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Though Discontinued, Apple Offering a Plethora of Discounted 17" MacBook Pros

I have to wonder, as previously mentioned here, if the most recent low sales numbers for the 17" MBP were a result of users waiting for a solid update:

  • SATA III
  • Two Thunderbolt ports
  • Faster processors
  • Multiple SSDs/additional RAM slots in lieu of SuperDrive

Those updates, with the ExpressCard 34 slot intact, would be a platform worthy of the "pro" moniker. If they really want to ditch FW, the ExpressCard 34 at least gives professionals (sound engineers, for example) an option for retaining the use of legacy devices.
 
a pitty they discontinued that model

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D*I*S_Frontman said:
I have to wonder, as previously mentioned here, if the most recent low sales numbers for the 17" MBP were a result of users waiting for a solid update:

  • SATA III
  • Two Thunderbolt ports
  • Faster processors
  • Multiple SSDs/additional RAM slots in lieu of SuperDrive

Those updates, with the ExpressCard 34 slot intact, would be a platform worthy of the "pro" moniker. If they really want to ditch FW, the ExpressCard 34 at least gives professionals (sound engineers, for example) an option for retaining the use of legacy devices.
Click to expand...

Cheers for the info mate
 
foidulus said:
You are a minority of a minority of a minority. And my guess is that despite all your blustering you will be getting a retina mbp, so Apple hasnt exactly lost a sale there, have they?

Tell ya what, I will admit you are right the second Apples stock goes crashing down because they discontinued a computer option that was guaranteed to cost them money. I dont think I will have to be eating my own hat.
Click to expand...
Apple have the resources to serve the minority and the halo effect would pay them back. Overall customer satisfaction or halo effect don't show up in stock market. And if you think only about stock market, Apple should drop all computers away from their portfolio, because they are in minority, also in profit level.
D*I*S_Frontman said:
I have to wonder, as previously mentioned here, if the most recent low sales numbers for the 17" MBP were a result of users waiting for a solid update:

  • SATA III
  • Two Thunderbolt ports
  • Faster processors
  • Multiple SSDs/additional RAM slots in lieu of SuperDrive

Those updates, with the ExpressCard 34 slot intact, would be a platform worthy of the "pro" moniker. If they really want to ditch FW, the ExpressCard 34 at least gives professionals (sound engineers, for example) an option for retaining the use of legacy devices.
Click to expand...
That would be nice and easy to do. Adding 3-4 usb3 ports with user replaceable ram and storage, that would be the dream machine.
But if 15" rMBP costs $3k, 17" rMBP would be $4k and thus priced out of market.
Maybe Apple does with rMBP same thing than it did with Air; first year they brand it to be "premium product" with high prices and then they drop prices and lots of people rush to get "premium product" with "regular price".
So 17" rMBP might appear after 15" rMBP is down $1k.
 
foidulus said:
You are a minority of a minority of a minority. And my guess is that despite all your blustering you will be getting a retina mbp, so Apple hasnt exactly lost a sale there, have they?

Tell ya what, I will admit you are right the second Apples stock goes crashing down because they discontinued a computer option that was guaranteed to cost them money. I dont think I will have to be eating my own hat.
Click to expand...

Fair enough, but I believe despite all your blathering the professional community is taking note and future sales will determine whether you eat your hat or not :)
PS; no..the retina mbp glued and unserviceable by user is definitely not in my future thank you.
 
Last edited:
pubwvj said:
Hmm... Not very good deals. The new MacBook Pro Retina is cheaper when you consider the processing power, storage and memory you get for your dollars. I was tempted by the idea when I saw the head line since I'm in the market and had been considering a 17" but the MBPr is a better deal.
Click to expand...

Hm, to each their own, but I am actually very tempted getting one of those - especially because the rMBP does NOT offer good enough storage and memory options for my needs...Plus I like the matte screen better still. I understand why they are discontinued it, but still too bad really.
 
After doing a lot of research, and waffling like a politician, I purchased a MacBook Pro 15-inch. I was very close to purchasing a refurbished 17-inch (late 2011) MacBook. I wanted the 17-inch screen and anticipated purchasing a new model with Ivy Bridge, but was disappointed when it wasn’t released.


Relative to purchasing a refurbished Macbook, I think I was comfortable with that idea, but I couldn’t find on Apple’s website a specific statement that the battery was new in a refurbished model (I though it was). USB 3 and latest processor also swayed me to go with a new model. Lastly, I read that 2011 models would take 1600 MHz ram. So, I’m going to pull it from the new MacBook (which I’ll upgrade to 16 GB) and put the 8 GB in a relative’s 2011 model.

Forgot, I got $200 education discount and $100 app card...this also motivated me.
 
Last edited:
shurcooL said:
Who's to say they're not going to re-add a 17" MBP with Retina after some time?

They're just discontinuing it for the time being, as far as I can see.
Click to expand...

I don't think I'd bet on it. In fact I just bet against it. I'm typing this on a new MBPr while I'm packing up my 9-month-old 17" MBP for sale on eBay. I've had two 17" MBPs. Love 'em. I'm at the point where my eyes really appreciated the additional screen real estate. But I have to say that, after using the retina display for a few days, I'm sold. It is far easier on the eyes than the 17", and that's a matte finish display that I really like.

As for the future of a 17" Retina Display, I don't see it happening. At least not for a long while. Display manufacturing is all about yield vs bad pixel count. From the anecdotal evidence of buyer's complaints of bad pixels on the 15.4" retina... along with longer than anticipated delivery times, I'd guess their vendor is struggling with yield.

Consider this:
Display --- vs --- Pixels
15.4" ------------ 1.3 million
17" -------------- 2.3 million
15.4" retina ---- 5.2 million
17" retina ------ 9.2 million

These numbers assume that the retina displays are twice the pixels in each dimension as the base the displays, which is the case with the current 15.4" retina.

This explains why the zero-bad-pixel yield is difficult on the 15.4" retina. They're deal with 4X more pixels than the base 15.4" display. A 17" retina would be 7X more pixels.

My guess is that the demand on a 17" retina would be too soft for their display manufacturer to be able to get cost-effective yields at a near-zero dead-pixel-count. At least for the foreseeable future.

But hey. I've been wrong before.
 
D*I*S_Frontman said:
Those updates, with the ExpressCard 34 slot intact, would be a platform worthy of the "pro" moniker. If they really want to ditch FW, the ExpressCard 34 at least gives professionals (sound engineers, for example) an option for retaining the use of legacy devices.
Click to expand...

The loss of Firewire 800 to support legacy media I/O like sound boards and video is exactly what has me struggling with giving up my existing Early 2011 17", even as I type this on a new MBPr. If Apple would actually ship the Thunderbolt to Firewire 800 adapter they announced, I'd feel much better about it. As it stands now, I have no way to connect audio or video to the MBPr.
 
so if i go with a refurb oct.2011 - 17" 2.5Ghz 4gb i7 quad core, i can upgrade the ram to 16gb myself and throw in an SSD drive to replace the HDD?

or is the same but 2.4Ghz 8gb i7 quad core going to perform faster because of more ram and just a tiny difference in Ghz???

thanks !?
 
vpro said:
so if i go with a refurb oct.2011 - 17" 2.5Ghz 4gb i7 quad core, i can upgrade the ram to 16gb myself and throw in an SSD drive to replace the HDD?

or is the same but 2.4Ghz 8gb i7 quad core going to perform faster because of more ram and just a tiny difference in Ghz???

thanks !?
Click to expand...

You can definitely do your own 16GB RAM upgrade for ~$88 or so (Crucial from Amazon), I’m running that in my 15” 2.3GHz i7. You can swap out the HDD for an SSD, or using a kit from OWC, you can swap the optical for an SSD or HDD. I believe my 2011 MBP has SATAIII in the optical bay, so you could mount the SSD there (some older models had SATAII in the bay, so folks have moved the HDD to the OD bay, and the SSD to the faster connector).

An SSD is going to make huge difference, though if you’re running very RAM intensive apps and/or many apps, the extra RAM is great. Like right now I’m running Mail, Safari, Apache, MySQL server, MySQL workbench, NetBeans, Visual JSON, CyberDuck, a couple of Term windows, plus a Windows 7 VM with VS2010, IIS, Oracle XE (and my temp is idling at 62º :D )
 
D.T. said:
You can definitely do your own 16GB RAM upgrade for ~$88 or so (Crucial from Amazon), I’m running that in my 15” 2.3GHz i7. You can swap out the HDD for an SSD, or using a kit from OWC, you can swap the optical for an SSD or HDD. I believe my 2011 MBP has SATAIII in the optical bay, so you could mount the SSD there (some older models had SATAII in the bay, so folks have moved the HDD to the OD bay, and the SSD to the faster connector).

An SSD is going to make huge difference, though if you’re running very RAM intensive apps and/or many apps, the extra RAM is great. Like right now I’m running Mail, Safari, Apache, MySQL server, MySQL workbench, NetBeans, Visual JSON, CyberDuck, a couple of Term windows, plus a Windows 7 VM with VS2010, IIS, Oracle XE (and my temp is idling at 62º :D )
Click to expand...



thank you !

so 2.5Ghz or 2.4Ghz, with the 8gb ram the 2.4Ghz runs smoother/faster than the 2.5Ghz period?

well if its that inexpensive to add ram later i should go with the 2.5Ghz?
 
Well, everything else equal, the faster CPU (comparing like cores/cache) is going to be faster, and it’s a little tricky when you start comparing different configurations.

Fast disk access via an SSD makes the machine feel very fast, because from the user probably perceives more latency due to disk access. That’s why MBAs “feel” so quick, even with a slower CPU vs. a MBP 17.

The RAM is a little harder to factor in, because it’s very use specific. You can see from my example I run a ton of apps (even multiple OSs). So my machine with 16GB seems much faster than a 2.4 or 2.5 wit 4GB of RAM (which would have tons of paging, where I typical seen little-to-none).

Personally, I’d buy the cheaper refurb, do my own 8 or 16GB upgrade and call it a day (I think SSDs will take another big price drop in the next 6 months, that’s about when I’ll be ready as I want something big like a 512GB).
 
D.T. said:
I believe my 2011 MBP has SATAIII in the optical bay, so you could mount the SSD there (some older models had SATAII in the bay, so folks have moved the HDD to the OD bay, and the SSD to the faster connector).
Click to expand...

I was ready and willing to buy the 17" in October, but I had to wait for OWC to test if the ODD actually had SATAIII. I guess it is... but still only pulls SATAII speeds.

Ruined any hope for 1TB 1GB/s RAID 0...funny since the 13" could do it, and it was a KNOWN issue well before the October refresh :mad:.

And since I didn't buy it, they assumed nobody buys 17s anymore =)
 
Thank you !

So helpful and insightful I so appreciate it. Yeah I'm a recording artist and need a lot of processing power.

On a vain topic I LOVE the glossy screen, its so sexy & sleek, but the lower cost refurb is an anti-glare, I have a 2007 17"mbp antiglare and it is a pain to clean I guess I didn't clean it properly cos I used to much of the iclean or what ever solvent, there are some strange smudge spots and dead pixels now here and there. The glass / glossy screen i think would be easiest to wipe clean and not fear any moisture seeping into the display..
 
Fandongo said:
I was ready and willing to buy the 17" in October, but I had to wait for OWC to test if the ODD actually had SATAIII. I guess it is... but still only pulls SATAII speeds.

Ruined any hope for 1TB 1GB/s RAID 0...funny since the 13" could do it, and it was a KNOWN issue well before the October refresh :mad:.

And since I didn't buy it, they assumed nobody buys 17s anymore =)
Click to expand...

OK, I recall there being some kind of question about the interface spec on the OD bay connector, thanks for the clarification. If I went dual drive it’ll likely be HDD in the OD, and SSD in the OEM spot, though I _think_ the MBP15 mid ’11 (mine is the model with 6750M GPU) does have an SATA-III in the OD, but I’m not sure if the throughput tested out to SIII specs[?]


vpro said:
So helpful and insightful I so appreciate it. Yeah I'm a recording artist and need a lot of processing power.

On a vain topic I LOVE the glossy screen, its so sexy & sleek, but the lower cost refurb is an anti-glare, I have a 2007 17"mbp antiglare and it is a pain to clean I guess I didn't clean it properly cos I used to much of the iclean or what ever solvent, there are some strange smudge spots and dead pixels now here and there. The glass / glossy screen i think would be easiest to wipe clean and not fear any moisture seeping into the display..
Click to expand...

Yeah, the glossy vs. AG can be a tough call. Most of the time I’m using my MBP, it’s connected to my big desktop display (using an external KB and mouse), so I don’t mind a glossy desktop monitor since it’s in a fixed location, and I can optimize placement, lights, etc. (home office :) ). When I am using the integrated display, I’m usually outside, on-the-road, in a unknown environment, so I like that my internal is AG (and HR).

The glossy is definitely easier to clean, my wife’s MBP13 (glossy) gets a good layer of finger prints on it daily (4 year old!) and it cleans up super easy vs. my AG, though I tend not to touch my display much (mostly since it stays closed 90% of the time)!
 
Are the 17" Refurbs gone? !!!

There was a nice variety of 17" refurbs on Apple's website for awhile. But as of yesterday, they seem to be all gone! Is this the end of the 17" MBP?

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/macbook_pro

----------
D*I*S_Frontman said:
I have to wonder, as previously mentioned here, if the most recent low sales numbers for the 17" MBP were a result of users waiting for a solid update:

  • SATA III
  • Two Thunderbolt ports
  • Faster processors
  • Multiple SSDs/additional RAM slots in lieu of SuperDrive

Those updates, with the ExpressCard 34 slot intact, would be a platform worthy of the "pro" moniker. If they really want to ditch FW, the ExpressCard 34 at least gives professionals (sound engineers, for example) an option for retaining the use of legacy devices.
Click to expand...

Seems like the Thunderbolt to FW800 adapter is a far more elegant solution than the Express34 adapter (which on my MBP keeps popping out). I've always wished for dual hard drives, but Apple never went for that.
 
D.T. said:
OK, I recall there being some kind of question about the interface spec on the OD bay connector, thanks for the clarification. If I went dual drive it’ll likely be HDD in the OD, and SSD in the OEM spot, though I _think_ the MBP15 mid ’11 (mine is the model with 6750M GPU) does have an SATA-III in the OD, but I’m not sure if the throughput tested out to SIII specs[?]
Click to expand...

Here's the OWC link

I've been trying to buy a new MBP for a year, but stuff like this is just mind numbing.
 
They Stole my MacBook Pro

I had to send in my Macbook Pro 17" to get repaired, no big deal i have had to do this a couple times already....at least that is what i thought. That is until my wife gets the box in the mail yesterday opens it and finds a 15" macbook pro instead. Uh i'm not sure here, but i'm pretty positive there is a difference in these two laptops. I bought a 17" b/c i like have the larger screen to use for workspace. If i wanted a 15" i would have bought one initially. This really wouldn't be that big of an issue for me, except that i'm deployed to Afghanistan right now and i use my laptop to facetime with my wife and kids back home when i can get a good wi-fi signal. I call Apple and they don't know what is going on. **My Suggestion** to them is send me my 17" back repaired, and i'm keeping the 15" as compensation for a problem they took 9 months to fix and ended up sending me the wrong laptop back. If i knew Tim Cook's email address i would personally email him and ask him what is the deal.
 
CaboWabo79 said:
I had to send in my Macbook Pro 17" to get repaired, no big deal i have had to do this a couple times already....at least that is what i thought. That is until my wife gets the box in the mail yesterday opens it and finds a 15" macbook pro instead. Uh i'm not sure here, but i'm pretty positive there is a difference in these two laptops. I bought a 17" b/c i like have the larger screen to use for workspace. If i wanted a 15" i would have bought one initially. This really wouldn't be that big of an issue for me, except that i'm deployed to Afghanistan right now and i use my laptop to facetime with my wife and kids back home when i can get a good wi-fi signal. I call Apple and they don't know what is going on. **My Suggestion** to them is send me my 17" back repaired, and i'm keeping the 15" as compensation for a problem they took 9 months to fix and ended up sending me the wrong laptop back. If i knew Tim Cook's email address i would personally email him and ask him what is the deal.
Click to expand...



Strange ! That isn't good at all is it?! Hmmm, does that mean they no longer service 17" mbps because they are technically discontinued and maybe no longer have serviceable parts in stock, so they just replaced your old one for a 15"?

What would this mean to people who like me are considering still on buying a 17" refurb and if I get Apple Care and it has problems and I send it in, I'll just get a 15" brand new? Hmmm.........

They didn't offer you any explanations that is shady for sure.

All the best out there stay safe be well !!
 
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