Apple still expected to retire 17-inch MacBook Pro in 2012

Apple still expected to retire 17-inch MacBook Pro in 2012

With a new MacBook lineup said to be on the way, Apple is expected to discontinue its 17-inch MacBook Pro this year, and might even ax the Pro lineup entirely in favor of the "new MacBook" in 2013.

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Dropping the 17" makes sense to me. While it's a beautiful, big screen.. it makes little sense to haul it around all day for an extra 2" worth of real estate IMHO. In an office or home, using an external monitor would make for a better experience, too.

I find comments like this one kind of funny:

Apple will lose my laptop business if they do this. I work in development and infrastructure and every bit of screen space is needed. Simply cramming more data into a smaller screen due to a higher pixel density is useless if you can't see what's there.

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Really? You can't see well enough on a 15" screen but that 2 inches makes all the difference in the world? Somehow, I doubt that very highly. But alas, that is not the point, I'm just pointing out the moaning here. Secondly, I don't think that this person (and similar others) gets that Apple is more concerned with focusing on what sells and what doesn't sell. Ok, so he takes his business elsewhere and that does what, exactly, to Apple? Nothing, because they've already accepted the loss of the entire 17" line.

Quite frankly, I'm stoked about the new lineup. USB 3, hopefully a MBA form factor and faster specs all around? Yes plese! Though personally, I'm waging for an iMac this time 'round.

Doug

I've never had a problem with a 15" notebook. So if the 17" MBP goes, I wouldn't miss it. Most 15" notebooks suffice anyway.

The more I think about it, the less likely I think it is that Apple will drop the 17" line. Aside from the Mac Pro's revival indicating that Apple is willing to keep selling machines that don't necessarily sell as well as the heavy hitters, Apple makes a ridiculous profit margin on the 17" MacBook Pro by percentage of the total price. It may only represent 1% of total profits, but it's 1% they literally do almost no work to generate. Combine this with the recent price leaks, and it makes even more sense. Apple will be laughed at if they try to sell a base model 15-inch notebook for $3200 AUS (likely $2800 USD) with today's notebook prices. A $2800 17-inch notebook, on the other hand, Apple has done as recently as 2008. It all seems to point towards rumors of the 17-inch model's death being greatly exaggerated.

I really like my 17" MacBook Pro but I expect to get many years of service out of it so they shouldn't hang on to it for my business.

I just doubt the whole Pro line will go away. There was talk about Apple dropping the Mac Pro earlier this year but those computers are in all the big production studios all over the world. Almost everything you heard on the radio today was recorded on a Mac Pro running Pro-Tools. All the special effects in movies are added with Mac Pro computers and when these artist go work on location they take their MacBook Pro's as well.

It makes no sense that Apple would abandon all that business. They know the reason these computers are not burning off the shelves is because they make great computers that last people 10 years.

Its simple if enough sales of the 17 are enough to justify manufacturing they will continue but if sales have dropped off year after year its business 101.

There will always be 17" MBP buyers, it just depends if Apple is willing to build them the machine at whatever costs/profit they can.
Just because one person can't justify the needs of a 17" screen, doesn't mean someone else can't.
I personally would find it weird not to offer a 17". It's like going to Burger King, and only having cup sizes in small and medium.
Where's the large for those that want it? The notebook/laptop industry is known for sizes of ~13", ~15", and ~17".

Well, Burger King in New York.......

There will always be 17" MBP buyers, it just depends if Apple is willing to build them the machine at whatever costs/profit they can.

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Apple is all about profits. Sure, there will always be someone who wants a 17" MBP but if enough people are not buying 17" MBPs, Apple is not going to build them.

maxwell2112 said:

Almost everything you heard on the radio today was recorded on a Mac Pro running Pro-Tools. All the special effects in movies are added with Mac Pro computers and when these artist go work on location they take their MacBook Pro's as well.

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Um, you're basing this general statistic on what, exactly? I think your're getting a bit carried away, personally speaking. Not that it wouldn't be cool if it were true I suppose, but I'd say that it isn't.

Sorry, didn't mean to get off topic, but I had to call that one out..

Doug

Doug b said:

Um, you're basing this general statistic on what, exactly? I think your're getting a bit carried away, personally speaking. Not that it wouldn't be cool if it were true I suppose, but I'd say that it isn't.

Sorry, didn't mean to get off topic, but I had to call that one out..

Doug

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I’m basing it on the work I done. Every recording studio I have done session work in all parts of the country. If a guy is going to spend a more than $50,000 designing a recording studio, there is a Mac or two in that budget. There are lots of guys using homebuilt Windows computers in their home studios……including me; I love Cakewalk’s software. But at the upper end of the industry, Pro-Tools is a standard. Even in engineering schools, there are courses on running it.

In a studio i would think they would want a Mac Pro or a decked out iMac.