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Apple Mac Shipments Grew 9% in Q1 2026, Outpacing Overall PC Market
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I’m a bit confused about that as well, MacBook Neo started shipping on March 11, so will be included in these numbers. Why does the article not mention that?
This is independent research, so it covers the first calendar quarter of 2026, not Apple’s financial Q1 which is the last calendar quarter of 2025.
I think MacBook Neo will be a “slow burn” (but high volume) product, because the target customer for that isn’t following Apple News as closely as a MacBook Pro customer is. So far I know three people who bought a MacBook Neo after I told them it exists. They were in the market for a new or used Mac, but had not heard anything about it. They just asked me what the cheapest model they could get away with was (all bought the 512 version by the way). Once the product is more visible in traditional marketing from the large electronics stores and supermarkets, the target audience is going to start picking them up.
I think the whole rest of the year is going to be huge for MacBook Neo. I will make a bet that at the end of 2026, Apple is at least number 2 if not number one on that list. If they can keep up with demand.
What is your source for this? Are you including ChromeOS in that comparison? If not, you’d have to go back to before the Intel Macs for Linux to be even close.
By the way, 14% is on the high end of Apple’s historical market share. But it’s obvious Neo will push it up. I have no doubt that sometime in 2026 Apple will reach it’s highest ever market share.
Apple has been #4 basically all quarters since around 2013-14. Before that they were either #5 or #6.
Comparing Apple to the #1 PC manufacturer isn't a metric anyone who follows these news are interested in.
PBG4 Dude
macrumors 601
Still remember Steve’s, “we’re 5% there, only 95% to go!”
Looks like Apple is basically triple that now.
Basically Apple and Google are gaining customers due to Microsoft's mistakes.
You would think MS would have learned their lesson from the Xbox One when they tried to force always online on the users which gamers didn't want, and thus people left and went to competitors. They are doing the same thing with Windows and ai now. The majority of people don't want ai or at least have the option to turn it off and Microsoft isn't listening so people are moving to Apple and Google. Also didn't help their cause when MS forced many millions of people last year to throw their Windows 10 computers out and buy a new computer (and many are saying screw you MS because of it and buying a competitor's computer instead).
You would think MS would have learned their lesson from the Xbox One when they tried to force always online on the users which gamers didn't want, and thus people left and went to competitors. They are doing the same thing with Windows and ai now. The majority of people don't want ai or at least have the option to turn it off and Microsoft isn't listening so people are moving to Apple and Google. Also didn't help their cause when MS forced many millions of people last year to throw their Windows 10 computers out and buy a new computer (and many are saying screw you MS because of it and buying a competitor's computer instead).
groove-agent
Suspended
groove-agent
Suspended
Dell's laptop line is a complete joke. They're copying Apple's naming convention and making it so much worse:
Dell Laptop 16
Dell Premium 16
Dell Premium Plus 16
Dell 16 Pro
Dell 16 Pro Plus
Dell 16 Plus
Dell 16 Pro Max
Dell Pro Max 16 Plus
Dell Pro Premium 13
Dell Pro 14 Essential
Dell clearly doesn't understand sales. If you give people too many options that are confusing, they will walk away just confused.
The whole article is also based on made up estimates as Apple doesn't report actual numbers. Does Apple ship products to resellers and not charge them? Not clear how a shipment doesn't equal a sale (to Apple).
But you're really missing the point which I don't care to clarify any longer.
Dell did a reversal and brought back the XPS name for that line this year. They are also copying Apple's pricing policy making sure to include a "Dell tax", which is hilarious!
Is that your guess or is that backed by some sort of poll or research you can link to?
Its about the operating system, not the manufacturers. People are not happy with Windows 11 and looking for an alternative, thus some are switching to Chromebooks and Macs.
rp2011
macrumors 68040
And with Lenovo so far ahead in sales, their economies scales over the competition have to be a great advantage over the completion. And with Dell so far behind, I can't see their margins sustainable to keep the company afloat for too much longer unless they can offer a good added value somewhere, and AI is not going to do it any time soon, at least not with PC and laptop sale. But it looks like they are toast. Look to see them try to focus more and more into services and divest from their computer sales.
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conmee
macrumors 6502a
Dell is doing fine. $113B in full year revenue ($60B in servers, storage, and enterprise solutions; $44B in commercial and consumer PCs of which only ~$6B is consumer). "Only $30B" in debt but serviceable. I could see them cutting consumer PCs if it got tight for them, but they have "healthy" margins for a PC manufacturer of around 22% and net income of $9B. Nothing like Apple, but more than enough to keep going. I still see tons of Dell PCs in corporate environments, and they are showing mid/high single digit growth across most of the segments they serve. Consumer PCs aren't spectacular for them, but Dell hasn't relied on consumer PCs to stay afloat for at least 10 years. Once they purchased EMC (storage) in 2016, that's when they made the pivot to focus more on enterprise than in the past, and then they went public again in 2018 (after Michael Dell took them private in 2013 when things were really shaky).
ginkobiloba
macrumors 6502a
Are you serious ? There’s like thousands of articles , threads of Reddit ,PC forums , Twitter, etc…
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rp2011
macrumors 68040
Yes we can cherry pick, but things are not good with Dell, their consumer margins are lower and catering from competition. This reminds me of what people said about Intel before they went on life support. Dell's computer business is not long for this word. As a services business? sure, why not.
Probably users that are into media and gaming other than that might have lots of eh burn in.
conmee
macrumors 6502a
What do you mean cherry pick? I just gave you an overview of their annual report. And it covered off on their two primary operating units (server/storage/services and enterprise/consumer PCs). I gave you the entire cherry tree. Haha. I don’t disagree that they lack strength in their consumer PC offering, but it only represents $6B of their $131B in revenue. If they exited the consumer PC space tomorrow, there would still be Dell doing just fine. They aren’t sinking tons of capital into building out fabs like Intel and they aren’t cash constrained like Intel. Dell will probably take a page out of IBM’s book and just spin off or sell their PC unit (if it becomes necessary) just like IBM did with Lenovo. Again, I’m not completely disagreeing with your thesis about their PC offerings, but you are off base thinking weakness in that segment equates to weakness for Dell overall. The financials just don’t support that perspective (for now).