shaped Mac Pros sole purpose is to WOW the public, drawing the attention Apple simply can't live without.
 
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