I hope that Apple plans on making a 17" MBP with the new features, including the screen and thinner and lighter like the other sizes. Otherwise that will just suck!
15.4" is nice, but 17" screen is just that much better. With the higher resolution, it would be awesome.
Mac OS X (10.7)
Just browsing the web today searching for info on OS X 10.9 and interestingly it would appear that apple may still be using 17" Macbook Pro's for development activity! if this is true and they still see it as a useful machine maybe they will see fit to update it and bring it back, albeit with a form factor (thinness) & retina screen to match the rest of the macbook pro range...
But they always test previous hardware! Unless I'm missing something totally, this sounds to me like it's saying: "wow, apple tested the latest iOS on iPhone 3, so they might be bringing it back but better"! 😀
Gavin:
The article you linked states: "The company pulled 17-inchers from the market years ago."
...er, June of last year was not "years ago". With such impoverished accuracy, one wonders how many of the other "facts" in the author's blog are trustworthy.
If Apple brings back a 17" (or larger) MacBook Pro, it will be because they think they can spin it as something so new and so different that people who might not otherwise buy one will "have to" have one.
In many ways, I hope the advent of a 17" or larger MacBook Pro is delayed long enough to enable it to be equipped with some genuinely useful innovations. A larger version of the current anorexic Macs won't cut it for me. By now, "thinness" and a Retina screen aren't exactly innovations. Neither are the deplorable lack of connectivity and user configurability that have become the hallmark of newest portable Macs.
Of course they will test new software on supported hardware. What is interesting to me is that the article highlights a significant usage of machines running at that particular resolution, more than you would need to just test if it works. Suggesting that this machine is still being used internally for development, which may mean that apple or even some of the devs & testers within the company still see it as a machine useful for productive work. Who knows other than apple what they are going to do, but if they are still using such a machine internally I like some of us on this forum may hope they bring it back in an improved form. Not sure what point you are making about the iPhone 3? Apple always bring an improved iPhone out every year... I would like to see an improved 17" machine, that follows the same or better design language and principles and hardware as the other macbook pros that have been released.
They're still not getting it.
I just got email notice that Apple has made their 15" MBP more powerful.
As before, and more importantly than even before, I am not interested in anything less than an 18" MBP.
A 19", an aircraft carrier of a machine, a real mobile office, would get me really enthused.
And once again, configured properly, maximizing screen real estate, it would fit in my current Brenthaven computer bag with a little room to spare.
(see previous posts from 2012)
They're also not getting the World's desire for a larger iPhone which I've been suggesting publicly since 2009.
I just got a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and apart from the Android learning curve, I couldn't be happier.
I now have an iPhone 4s, iPhone 5 running iOS7, and the aforementioned Samsung, and let me tell you, the Samsung, by default, is quickly taking over as the dominant hardware that I reach for, for nearly everything.
It was both a surprising and happy discovery to find out that there is a mirror app on Android for every single app I use on iphone and ipad.
Hank Dean, Watkins Glen, NY
A former decades-long Apple power user and enthusiastic "free" promoter... no more.
To be frank, I find Tim Cook's adjective-abundant presentations to be repetetive and tedious.
To be clear, I'm not an Apple hater, just thoroughly disgusted with their change in priorities... that is, ignoring professionals to appeal to teenagers.
I will however, out of pure principle, boycott any TV that Apple brings to market.
The previous 17" accounted for less than 3% of sales, where are all these people willing to offer money for a new one.
As for Android, you may be happy to let Google inspect and sell everything you do that may be of value to them, I am not.
The previous 17" (which I'm typing on now) lacked a lot of features that many pros rely on. A Number KeyPad on the side would be number one.
My understanding is that Samsung sells the crap out of their 18", so Apple's failure to market properly and offer features that make it a true mobile desktop is the answer for your 3% number that is so often thrown around.
Roger Federer happily surfing his stats on a dark brushed "SGI Indy-esq" MBP19 in multiple tv ads during grand slam events would result in effectively reaching the Audience Apples needs that actually has the budget for such a machine. Interlaced with Mercedes and Rolex Ads has it's benefits when it comes to high end products.
But you can kiss Professional Tennis Sponsorships goodbye as long as that wannabe Cook is at the helm.
As for Android and Google? You're smoking too much ganja friend.
As the number one smart phone in the world, the iphone is drawing a lot of attention and will become very vulnerable as time goes on.
Enjoy the iKoolaid.
youre arguement is invalid.
The 3% demand is valid.
"nearly 100% have no desire for an oversized monitor that needs more power, is heavier....."
97% is = "nearly 100%"
students and mobile pros aren't looking (99%) for a notebook with a gigantic monster monitor
Not fun for travel, weight , classes, battery life,...etc
Peace 😊
Enjoy the bliss while the Korean firm Samsung begin's to kick our beloved Apple's proverbial butt because they, like you, are living in a world with an unremarkably limited view.
Conversation ended.
Hank,
Yeah, I am even more bummed. I wrote a question about the 15 regular MBP now gone and asked what's next? My post was removed from the community by the host as it was deemed not constructive and was basically a rant.
I merely noted that Apple seems to be moving back to the old days of proprietary hardware. I like to be able to upgrade as I have done with my 17" MBP with RAM.
I too may question my enthusiasm for Apple and pushing it for them or even suggesting any improvements to anything.
Did the 15" non-retina also account for <3% of the marketshare? People are apparently willing to shell out big bucks and now will have to lock in a configuration, which if you want a really top end unit pay close to $3k inlcuidng Apple Care just like it cost for a 17" MBP a few years ago. I like better performance of course, but prices did not really come down.
Meanwhile, I still ahve to carry dongles around if I want to have peripherals or connectivity that the MBP retina does not have onboard.
Let's face it, Apple wants to lock everyone out of their "ecosystem". This also puts a dent in companies like OWC, Crucial etc who offer options to upgrade your Mac later to keep it going. Not anymore.
I just bought my son a 17" HP Envy, and it's a pretty nice unit maxed out with Blue Ray for $1100. Not that I am a W8 fan, but he does not have a problem with W8, so that is all that matters. I presume there are a lot of others who will get over the W8 interface being different from W7 and move on.
I love the 17" MBP and went out an bid for one on eBay and picked up a nice one (Late 2011, 2.5Ghz, Antiglare, 8MB RAM, 1GB GDDR) with 2 years left on Apple care for $1700.
If I had some extra cash around, I'd buy a few more to keep as spares for future use.
I am looking to replace my desktop at home, which I did with the 17" MBP about 3 years ago. If They had a 19" MBP back then I would have bought one.
Since Apple made teh 15" thinner and lighter, then could have also made the 18-19" unit probably about as heavy (if you call 6.6 lbs for the 17" heavy).
I am not a professional user, but I have been using my MBP in my workplace and when on the road to connect to my work computer using Jump Desktop, and bigger screen and resolution and perfromance of the 17" is great.
I don't think that I could do this with the 15".
If this 3% logic wee true, did the 15" non MBP have poor sales too? Why have so many variants of the MB, Air, 11", 13" MBP 13" MBPr 13" if the 15" is the best?
As I said once before, if all Apple made were 17" units, they would sell anyway.
Let's face it, Apple wants to lock everyone out of their "ecosystem". This also puts a dent in companies like OWC, Crucial etc who offer options to upgrade your Mac later to keep it going. Not anymore.
Your conspiracy theory is interesting, but the fact remains that soldered components are many times more RELIABLE than socketed components.
OWC has been operating a Mac Pro processor-shelf upgrade program. If Apple wanted to stop that, they would certainly have done so.
I don't think Apple, one of the best-capitalized companies in the world, cares one way or the other about OWC and Crucial, as long as those guys do not steal patented stuff from Apple.
Grant Bennet-Alder wrote:
Let's face it, Apple wants to lock everyone out of their "ecosystem". This also puts a dent in companies like OWC, Crucial etc who offer options to upgrade your Mac later to keep it going. Not anymore.
Your conspiracy theory is interesting, but the fact remains that soldered components are many times more RELIABLE than socketed components.
OWC has been operating a Mac Pro processor-shelf upgrade program. If Apple wanted to stop that, they would certainly have done so.
I don't think Apple, one of the best-capitalized companies in the world, cares one way or the other about OWC and Crucial, as long as those guys do not steal patented stuff from Apple.
I work on a cloud infrastructure where the rack space is literally measured in acreage. Commodity hardware with an average ram loadout across all generations of approximately 120 gigs is constantly abused 24/7/365, and I think our failure rate for generic socketed ram is 1 stick every 4 years, whereas we're forced to replace at least 10 logic boards a year.
In the mean time, every veteran of the mac platform knows doubling the ram on a mac doubles its life, which is what makes the 2X market price worth it.
Apple's blatant and cynical move to rob end users of this capacity, thereby halfing the product's life, has destroyed this value. Now any generic PC with comparable graphics and sodimm slots is superior price to value.
Last time I checked, Server computers are not moved around.
Comparing failure rates in Servers, in a constantly cooled, still environment, to a battery-powered MacBook -- tossed about in the real world -- is nonsense.
Deciding that Apple is somehow conspiring to defraud you because they are soldering RAM to the board is more nonsense. The decision was made for reasons of reliabilty, nothing more.
Buy as much RAM for your MacBook as you think you might need. If it fails to continue to meet your needs, sell it.
Where is the 17" MBP in the new product line?
