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because the new MacBook Pro was a terrible update and not worth it; apple stop with the minor updates year after year
Apple is use to making a certain amount of money each year. The problem is the pc market is slowing down. 20 years ago you might buy a new pc or at least buy upgrades every year but those days are over. The technological advances are slowing down. Apple needs to adjust their expectations. If they don’t then they are going to have high development costs with lower returns.
 
Mac sales are down because where is the value to purchasing one. The price is so out of touch with the perceived value of the devices now. I can easily purchase all of apple stuff but choose not to because it is grossly overpriced. I chose to purchase the Windows developer kit 2023 than an iMac or MacBook because the price and value was unmatched for all I was getting. Paying a lot more for perceived speed upgrades and completing a task a little faster is not worth the added cost. For what my little developer kit has at a standard price point is a couple upgrade/+$200 each clicks when trying to purchase any computer from apple.
 
Why? Because you say so? My friend actually runs their business on a base M1 iMac. And they do 4k video editing. No issues with RAM or storage space because they work on external drives.
Same here. I could use more SSD space on this M1 Air, but otherwise it will happily chomp away at big Illustrator files and productivity apps all day long -- all on the 8GB of RAM it has. Great reminder that the tech geek echo chamber doesn't really reflect the reality of a lot of users.
 
I'm lucky enough to have a job I love, a good salary, working from home. My point is I think the MacBook Pro are slightly overpriced, and I have other priorities: synths, guitars, and audio plugins. And if "Price is never an issue for Apple users" like you say, we wouldn't be talking about "Plummeting Mac sales".
To be fair, those "Plummeting Mac sales" are down by 5%.
And the other PC computer vendors are down by even more.
This seems to be in a large part due to a bigger macroeconomic issue than problems with Apple’s line.
 
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Mac sales are down because where is the value to purchasing one. The price is so out of touch with the perceived value of the devices now. I can easily purchase all of apple stuff but choose not to because it is grossly overpriced. I chose to purchase the Windows developer kit 2023 than an iMac or MacBook because the price and value was unmatched for all I was getting. Paying a lot more for perceived speed upgrades and completing a task a little faster is not worth the added cost. For what my little developer kit has at a standard price point is a couple upgrade/+$200 each clicks when trying to purchase any computer from apple.
Sounds like you actually wasted your money by trying to save money. Lol.
 
Mac sales are down because where is the value to purchasing one. The price is so out of touch with the perceived value of the devices now. I can easily purchase all of apple stuff but choose not to because it is grossly overpriced. I chose to purchase the Windows developer kit 2023 than an iMac or MacBook because the price and value was unmatched for all I was getting. Paying a lot more for perceived speed upgrades and completing a task a little faster is not worth the added cost. For what my little developer kit has at a standard price point is a couple upgrade/+$200 each clicks when trying to purchase any computer from apple.
I was really hoping Microsoft and their partners would be further along with a move to ARM but it feels like there is no momentum to change from x86 to that unless they are going to all go open-source and use RISCV.

That being said you do get a lot for the developer kit in regard to RAM and the larger SSD and you are right upgrading a mac is expensive and regardless of the orthodox mac users perspective that I should like 8GB of RAM and be happy with it. I don't think it's an appropriate entry-level config in 2023 under tougher economic circumstances that means I will be stuck with it for far longer, longer, longer.
 
Same here. I could use more SSD space on this M1 Air, but otherwise it will happily chomp away at big Illustrator files and productivity apps all day long -- all on the 8GB of RAM it has. Great reminder that the tech geek echo chamber doesn't really reflect the reality of a lot of users.
Glad someone else posts like this. Like you said its all pretty much an echo chamber where you need even 16GB of RAM to even turn the computer on.
 
Too expensive. UK pricing is obscene. Anecdotally I know plenty of people who've simply been priced out of Macs and bought PC's instead. Apple got far, far too greedy.
Maybe Apple is going back to their model category of higher tier systems instead of “a computer in every home” Microsoft. The hint was the luxurious watch mentality.

Apple becomes high end purchases. If you want it, either pay for it or go with lesser PC offerings. Some don’t want cheap technology, but decent quality and will pay for it.

Apple does not need to cheapen their products so many many buyers or allowed to buy or an everyone social mentality…they are a business in it to make money. PCs are for those that want general economy prices technology.

Apple..Continue with quality that lasts. Do they always do this? No..but generally “Yes”. I have EVERY Apple product I have ever bought going way back and it still works, still can be used even today if desired. The many PCs I have had…No..the only one I still have is a Sony Vaio laptop when Sony owned the brand…great Laptops too at the time.

I went to a few computer stores recently and checked out the PCs and quality compared to Apple. Most that come close to Apple are the same price or more expensive, but even then the PCs don’t compare to the quality of Apple. Microsoft’s actual offerings are the same price and more for their laptops.

I think Apple prices are a bit too high..but reviewing equivalent PCs, Apple is still in the price range (generally) of quality PCs. PCs just offer cheaper options that you will get rid of in three years. Apple’s offerings can last longer if you choose (not talking about the OS, just the hardware).
 
For a long time (2000 - 2012ish) I'd try to have the latest and greatest - a build to order system with the lowest spec possible RAM and storage then immediately upgrade with my own parts. Cant do that anymore and Apple's upgrade pricing is *absurd*. Not to mention you cant fix anything in them anymore. Significantly reduced my incentivization in upgrading and I've now hit a hard wall with 2018-2019 hardware for software compatibility reasons.
 
The Macbook segment is saturated. Look at a neglected segment like desktop (Mini to Pro).
Bring in some fresh thinkers with enthusiasm.

Make a machine that wins on performance, looks (MacPro), upgradability and cost.
Upgradability can make expensive systems affordable (justifiable).
And an affordable separate monitor can last many years.
Use M power to run Windows emulation.

You can see there’s a market, as rumours mentioning Mac Pro get lots of hits.
 
This brings up another issue in regard to the costs of running things, software subscriptions are extortionate now.

Get a better job? Wages have been stagnating for years. I know there has been a move from startups and businesses to hire people as freelancers and they have to supply their own equipment, software, assets etc themselves so businesses can wash their hands off of these expenditures. It also removes them from proper remuneration if the project succeeds.

Things are more complex now, you need a much higher starting and operating capital to compete with others. It’s not how it used to be when someone with a hope and a dream to start up a creative studio can just do it off of raw talent and hard work.
I know. I wasn't serious. The reason I wrote that is he told me I should get a better job when I mentioned I thought the MacBook Pro were a bit overpriced:

Get a better, higher paid job then. Price is never an issue for Apple users. Elasticity is very low because we're a niche.
 
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I've switched over to Windows as well since Macs can no longer boot camp. Also for the money I paid it obliterated everything Apple had on offer at the time.

It was a big move since I've been using Macs since 1998. However, Windows has improved a lot since I last used it on daily basis. It's just as smooth as MacOS these days.
Only if you don’t care about quality, reliability, cooling, and a decent OS. Windows has grown to be far more horrible than many of the previous versions.
 
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Waiting for the touchscreen MacBook. I now work original M1 Air and iPad side by side. Jumping from one screen to the other is great, but for normal everyday usage a touchscreen MacBook would be great.
This has to be their next big move.
 
Oh let's not forget about the downgraded iMac. (Shudder, horror!). That was the purchase that I wanted and needed.. that I just couldn't buy witha good conscience. No way I was going from a 27 to 24. How could they just kill the 27-in iMac like that? And still no answer on whether they even going to make another one. Because they'd rather sell you a computer at the same price with no screen no keyboard or nothing else so you can have a high chance at buying it from them instead. I hate hate hate apples sales practices..

If there's one Mac machine with the specs that's stuck in time and was just a bad deal overall, it's that one. The machine itself was nicely designed, but Apple's design decisions regarding size and expandability just wrecked it.

That said..My 2013 iMac is still running mohave on a hybrid 3tb drive. That means I can still run my CS6 master suite if my modern Adobe subscription blows up or has some crazy error. I've loved all of my Max, but this one is just been the greatest Mac purchase ever. I'm still doing client work on it in the OS runs great.

Well maybe when they introduce their next 27-in I can help them out with their finances lol.I know they're going to make a decent setup version cost $3,000 anyways. Grrrrrargrhrhr.
 
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To be cut off when economic factors limit spending like an unnecessary Netflix subscription? We do not need more subscriptions, people are already drowning in them. There is only so much businesses can either cover or pass on to customers to offer an attractive price point to do what they do and people are cutting back on spending. We have just had two banks fail, one saved by being bought out, redundancies and restructuring have been announced by many businesses, even Apple has implemented a hiring freeze.
You'll need some Cloud subscription, you need a payment service/payment provider that allows mobile payment. In the future you will also need some kind of ChatGPT support. People will also have some kind of music service. Apple development makes no sense if you sell the App exactly one time - subscriptions are the ways to got.

Apple could bring their ApplePay service to other devices like a Garmin Smartwatch. Roll out the existing services to as many platforms as possible. Apple has one product - the iPhone. If this product fails someday (e.g. caused by missing AI functionality) or the sales experience a heavy breakdown.
The day after a trillion dollar company will be history and it will be a sub trillion dollar company again. And without the cashcow, custom Chip development will be questionable, since it is expensive, not to mention lots of other things that will break, too. An insane and huge circle shaped office? Expensive as hell - but what is the value? Apple was once known for small teams that created great products/value. You don't need this kind of monstrosity.
 
I still think pricing is the main issue, but the slow rollout of M2 products must be a big factor too.

Splitting the MacBook Air range between M1 and M2 versions probably depressed M2 demand compared to the original M1 launch (plus all the other factors like M1 satisfying pent up demand and pricing/the recession).

And the rest of the M2 range is still unfinished, with no M2 iMac or Studio (and the M2 14/16 MBPs seeming to come out later than planned).

You can't really expect high demand when some of the biggest selling products (iMac / base MBA) don't use it!
 
The MacBook notch is an inelegant kludge at best. I wish Apple would drop it like a bad habit.
Me too!!!
The Studio Mac with the Studio screen is a lot more money than I paid for my 27 inch iMac.
Yeah, I bought one, Studio Max, 64G RAM, 2TB SSD. Ouch I say now. And all I'm doing with it is it's handling some server like duties and Windows on Arm testing. Monitor support sucks if you don't buy the Apple monitor, and I'm one of the "lucky" ones with the whine.

I missed the x86 VM's, so I went and bought a refurbed iMac 5K, added RAM to it, and am ever so much happier now.

I'd probably replace the Studio with a 14" M1 Max MBP if I could trade in the studio for enough money. I wish the notch weren't there, but at least I can set the screen to cut off that part so I wont see it.
 
Those 8Gb machines use swap like crazy, did you ever check the activity monitor in those machines? Those are anecdotal evidences.

Yeah. I think haunting Activity Monitor obsessively for signs of "memory pressure" or "disk swap" is a much bigger drain on productivity than anything the 8GB of RAM is doing.

Fact is, virtual memory/swap has nowhere near the overhead it used to back when we were all booting off HDDs. The machine is designed to work this way and it works just fine, especially with the very fast SSDs that Macs come with now.

If you're a computer hobbyist, I guess by all means monitor those stats -- but don't fool yourself into thinking that stuff is relevant to normal users just trying to get actual work done.
 
The way to buy Macs now is “preowned”

It’s incredible how much they devalue, and how quickly, now

CL and FB are filled with people selling really lightly used and nearly new Macs, for 20-50% off

“Ouch” to those who buy at retail
 
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