According to a new report by research analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is expected to discontinue and replace its current 17-inch MacBook Pro with a newer more compact model. The cause of the predicted discontinuation stems from low sales for the first quarter of 2012, where the company sold roughly 50,000 MacBook Pro 17-inch variants out of a total of 3.1 million notebooks sold. Kuo predicts the company's solution will be to replace the 17-inch MacBook Pro with a new model in the third quarter of this year.
“We also predict Apple will roll out a fully new MacBook model in early 3Q12, boasting strong performance and easy carryability by combining the advantages of MacBook Air and MacBook Pro,” said research analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. “While adding new products, Apple is likely to stop making the 17-inch MacBook Pro this year due to falling shipments, in order to maintain a lean product line strategy.”
This could be unfortunate news for 17-inch MacBook Pro lovers, who may lose some screen real estate from the model re-design.
The guy is full of crap. mac store managers continuously report high sales of 17" model. It's not going anywhere.
Which managers and what store? Frankly if the 17" MBP was selling well we would see a lot more of them around. Except for niche uses that isn't the case. For a laptop even the 15" MBP is a bit big to carry around.
Which managers and what store? Frankly if the 17" MBP was selling well we would see a lot more of them around. Except for niche uses that isn't the case. For a laptop even the 15" MBP is a bit big to carry around.
I still see plenty of them around. The 15" doesn't seem that bad to me. Most of these devices aren't transported bare. I'd end up damaging one that way. Anyway if the mac pro was priced out of my range, like if it started where the 12 core is today (and if I was going to spend that much, I'd go Windows for some configuration options that aren't available under OSX), and I was looking at the imac or the macbook pro, I'd go macbook pro. The reason would be to drop to one device. In many cases that's how these models are used in spite of some of the ergonomic flaws of laptops and computers in general (I can illustrate freehand much easier on paper than with a wacom tablet, it's still doable, but it takes a lot of practice to get a steady stroke that way).
The 17" was attractive to me because of the ExpressCard slot, but thanks to Thunderbolt, that is now a moot point.
The biggest deal to me, however, is still the resolution, i.e. what you can fit on the desktop. I wouldn't mind a 15" WUXGA (1920x1200) MacBook Pro, but unfortunately, Apple not only makes it super inconvenient and expensive to get the native resolution of what the 13" MacBook Air's resolution, i.e. 1400x900, which is a joke, but the highest you can buy your way into is SXGA+ (1680x1050), which just barely cuts it for me. I have a ThinkPad with a 15" display (4:3 aspect ratio) and UXGA (1600x1200) and I LOVED it, so for me, text certainly never was too small at that high a resolution.
Having said all of that, I'm still super excited about the prospect of a 15" MBP w/ Retina display, but I wonder if there will be an option to take the higher 1680x1050 resolution to Retina as well instead of just the standard res (1440x900 --> 2880x1800)...If I can get 3360x2100 on a 15" Retina, I'm sold and I'll "deal" with the smaller real estate of the screen, seeing that it would be jaw-droppingly gorgeous and an event every day for a year for me. lol...
While I am 100% for the removal of the optical drive, I am 100% not for the removal of the 17". I still think there is a place for it although perhaps make it online only much like the Mac Pro idea I have where it's all BTO.
If Apple does it remove it, oh well. Perhaps it will be brought back later.
The 17" was attractive to me because of the ExpressCard slot, but thanks to Thunderbolt, that is now a moot point.
The biggest deal to me, however, is still the resolution, i.e. what you can fit on the desktop. I wouldn't mind a 15" WUXGA (1920x1200) MacBook Pro, but unfortunately, Apple not only makes it super inconvenient and expensive to get the native resolution of what the 13" MacBook Air's resolution, i.e. 1400x900, which is a joke, but the highest you can buy your way into is SXGA+ (1680x1050), which just barely cuts it for me. I have a ThinkPad with a 15" display (4:3 aspect ratio) and UXGA (1600x1200) and I LOVED it, so for me, text certainly never was too small at that high a resolution.
Having said all of that, I'm still super excited about the prospect of a 15" MBP w/ Retina display, but I wonder if there will be an option to take the higher 1680x1050 resolution to Retina as well instead of just the standard res (1440x900 --> 2880x1800)...If I can get 3360x2100 on a 15" Retina, I'm sold and I'll "deal" with the smaller real estate of the screen, seeing that it would be jaw-droppingly gorgeous and an event every day for a year for me. lol...
Thunderbolt doesn't yet have the same range of stuff that can be obtained for the express slot, and you've got a single port there without many peripherals actually proven in a daisy chain configuration. The use of the word retina is really overdone all over these forums, but I wish we'd see something similar to the HP elitebook dreamcolor option that they have on their laptops. I'm not a big fan of HP for many reasons, but they do have nice IPS display options. They cost more, but they are extremely nice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Winter
While I am 100% for the removal of the optical drive, I am 100% not for the removal of the 17". I still think there is a place for it although perhaps make it online only much like the Mac Pro idea I have where it's all BTO.
If Apple does it remove it, oh well. Perhaps it will be brought back later.
I think the author just wanted page hits. Remember that it was a spec article based on estimated sales figures. The 17" most likely carries an excellent margin, so it's unlikely that they have to sell as many for it to remain profitable. Both the mac pro and macbook pro are sold in both the Apple Stores near me, and I think a couple of the third party retailers keep them. If sales slowed on the current model this may no longer be the case at the third party shops. In terms of retail stores in larger markets, it depends if they want the space for other stuff. They keep it pretty well spaced out so that you can mess with the gadgets without being elbow to elbow with others.
Thunderbolt doesn't yet have the same range of stuff that can be obtained for the express slot, and you've got a single port there without many peripherals actually proven in a daisy chain configuration. The use of the word retina is really overdone all over these forums, but I wish we'd see something similar to the HP elitebook dreamcolor option that they have on their laptops. I'm not a big fan of HP for many reasons, but they do have nice IPS display options. They cost more, but they are extremely nice.
Agreed. On the HP EliteBook series with the 10-bit IPS panels that is. They are awesome but I, too, have similar reservations about getting an HP laptop. For 11 years, I was in love with the IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad's for their fantastic IPS "Flexview" displays until they discontinued them altogether, except for the X (ultra portable) series. I've had nothing but Macs since going on 2 years ago and I have strong reservations about getting any Windows-based computers anymore, so I'm kind of stuck with the Apple brand. Happily so I might add. ;-)
As far as Thunderbolt goes, I am simply blown away not just by the speed of external storage drives, but perhaps more so by how incredibly consistent and silky smooth the experience of daisy-chaining PCIe and DisplayPort devices is. If you have any of the external drive solutions that Apple sells, you're limited to FireWire 800, even though they usually all have a much faster eSATA port, so something like the eSATA hub from LaCie opens up eSATA to all Thunderbolt Macs, which carries a tremendous speed increase with it. You can even benefit from that particular solution on a 17" MBP, the only MBP since 2009 to retain the ExpressCard/34 slot, as it is limited to 2.5Gbps. If you need an ExpressCard slot for something other than speedy data management, there is a company called Sonnet that recently released the 2nd generation of their popular Thunderbolt-to-ExpressCard/34 adapter, which gives you 5Gbps of bandwidth. And now that Thunderbolt is being implemented on PC's, we can expect an abundance of gadgetry that takes advantage of Thunderbolt tech and prices will come down sooner or later as well.
I've still not read a convincing argument why someone NEEDS a 17" screen.
Who needs a laptop when for the vast majority an iPad would do most of the things the majority of users need? Who needs a Mac at all when a Dell would do the job for the majority for less money?
Pretty much no one but Pro users needs half the stuff they have on their computers. As far as Pro or Prosumer users go they are likely to find the extra screen real-estate very valuable for the applications they use, for others it may just be a more pleasurable experience.
Comments
What do you mean? How would Apple cease being "great" (if you accept they currently are) if they stopped shipping a 17" laptop?
Quote:
Originally Posted by jouster
What do you mean? How would Apple cease being "great" (if you accept they currently are) if they stopped shipping a 17" laptop?
Profitability and stock price ? greatness
But a 17" laptop does?
According to a new report by research analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is expected to discontinue and replace its current 17-inch MacBook Pro with a newer more compact model. The cause of the predicted discontinuation stems from low sales for the first quarter of 2012, where the company sold roughly 50,000 MacBook Pro 17-inch variants out of a total of 3.1 million notebooks sold. Kuo predicts the company's solution will be to replace the 17-inch MacBook Pro with a new model in the third quarter of this year.
“We also predict Apple will roll out a fully new MacBook model in early 3Q12, boasting strong performance and easy carryability by combining the advantages of MacBook Air and MacBook Pro,” said research analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. “While adding new products, Apple is likely to stop making the 17-inch MacBook Pro this year due to falling shipments, in order to maintain a lean product line strategy.”
This could be unfortunate news for 17-inch MacBook Pro lovers, who may lose some screen real estate from the model re-design.
Link to the actual story? A more compact 17"? Or the 15" we already know about?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Winter
Link to the actual story? A more compact 17"? Or the 15" we already know about?
It's from April.
The guy is full of crap. mac store managers continuously report high sales of 17" model. It's not going anywhere.
The guy is full of crap. mac store managers continuously report high sales of 17" model. It's not going anywhere.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trajan Long
mac store managers continuously report high sales of 17" model.
Do you have a source for that?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
It's from April.
I should have known better. It's basically a spam post from a bot probably.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Winter
I should have known better. It's basically a spam post from a bot probably.
That's what I thought, too, but there's not even a link out anywhere.
Apparently the spambots are so stupid they don't even do their jobs anymore.
Which managers and what store? Frankly if the 17" MBP was selling well we would see a lot more of them around. Except for niche uses that isn't the case. For a laptop even the 15" MBP is a bit big to carry around.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wizard69
Which managers and what store? Frankly if the 17" MBP was selling well we would see a lot more of them around. Except for niche uses that isn't the case. For a laptop even the 15" MBP is a bit big to carry around.
I still see plenty of them around. The 15" doesn't seem that bad to me. Most of these devices aren't transported bare. I'd end up damaging one that way. Anyway if the mac pro was priced out of my range, like if it started where the 12 core is today (and if I was going to spend that much, I'd go Windows for some configuration options that aren't available under OSX), and I was looking at the imac or the macbook pro, I'd go macbook pro. The reason would be to drop to one device. In many cases that's how these models are used in spite of some of the ergonomic flaws of laptops and computers in general (I can illustrate freehand much easier on paper than with a wacom tablet, it's still doable, but it takes a lot of practice to get a steady stroke that way).
The 17" was attractive to me because of the ExpressCard slot, but thanks to Thunderbolt, that is now a moot point.
The biggest deal to me, however, is still the resolution, i.e. what you can fit on the desktop. I wouldn't mind a 15" WUXGA (1920x1200) MacBook Pro, but unfortunately, Apple not only makes it super inconvenient and expensive to get the native resolution of what the 13" MacBook Air's resolution, i.e. 1400x900, which is a joke, but the highest you can buy your way into is SXGA+ (1680x1050), which just barely cuts it for me. I have a ThinkPad with a 15" display (4:3 aspect ratio) and UXGA (1600x1200) and I LOVED it, so for me, text certainly never was too small at that high a resolution.
Having said all of that, I'm still super excited about the prospect of a 15" MBP w/ Retina display, but I wonder if there will be an option to take the higher 1680x1050 resolution to Retina as well instead of just the standard res (1440x900 --> 2880x1800)...If I can get 3360x2100 on a 15" Retina, I'm sold and I'll "deal" with the smaller real estate of the screen, seeing that it would be jaw-droppingly gorgeous and an event every day for a year for me. lol...
While I am 100% for the removal of the optical drive, I am 100% not for the removal of the 17". I still think there is a place for it although perhaps make it online only much like the Mac Pro idea I have where it's all BTO.
If Apple does it remove it, oh well. Perhaps it will be brought back later.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crunch
The 17" was attractive to me because of the ExpressCard slot, but thanks to Thunderbolt, that is now a moot point.
The biggest deal to me, however, is still the resolution, i.e. what you can fit on the desktop. I wouldn't mind a 15" WUXGA (1920x1200) MacBook Pro, but unfortunately, Apple not only makes it super inconvenient and expensive to get the native resolution of what the 13" MacBook Air's resolution, i.e. 1400x900, which is a joke, but the highest you can buy your way into is SXGA+ (1680x1050), which just barely cuts it for me. I have a ThinkPad with a 15" display (4:3 aspect ratio) and UXGA (1600x1200) and I LOVED it, so for me, text certainly never was too small at that high a resolution.
Having said all of that, I'm still super excited about the prospect of a 15" MBP w/ Retina display, but I wonder if there will be an option to take the higher 1680x1050 resolution to Retina as well instead of just the standard res (1440x900 --> 2880x1800)...If I can get 3360x2100 on a 15" Retina, I'm sold and I'll "deal" with the smaller real estate of the screen, seeing that it would be jaw-droppingly gorgeous and an event every day for a year for me. lol...
Thunderbolt doesn't yet have the same range of stuff that can be obtained for the express slot, and you've got a single port there without many peripherals actually proven in a daisy chain configuration. The use of the word retina is really overdone all over these forums, but I wish we'd see something similar to the HP elitebook dreamcolor option that they have on their laptops. I'm not a big fan of HP for many reasons, but they do have nice IPS display options. They cost more, but they are extremely nice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Winter
While I am 100% for the removal of the optical drive, I am 100% not for the removal of the 17". I still think there is a place for it although perhaps make it online only much like the Mac Pro idea I have where it's all BTO.
If Apple does it remove it, oh well. Perhaps it will be brought back later.
I think the author just wanted page hits. Remember that it was a spec article based on estimated sales figures. The 17" most likely carries an excellent margin, so it's unlikely that they have to sell as many for it to remain profitable. Both the mac pro and macbook pro are sold in both the Apple Stores near me, and I think a couple of the third party retailers keep them. If sales slowed on the current model this may no longer be the case at the third party shops. In terms of retail stores in larger markets, it depends if they want the space for other stuff. They keep it pretty well spaced out so that you can mess with the gadgets without being elbow to elbow with others.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hmm
Thunderbolt doesn't yet have the same range of stuff that can be obtained for the express slot, and you've got a single port there without many peripherals actually proven in a daisy chain configuration. The use of the word retina is really overdone all over these forums, but I wish we'd see something similar to the HP elitebook dreamcolor option that they have on their laptops. I'm not a big fan of HP for many reasons, but they do have nice IPS display options. They cost more, but they are extremely nice.
Agreed. On the HP EliteBook series with the 10-bit IPS panels that is. They are awesome but I, too, have similar reservations about getting an HP laptop. For 11 years, I was in love with the IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad's for their fantastic IPS "Flexview" displays until they discontinued them altogether, except for the X (ultra portable) series. I've had nothing but Macs since going on 2 years ago and I have strong reservations about getting any Windows-based computers anymore, so I'm kind of stuck with the Apple brand. Happily so I might add. ;-)
As far as Thunderbolt goes, I am simply blown away not just by the speed of external storage drives, but perhaps more so by how incredibly consistent and silky smooth the experience of daisy-chaining PCIe and DisplayPort devices is. If you have any of the external drive solutions that Apple sells, you're limited to FireWire 800, even though they usually all have a much faster eSATA port, so something like the eSATA hub from LaCie opens up eSATA to all Thunderbolt Macs, which carries a tremendous speed increase with it. You can even benefit from that particular solution on a 17" MBP, the only MBP since 2009 to retain the ExpressCard/34 slot, as it is limited to 2.5Gbps. If you need an ExpressCard slot for something other than speedy data management, there is a company called Sonnet that recently released the 2nd generation of their popular Thunderbolt-to-ExpressCard/34 adapter, which gives you 5Gbps of bandwidth. And now that Thunderbolt is being implemented on PC's, we can expect an abundance of gadgetry that takes advantage of Thunderbolt tech and prices will come down sooner or later as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SDW2001
I've still not read a convincing argument why someone NEEDS a 17" screen.
Who needs a laptop when for the vast majority an iPad would do most of the things the majority of users need? Who needs a Mac at all when a Dell would do the job for the majority for less money?
Pretty much no one but Pro users needs half the stuff they have on their computers. As far as Pro or Prosumer users go they are likely to find the extra screen real-estate very valuable for the applications they use, for others it may just be a more pleasurable experience.
So, and while the WWDC dust is still settling, it seems that the 17-inch MBP was forgotten in the ongoing discussions.
It is nowhere to be seen anymore in the updated online store. So Apple was right, very few cared about it.