Apple to discontinue 17″ MacBook Pros as soon as this year according to analyst’s predictions

There has been a lot of talk about Apple updating its series of MacBook computers with the latest Ivy Bridge processors. Rumor has it that the MacBook Pro series will also be undergoing a redesign to not only feature Retina displays, but could possibly see a chassis redesign that would be similar to the MacBook Air’s slim build. Oddly enough these rumors only mentioned the 13” and 15” models, leaving some to believe that the 17” MacBook Pro would either remain untouched for its redesign, or Apple could be discontinuing it entirely.

According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo who shared a research note with AppleInsider, the latter is more likely. He believes that Apple could be retiring the 17” MacBook Pro models this year and that only the 13” and 15” models will be receiving an update in terms of its hardware specs. This is reportedly a logical move since the 17” MacBook Pro accounted for 1.7% of the Cupertino company’s notebook sales in the first quarter of 2012, while the 13” MacBook Pro took 46.9% of their sales, followed by the 13” MacBook Air which accounted for 18.1%.

He goes on to state that he believes the MacBook Pro series could be discontinued in 2013 and that the 13” and 15” models will simply be rebranded as the “new MacBook” (much like the third-gen iPad was referred to as the “new iPad”). So what do you guys think? This is the second time that Ming-Chi Kuo has predicted that the 17” MacBook Pro could be discontinued, but will his predictions come true? We guess we will have to wait until next week where hopefully Apple will reveal the details. Be sure to check back with us then for updates.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Computers, Rumors
Tags: Macbook Pro