MBP classic officially discontinued?

Looks like the phase out of the classic MacBook Pro might be starting. The $2199 model (with 1 GB GPU) has disappeared from the Apple online store, leaving just the low-end $1799 and both 13-inch versions. None have seen the recent CPU upgrades that Apple recently bestowed upon all Retina models. Is this the beginning of the end of the classic MBP?

 

Hopelfully they're doing this also with the 13inch version. Been waiting a long time to buy one with i7 and 4gb instead of 8gb ram and antiglare display.

 

well you can configure the machine to the former top lvl config, but yes they didnt receive the upgraded cpus

we all knew that they were going to die, it was just a matter of when and how

my best guess it that it will continue to exist till the stock exists

 

You can't get a 1gb 650m.....


My Overall Question is, "Is apple going to lose some potential customers over this? or No?"

 

actually you can. just go to the configurator and youll see the option

and sincerely, yes apple is going to lose some customers over this change, and will gain new ones, the problem is if the people leaving is higher than going

what gets me wondering is why the mbp 13 didnt lose the high end model, I know that apple sells more mbp 13 than any other pc that they have. Its probably due to a large sales of those pcs in store, without the help of configurators.

 

Then you're never going to get the 13" one as Apple does not (and has never) offered the anti-glare upgrade on the 13" MBP.

Personally, I think its time Apple did away with the 13" MBP. It is one of their best selling notebooks because it is one of the least expensive models. However, it is still grossly overpriced compared to other Macs and the competition. $1000 for a dual-core aluminum notebook is far too much when you can pickup something with better specs for $600. Macs normally carry a higher price but a $400 price hike is too much. The Core i7 version of the 13" MBP is a complete joke at $1500.

 

indeed...

the mba should be their solution to this. 2 models with lots to offer for the people that buy the mbp 13

given the new cooling from the rmbp 13, you can put a quad in there and it would become more pro like, after all, not all of the "pros" out there need a dgpu, but everyone benefits from a better cpu, even my mother who goes all AHHH and OHHH when she uses my pc (which for todays standard is pretty basic, but put a SSD and good not so old SB dual core, this thing is fast for her)

 

If they'd make it user upgradable you've got my blessing.

 

Them I wont have your blessing for nothing. User upgrades are pretty much gone for apple and the industry is just going that route

 

You're right! And in my opinion that is a terrible thing. Hopefully not every company will follow them.

 

Dunno, for me its a pretty much non issue if people start to follow the pricing scheme that apple uses for their upgrades, they are off course overpriced from what you get outside, but they are not that overpriced as they used to be. In the end the most relevant upgrades would be:

SSD - they already have it in pretty much all their notebook line up as standard

RAM - They already provide in their pro line up the minimum of 8gb, which sincerely should be the standard for the mba as well, which in other terms is sufficient

GPU - There are very few notebooks that you can do that, the mbps have never been that way

CPU - Pretty much something that only matters for budget notebooks with pentium cpus, socket change or lack of microcode updates dont allow that to happen accross different families of chips

Thats pretty much what you need in terms of updating things, and sincerely if you offer a reasonable base, there is nothing wrong for most users to go with the lack of upgrades. People that need more horsepower than that go for workstations, and that modability that they offer.

Pretty much we have known this for years, just because they are soldering up some parts, people go on rage fits because of this, if you want to do whatever you want with your pc, get a high end gaming one or a workstation, its simple

 

More and more companies are coming out with notebooks, ultrabooks, and PC tablets (i.e. not with ARM hardware but rather a-typical notebook/ultrabook hardware) that use very customized form factors not allowing for much aftermarket upgradeability. You can either have a unit that is thin and lasts all day on a single charge or something that is thicker, heavier, and lasts half as much because it allows room for aftermarket service and uses a standard battery that can easily be replaced. More companies are taking the path that Apple has made popular. I don't think it is all that bad especially since notebooks, even gaming units, aren't that upgradeable. You're mainly looking at the RAM and HDD. CPU's often can't be replaced and you definitely aren't going to be able to upgrade the GPU. Notebooks, in and of themselves, have always had less aftermarket upgrade/service options than desktops. Apple is limiting only a couple of aspects that can be configured from the factory (albeit costing more). It's definitely not the end of the world and I would rather have a thinner notebook that has 7 hour battery life than something else.

On the price note: the MBA, particularly the two 13" configurations offered by Apple, are pretty competitive with other ultrabooks that offer similar build quality. You're looking at spending $1100-$1300 for a Windows, aluminum ultrabook with a trackpad that isn't completely terrible and a 128GB SSD and Apple offers the 13" MBA (128GB) right in there).

Either way, I think its time Apple sends off the 13" MBP in order to let the MBA take up that price point. It's a little weird to see the 15" MBP go especially since the price gap between the 13" RMBP and 15" version is so huge. I feel like something needs to occupy that $1700-$1900 price range.

 

Well that gap shall be filled with a lower end rmbp 15 with a more reasonable price probably the same price point of he mbp 15 at right now

 

But what about life span? Laptops that are upgradable are given a second chance. I'm typing this reply on a 5 year old refurbished Dell Latitude e4300. Bought it for 250 euro and put in a 64gb SSD and 8gb ram. Runs Ubuntu 12.04 like a charm. I won't do any video editing or photoshopping on it. But for average office and web tasks it does fine. Still have 4.5 hours of batterylife on the original battery.

Besides, laptops are getting more and more powerful every day. A couple of years ago 17inch was desktop replacement. Like Apple, Lenevo have deleted their 17inch workstation. Eventually other will folow. (HP already offers an 14inch Elitebook with a i7 QM and AMD FirePro)

An eGPU can be pretty expensive, but in a couple of years the price will go down (like SSDs). External displays are less expensive than buying a laptop for the office and desktop for home.

8gb is the standard now. The amount will grow as future CPUs can handle more.

More and more manufacturers are releasing light weight laptops that can be upgraded easily. They might not be as complete as the rMBP series but at least people don't have to pay over 2000 euros or dollars for a machine from which the unreplaceble battery doesn't last those seven hours after two years of intensive use.

If the MBP 13 is being retired and the MBA 13 takes its place. And the MBP 15 will be sent off to be replaced by a rMBP 15 budget version, where does that leave the rMBP 13? Rumors are that the MBA will get a retina display. Will this mean the end of the rMBP 13? Only one year after conception.

 

So i waited to get a 3% performance boost? what
Not to mention that it looks desperate...
3%
..
wow

 

Thanks to Apple making only minor upgrades, and Intel not facing much competition from AMD. At least you can find comfort in the fact that you can surely find a last-gen MBP for a price reduction of more than 3%.

 

you know that doesnt make any sense, intel always makes those little speed bumps on their line in the middle of their life, and they have been like that, since they started this

 

Well, what I meant was that Intel's not focusing on considerable speed increases anymore, but instead is going more for power efficiency (like SB -> IB, for example).

 

aside from penryn to nehalem (though nehalem was meant for servers and has been sold for consumers in a very clear distinct platform, I guess they really should use the i9 name that they intended to), when was the last time that we had a major general speed bump? The other time that comes to mind is the quad core case from arrandale to SB in the mobile sector (that also has a very different niche thing to it)

amd pressure or not, intel has been pretty constant on their speed bumps, its 10-15%

The problem with amd is that they launched a fail line up to compete with the 2nd gen core systems, the 1st gen cores was still battling with 2+ year old phenom 2 arch. They didnt manage to release something that actually competes against the 3rd gen in terms of cpu