retina display for 17 inch macbook pro

When I firest saw the video I was really impressed, the fact that there is no 17 inch verison leaves me no choice but to stay with the current configuration. I just hope it doesn't die anytime soon as when it does I'll have no choice but to go back to Windows based system 😟

Having worked on 17 inch laptops for over 5 years I can't imaginge being forced to work on anything smaller, I travel a lot and do lots of work at the same time, bringing my 30 inch screen wiht me is not an option...

Anyhow I hope many others send feedback asking for the 17 inch and that apple does address this issue.

I sent this feedback to Apple:

Hey there Apple. I would like to say that I was extremely impressed with the latest MacBook Pro with Retina Display. This notebook practically blows all the competition out of the water and then some. I was happy to see cutting edge technology being put into every part of the MacBook Pro. It is amazing that you have managed to improve on it even further and make it even lighter, thinner and yet more powerful.

However, I would like to bring one matter to your attention. I noticed that for some reason or another, you have chosen to discontinue the 17 inch model. Now, I am not looking for the old 17 inch model with newer components. I am looking for a brand new 17 inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display. It should have more functionality than the 15 inch model, such as one more USB port, one more HDMI port, maybe an optical disk drive, option to put two solid state drives (SSD), option to upgrade the processor to the fastest 3rd Generation Core i7-3920XM,option to upgrade the graphics card to the fastest GTX 675M or GTX 680M as well as some other features. Now, the screen resolution and image quality is fantastic. However, this is somewhat let down by the not so powerful GT 650M graphics card. Perhaps it was due to size limitation that you could not offer a better graphics card. But, this should not be a problem on the 17 inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display. I am a gamer who intends to play games such as Diablo III, Battlefield 3, Call of Duty, Starcraft, World of Warcraft and many more titles on my MacBook Pro. However, the performance in the more demanding games would be a little disappointing if used with the GT 650M. I am sure that it would be possible to at least fit in the GTX 660M or the GTX 670M with a little modification to the system. That is for gaming.

Besides gaming, I also use my computer for image design, video rendering, 3D animation, the works. And when you are spending hours designing 3d models and refining images pixel by pixel, you would appreciate a bigger screen so that you would not have to squint. A screen that is 15 inch might still feel a little bit too small and uncomfortable. However, a 17 inch screen would present no such problems and people would be able to work on it for 12 hours without feeling tired. I don't know about you, but if you have spent days after days on a computer, you would know that using a screen that is too small will lead to you feeling weird and uncomfortable after a while, because it doesn't feel natural to have to focus your eyes on a small area narrower than its normal field of vision.

With a 17 inch MacBook Pro, you could also fit in a bigger battery. This would compensate for the more powerful and more power hungry components that would be customizable with this model.

I think that it is not wise to forsake this market of people who use and need 17 inch screens. To leave them out of the party is wicked at best. I feel that as long as there is a legitimate and substantial demand for a model, Apple should strive to provide this option to consumers. Why sell yourself short and disappoint people when you can make everyone happy? There is no one size fits all approach. Not everyone wants a 15 inch model. Some people, like girls, would prefer a 13 inch model for portability and light weight. Some people, like teenage guys, would prefer a 15 inch model, for it offers better usability on a slightly larger screen. Some people, like creative professionals, would prefer a 17 inch model, for it offers more desktop real estate, more comfortable use, and a better designing experience.

So Apple, please hear our cries. It would be sad if some consumers resort to switching over to Alienware m17x, Dell XPS 17, HP dv7 and so on just to be able to enjoy a larger screen. The release of the MacBook Pro with retina display was great. But not releasing a 17 inch model with Retina Display would be a mistake, akin to shooting yourself in the foot.

Don't forsake us creative professionals. Please, give us the 17 inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display!

Regards

Melvin

I would agree with everyone here. My 17in. is my life line. As a consultant I take it everywhere. I work on my laptop almost exclusively, only attaching a second monitor when my eyes are just to tired to keep everything on one screen. I have used the 17in. since they were released, have purchased 4 of them actually. One for everyone in the household.

I did decide to see if I could live with the 15", before adding my two-cents, and stopped by my local Mac store to give one a go. I could tell after about 10 minutes this was going to be really tough to switch too. Was hoping to buy one as the LED's on my current 17in are dying and the screen is dimming. But instead of buying the new 15in, I will probably spring for a new screen on my old 17. My eyes aren't as good as they used to be and the 15 inch simply doesn't have the screen real estate I need. Even at max rez.

I can understand the technical difficulties, maybe. Or if the cost is prohibitive and there just isn't a market for them, but this seems odd, not that I know a world of people, but all of my developer, writer, and artist friends, we all have the 17in. Is the market really that low?

My laptop was my desktop replacement. If I have to go to a 15in, I might as well go back to desktops 😟

I think everyone nailed it. The professionals need the 17in.

Hi Apple, ...

Apple makes no promise of reading these forums, and NEVER responds here.

To get your message to Apple, Inc, use the feedback links.

Here's the feedback link for anyone who may have missed it :

http://www.apple.com/feedback/macbookpro.html

Retina display or not, Apple should have at least kept the old MacBook Pro 17".

I've also posted a request on Apples feedback forum for news on a new 17inch MBP.

Hopefully it's something that's in the pipeline.

As suggested above, make your voice heard 🙂

drewmunn wrote:

I don't think that's going to happen! The technical requirements of making a panel with that many pixels 17" in size would be massively draining on the battery, and difficult to build into a frame similar to the current model.

It will happen when they get there and believe it will make them money. The only reason they probably don't do it today is that it is a huge screen to manufacture economically at that resolution. It is likely they are at the edge of acceptable yields for 15".

Remember that the Retina started with the 3.5" iPhone, then the 10" iPad, then the 15". Each step took a long time between them. They are refining the manufacturing process, starting with the smallest screens and moving up as they are able to achieve profitable yields.

While possible, it would not be probable to expect them to reach 17" at the same time as 15" given how long it takes to get the acceptable yield up between increments of screen size.

The future is a long time and there is no real doubt that print-resolution displays will eventually become standard at any size you can name up to about desktop monitor level (beyond that viewing distance, it isn't needed). We only just now got up to laptop size, if Apple still wants to do a 17" laptop at some point a Retina screen may be made for it. If Apple decides 17" is un-economical, they will jump straight to the Retina iMac and Retina Cinema Display.

I am in the same situation as you. I have been a PC user before, always with 17 inch notebooks. I have converted to MacBook Pro a couple of years back and I am very satisfied with that change. But for me it is not an option to go for 15 inch notebooks. I will be forced to buy a PC notebook when I need to change this one.

Apple should not just think about the sales over one model, but to give everyone or most people a model of their need. My company had only PC:s a few years back. Today we have about 30% mac and 66% of those mac are 17 inch MacBook Pro. If we don't have the option to choose 17 inch screens only 10% will be left with Mac. Those 10% will probably go over to PC as well if they are left alone with Mac. I think that we were on the way to slowly convince the 70% on PC to switch to Mac too if this did not happen.

I'm a little confussed, 😕 who said there would not be a Macbook Pro 17" with a retina display? As far as I'm aware there has been 'no' ⚠ official word on this. 😐 For a litle history on new tech when the first Macbook Pro came out it was only availble as a 15" and soon after it was followed by a 17" which I swaped over too as of course 15" no matter what the screen resolution is now its just too small for long periods of working on. 😉

Message was edited by: raymentj as nothing is spell checked when I type, bad show Apoll ;)

What you say is true, there has been no official word that there won't be a 17" version of the macbook pro.

However in the past Apple always left the 17" till last before updating and always kept the older style available for purchase should anyone need it, this time around they have kept only the older style 13" and 15" versions of the macbook pro leaving no option for anyone who requires a physically bigger screen. I think most people here would be less up in arms if there was still an updated but still 'old style' version of the 17" for sale while apple readied a 17" retina version.

It does no harm either way to explain to apple their reasons for needing a 17" version of a product. What would be bad if a product is pulled that there is still a need for and no one tells apple about it.

I encourage anyone who needs a 17" version to contact apple directly via this link:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/macbookpro.html

Yes your right➕, and its is good to let those know in the know what us loyal (is there such a thing, does it mean even when a company does bad we blindly stick with them hmm) customers want, though ultimately regardless of what Apple may lead us to believe what really matters is the bottom line i.e. sales figures. Though maybe a little unfair to say as they have said "we make things that we want to make and not for sales" or words to that effect.

So should I buy a 15" Macbook Pro 15" Retina when my dear 1st addition Macbook Pro 17" finally dies 😟 we shall see but I won't like it, not one bit given how long I stare at a screen... Yes clearer text is a God send and much better colour gamut as a profesional I had only dreamed of.... but Why oh why give with one hand take with another... "it's the Apple way" I want my 2 extra inches please! Is that not everry mans dream... LOL 😁

I contacted them directly... though It will be a opne off as the amount of bug reports i sent about Apple 'Color' and then they go kill it really takes the biscuit.... I could go on and on but I would waste my life blowing hot air into the artic. 😟

Have gone ahead and replied with feedback. Thanks for all the good info - and that picture of you running the new MBP in its native resolution is absolutely ridiculous (in a good way).

Just out of curiosity - what is that extender-type-object between your MBP and its MagSafe?

I really don't understand why all the complaining on the lack of 17" laptop....

I do software development, and I need as many pixels as possible at 8pt font to see several source code files, stack dumps, and variables and values simultaneously during debugging.

I have a whole stack of 17 inch laptops, starting with the first Sony in that size, which is still working on my desk. My most recent was an HP 17Envy 3D to replace my previous Envy 15 after a jumping cat tossed it while running to the floor and it ate its hard drive (the rest of the machine is fine). When I decided I really needed to go 17", I was all set to buy a MacBook, having grown to like a 15" model that I had on loan from my job. However, I bought the 17" Envy 3D because it was hundreds of dollars cheaper than the MacBook 17" laptop, it had more ram, and 3D (which I've never used).

I've had several of Sony's and Toshiba's ultraportable machines with screen densities much higher than I've seen from any full sized laptop. Netbooks were laughable to me with 600 pixel vertical screens, when I had 1024 vertical in smaller machines years earlier....

But as soon as the Asus Ultrabook came out, I almost never use the HP Envy 17. For me the tiny pixels are outweighed by the portability, and that machine is very portable and rugged. I played with an 11" macbook air for a while, but the with the lack of raw pixels, Asus quickly replaced it as it was equivalent to the higher resolution on the 15" macbook air at 2/3rds the price.

But even before I saw the Retina Macbook Pro at it's full 2880x1800 resolution, I knew I had to have one. For the first week I have used it at 1900x1200, and been quite happy with it, while knowing I wasn't quite getting the 4x desktop area, but I hadn't looked into the matter. But today while talking with one of Apple's engineers about the screen glitch problem, that is when I realized that the apple display preferences dont allow the screen to be set to native resolution, max is 1920x1200. I found a third party app that lets me use the full 2880x1800, and I am very happy.

This is so much higher resolution than any other 17" display I have. I had to move up to a Lucida 10 pt font, instead of 9pt I was using at 1920x1200, but I can see so much more on the screen now it is absolutely fabulous.

It seems to me such a minor difference to have 2 extra diagonal inches, especially if the resolution was unchanged from this model. Given all the pixels they have fit into this 15" display, I'm glad they've done it in a machine smaller than the 17" monsters I have. It's hard to find good cases for 17" machines, and they dont fit well in the trunks on my motorcycle.

Hi tonylasagna, Thanks for sending feedback, hopefully others reading this thread will be inspired to do the same. I can't take credit for the photo as I found that on an article to illustrate what was possible on the 15" Retina MacBook Pro. I would like to pass on credit to mswag who started this thread and inspired others like us to get in touch with apple.

Since that post I have been to an apple store and seen the 15" Retina MacBook Pro, and it is a fantastic machine. However when emulating a 1920 x 1200 resolution that is native on the 17" I can confirm it does give comparable desktop space to the 17" machine with the caveat that the fonts and controls are smaller... However the clarity of text in my opinion isn't as good as the 17" panel when the 15" Retina MacBook Pro is emulating 1920 x 1200. This is most visible in the text in native applications. E.g. when running terminal the scaled text looks soft and you can see its been scaled and antialiased... For me its ok but I feel If I was to buy that machine I would have to 'put up with' soft antialiased text when working on a comfortable desktop area. Personally when spending at least £1799 GBP on a laptop as a customer I don't feel I should have to 'put up' or 'make do' with a display that doesn't meet my needs.