This is what is upsetting me about Apple lately. They are now the LARGEST company in the world! Yet they are actually reducing their product lines and giving us even less choices than when they were smaller. Then they don't release new drivers for older machines to make them Mountain Lion compatible, when they certainly can afford to. And they let the pro market languish. Where is the new Mac Pro and Aperture 4? They have no excuses anymore. We shouldn't give them a pass on these things.
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Though Discontinued, Apple Offering a Plethora of Discounted 17" MacBook Pros
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This is what is upsetting me about Apple lately. They are now the LARGEST company in the world! Yet they are actually reducing their product lines and giving us even less choices than when they were smaller. Then they don't release new drivers for older machines to make them Mountain Lion compatible, when they certainly can afford to. And they let the pro market languish. Where is the new Mac Pro and Aperture 4? They have no excuses anymore. We shouldn't give them a pass on these things.
Ssshhh!
Don't go publicizing this! I'm counting on them not running out before the statewide sales tax holiday on computer equipment at the beginning of August.
I was all set to jump on the MBPR, but the non-upgradeable RAM and (especially) SDD make it a non-starter. Sure, they've dropped the price of the RAM upgrade to no more than double third-party prices, but the SDD capacity/price ratio is bound to soar over the next couple of years, and I can't see locking in today's prices.
Don't go publicizing this! I'm counting on them not running out before the statewide sales tax holiday on computer equipment at the beginning of August.
I was all set to jump on the MBPR, but the non-upgradeable RAM and (especially) SDD make it a non-starter. Sure, they've dropped the price of the RAM upgrade to no more than double third-party prices, but the SDD capacity/price ratio is bound to soar over the next couple of years, and I can't see locking in today's prices.
There seemed to be several technical issues involved in that decision, such as what level of OpenGL they support in hardware, but if it really just came down to not bothering to re-write the 32 bit drivers as 64 bit, then I agree, that was a pathetic cost benefit analysis they're asking their customers to swallow.
Non-upgradable SSD, while capacities are still half of what people can get from a spinning hard drive, is moronic! I'm not sure what amount of RAM the motherboard can support, so how upgradable the RAM would have been isn't clear, but that really artificially limited the lifespan of the computer too. For what it's worth, any sort of warranty voiding 3rd party upgrade that involves soldering on new parts, would likely come at a phase in the computer's lifecycle past when AppleCare would run out anyway.
Apple doesn't care about cheesing off their customers anymore. They think the money will just flow to them forever. History is bound to repeat itself sooner or later with that attitude. 
Discontinued 17" MacBooks will be replaced with 15" MacBooks when sent in for repair
I finally got in touch with a rep and they told me that it was replaced with a 15" bc they no longer make a 17". They had called and asked my wife and asked for confirmation on shipping address but failed to mention sending a 15" as replacement. They offered to send me a refurb 17", however if in the future with the 17" they could not repair it bc they no longer make parts for it they would end up relacing it with a 15" anyways. I told them they should have emailed me and contacted me prior to doing anything, I mean I am the one who called them and they actually read in my notes that anything needing authorization had to specifically go through me.
So my question to them was rather than keeping the discontinuation of the 17" MacBook Pro, why didn't they let all 17" MacBook pro users know what the result was going to be. That Apple would not be able to repair 17" MacBook's if they did not have any parts for it and would just replace it with a 15" that think compares.
I don't know, but I thought it is illegal for them to switch out my MacBook without any authorization by me, however they seem to think not. Their last comment was to let me know I can write to the complaint dept at the head offices in Cupertino. So I'm guessing nothing will result from my letter to them, but a letter they will get.
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I fully agree with this statement. Apple has only become more concerned with making their pockets fatter and not providing quality customer service to Apple users.
I finally got in touch with a rep and they told me that it was replaced with a 15" bc they no longer make a 17". They had called and asked my wife and asked for confirmation on shipping address but failed to mention sending a 15" as replacement. They offered to send me a refurb 17", however if in the future with the 17" they could not repair it bc they no longer make parts for it they would end up relacing it with a 15" anyways. I told them they should have emailed me and contacted me prior to doing anything, I mean I am the one who called them and they actually read in my notes that anything needing authorization had to specifically go through me.
So my question to them was rather than keeping the discontinuation of the 17" MacBook Pro, why didn't they let all 17" MacBook pro users know what the result was going to be. That Apple would not be able to repair 17" MacBook's if they did not have any parts for it and would just replace it with a 15" that think compares.
I don't know, but I thought it is illegal for them to switch out my MacBook without any authorization by me, however they seem to think not. Their last comment was to let me know I can write to the complaint dept at the head offices in Cupertino. So I'm guessing nothing will result from my letter to them, but a letter they will get.
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Apple doesn't care about cheesing off their customers anymore. They think the money will just flow to them forever. History is bound to repeat itself sooner or later with that attitude.
I fully agree with this statement. Apple has only become more concerned with making their pockets fatter and not providing quality customer service to Apple users.
WHAT ?!?!! So if people are buying 17" refurbs + apple care for it from this point on, based on what you mention - that is a contradiction, so would everyone who has problems means apple will just default 15" replacement?
If apple doesn't put a disclaimer now, I smell tons of legal reprocussions no?![/QUOTE]
That is a very good point about the disclaimer. I should have mentioned that in my letter to them. Here is the flip side to that though. If you buy the 17" and you don't get Apple care then after the 1 yr warranty expires if anything happens to your laptop you are basically screwed and will need to pay someone else to fix it. If you do get the Apple care though you at least have the option to have you laptop replaced with the most current upgraded laptop available (equal in value to what you originally paid). Now by this point they may start making the 17" again or they may not. It is just a risk that a person will have to take if they buy a 17" anymore.
I'm sure they have lots of parts on hand for making repairs, heck it wouldn't surprise me if they didn't breakdown the 17" laptops getting returned and using those to make repairs.
If apple doesn't put a disclaimer now, I smell tons of legal reprocussions no?![/QUOTE]
That is a very good point about the disclaimer. I should have mentioned that in my letter to them. Here is the flip side to that though. If you buy the 17" and you don't get Apple care then after the 1 yr warranty expires if anything happens to your laptop you are basically screwed and will need to pay someone else to fix it. If you do get the Apple care though you at least have the option to have you laptop replaced with the most current upgraded laptop available (equal in value to what you originally paid). Now by this point they may start making the 17" again or they may not. It is just a risk that a person will have to take if they buy a 17" anymore.
I'm sure they have lots of parts on hand for making repairs, heck it wouldn't surprise me if they didn't breakdown the 17" laptops getting returned and using those to make repairs.
one can only hope
yeah one can only hope that is what they do, tear down returned 17" macbook pro or for recycled parts they can salvage, but it isn't realistic because it would cost them more to refresh those parts etc etc etc.
the 17" pros will come back it has to, because this trend of smaller n smaller, thinner n thinner for the VERY specific demographic of teenagers who still live at home where moms and pops are affording thousands a month for their gadget trendy needs, apple is gonna monopolize on their buying power as long as it is 'hip'. there are a lot of rich peeps out there who don't know what to do with their time n money so it is easy for them to pick up as many new n 'so called improved' gadgets every other month without blinking an eyelid.
at least with apple they do want you to own something for 5 years or more because they are really built to last, as long as the consumer also is in that frame of mind - but only 0.05 percent of the world's population is about preservation rather than over consumption just because you can or the market place makes available, doesn't mean you have to go with it.
if they say jump off the cliff there is a pot of gold here is a parachute, if you are not comfortable on the land you already stand on, of course you'll jump with the herd, it's human nature to go with the mob than with their own instincts...
yeah one can only hope that is what they do, tear down returned 17" macbook pro or for recycled parts they can salvage, but it isn't realistic because it would cost them more to refresh those parts etc etc etc.
the 17" pros will come back it has to, because this trend of smaller n smaller, thinner n thinner for the VERY specific demographic of teenagers who still live at home where moms and pops are affording thousands a month for their gadget trendy needs, apple is gonna monopolize on their buying power as long as it is 'hip'. there are a lot of rich peeps out there who don't know what to do with their time n money so it is easy for them to pick up as many new n 'so called improved' gadgets every other month without blinking an eyelid.
at least with apple they do want you to own something for 5 years or more because they are really built to last, as long as the consumer also is in that frame of mind - but only 0.05 percent of the world's population is about preservation rather than over consumption just because you can or the market place makes available, doesn't mean you have to go with it.
if they say jump off the cliff there is a pot of gold here is a parachute, if you are not comfortable on the land you already stand on, of course you'll jump with the herd, it's human nature to go with the mob than with their own instincts...
I think it's pretty strange that Apple wouldn't keep a decent amount of replacement parts on-hand for a 17" MBP. Car companies keep parts for many many years after they discontinue a model. Apple should at least keep enough on-hand for repairs within AppleCare's warranty period for the machines.
Frankly, Apple is so loaded with cash at this point, there shouldn't be any excuses for ANYTHING anymore like the old days when everyone claimed Apple was this tiny company that couldn't afford to do things properly like the big boys. Well, Apple is as big as they get now and they should start behaving more professionally when it comes to supporting machines they've already sold, etc. or they are going to get a lot of customers that may decide to not be return customers at some point. Microsoft took its customers for granted on many things and wonder why no one wanted to upgrade from XP for so long.
Frankly, Apple is so loaded with cash at this point, there shouldn't be any excuses for ANYTHING anymore like the old days when everyone claimed Apple was this tiny company that couldn't afford to do things properly like the big boys. Well, Apple is as big as they get now and they should start behaving more professionally when it comes to supporting machines they've already sold, etc. or they are going to get a lot of customers that may decide to not be return customers at some point. Microsoft took its customers for granted on many things and wonder why no one wanted to upgrade from XP for so long.