At this week’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), LG was showcasing its ultralight $1700 17-inch Gram laptop that, as I’ve noted previously, makes me long for a new 17-inch MacBook Pro.
LG’s laptop (pictured) sports an eighth generation Intel Core i7 processor, a 17-inch WQXGA (2560 x 1600) IPS display, a Thunderbolt 3 port, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD, and a 72Wh lithium battery that purportedly runs for 19.5 hours for $1,700. It also has three USB 3.1 ports, a micro-SD port, an HDMI port, and Ethernet port.
Imagine if Apple released a similar laptop with FaceID, a bezel-less screen, optional cellular connectivity, and expandable memory so you could use third party memory and not have to pay Apple’s outrageous prices.
The original 17-inch MacBook Pro debuted in April 2006; it shipped in a single dual-core 2.16GHz configuration, with 1GB of RAM and an a 120GB hard drive, for $2,799. It was discontinued in June 2012.
Apple seems to have a bit of a problem in making it clear who needs a Mac laptop and who needs an iPad Pro for portable use. A 2019 17-inch MacBook Pro would certainly draw the line; it wouldn’t be the best device for carrying from room to room, but it’d be a fantastic desktop replacement.
