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Apple Reports 4Q 2023 Results: $23B Profit on $89.5B Revenue

The Mac is disappointing numbers - because they have the best lineup and cost in decades.

Just yesterday I saw a 15 Air for $1099 on Best Buy.. that's just an insane value for the people shopping for value and deals. Sure it only has 256 storage, but that's still an insane good deal for the average person who is doing homework, writing papers, submitting resumes, and streaming music.

There's no better laptop on the market value wise- the M2 air is a great machine. Surprised it's doing so poorly.
 
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magicschoolbus said:
The Mac is disappointing numbers - because they have the best lineup and cost in decades.

Just yesterday I saw a 15 Air for 1099 on Best Buy.. that's just an insane value for the people shopping for value and deals. Sure it only has 256 storage, but that's still an insane good deal for the average person who is doing homework, writing papers, submitting resumes, and streaming music.
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$1100 is not anywhere close to an insane value.
 
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Spaceboi Scaphandre said:
Mac making more revenue than iPad quarter after quarter speaks volumes of the problems with the iPad lineup, from how awful iPadOS is, to how confusing the entire iPad lineup is.

Aside from the vanilla iPad, there's absolutely no reason to get the more higher end iPads over a Mac. Guts of a Mac, but does a lot less than a Mac, and is more expensive than a Mac. And if the rumors of a lower cost Macbook that's under $700 are real, then the iPad redundancy problem is only gonna get even worse.
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My daughter is a student and owns a Mac, She bought an iPad and mostly leaves the Mac at home. Why. Weight and size were quite different. The iPad is easier to cary.

But there is another huge advantage the iPad has, the pencil. You can't take written notes on a Mac. Just try making a simple diagram and then labing the parts while in class while listening to a lecture on a Mac. You can't.

I used to use my iPad while teaching to control a video projector. I could handhold an iPad Mini and make underlines and check marks on the slide live.

That said, I'm on a Mac Mini M2-Pro now.
 
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ChrisA said:
My daughter is a student and owns a Mac, She bought an iPad and mostly leaves the Mac at home. Why. Weight and size were quite different. The iPad is easier to cary.

But there is another huge advantage the iPad has, the pencil. You can't take written notes on a Mac. Just try making a simple diagram and then labing the parts while in class while listening to a lecture on a Mac. You can't.

I used to use my iPad while teaching to control a video projector. I could handhold an iPad Mini and make underlines and check marks on the slide live.

That said, I'm on a Mac Mini M2-Pro now.
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I don’t get how anyone can find even an iPad Pro to be a replacement for macOS. It’s so completely limiting. I guess if all you need to do is surf the web, take notes, and watch YouTube, sure. But the level of multitasking I can do on even one screen using macOS is insane compared with the garbage that is iPadOS.
 
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deaglecat said:
Its been obvious for a while that Apple is prioritising margin.

Example the (...and you really should not buy it) 8Gb base model on Macbook pros in 2023.

Upsell FTW... but at what cost to its customers ?
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I get it. But would you want a college student typing on a Touch Bar MBP with a butterfly keyboard?
 
deaglecat said:
Its been obvious for a while that Apple is prioritising margin.

Example the (...and you really should not buy it) 8Gb base model on Macbook pros in 2023.

Upsell FTW... but at what cost to its customers ?
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Apple has always prioritized margin... it's a business and their shareholders wouldn't expect anything else.

Upselling is a big thing.. and Apple have been Kings of the upsell for a long, long time.

They make amazing consumer hardware and software... but this is their business. One of the reasons for their success is their brand, and their rather weird ultra loyal following.. just look at forums like Macrumors. No other technology company has anything quite like it. No other tech company hosts events like Apple does. Not even Microsoft, Tesla and Google.

I would love to see a documentary about Apple and its history... and how its ultra loyal customer base formed. Anyone know of any? let me know!
 
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magicschoolbus said:
Just yesterday I saw a 15 Air for $1099 on Best Buy.. that's just an insane value for the people shopping for value and deals. Sure it only has 256 storage, but that's still an insane good deal for the average person who is doing homework, writing papers, submitting resumes, and streaming music.
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I love my 15" Air but I disagree on that being an "insane good deal".
 
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All these results were expected as always iPhone sales and revenue are on top, then services (iCloud, Apple Music and Apple Care +). Apple still did well despite some challenges. iPad is to be expected to be the lowest due to the least use by their customer base.
 
DelayedGratificationGene said:
Services up 16.5% and that’s a 71% margin business. Apple really is a services company now. Amazing.
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Increase could mainly be due to payment Apple gets for making Google search the default.

Apple’s services division includes online subscriptions like iCloud storage and Apple Music, as well as warranties from AppleCare. A big chunk of Apple’s services business comes from its deal with Google for the default search engine on Apple’s browser, Safari, which has been highlighted in recent weeks as part of the Department of Justice antitrust case against Google. That payment to Apple is worth an estimated $19 billion this year.

Cook said services components including App Store sales, advertising (including the Google deal), iCloud, payment services, and Apple Music did well in the quarter and hit an internal Apple record, signaling continued growth.


The price increases Apple implemented last month will give their services another revenue and profit boost for next fiscal year.
 
Spaceboi Scaphandre said:
Mac making more revenue than iPad quarter after quarter speaks volumes of the problems with the iPad lineup, from how awful iPadOS is, to how confusing the entire iPad lineup is.

Aside from the vanilla iPad, there's absolutely no reason to get the more higher end iPads over a Mac. Guts of a Mac, but does a lot less than a Mac, and is more expensive than a Mac. And if the rumors of a lower cost Macbook that's under $700 are real, then the iPad redundancy problem is only gonna get even worse.
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No... What is says is a combination of two things. More people purchase computers than tablets. AND... generally, computers cost more than tablets.

Therefore... more purchases at higher costs= more revenue.

Or it could be other combinations of purchases and costs leading to more revenue.

It says nothing about so-called "problems" with the iPad lineup.
 
Spaceboi Scaphandre said:
Mac making more revenue than iPad quarter after quarter speaks volumes of the problems with the iPad lineup, from how awful iPadOS is, to how confusing the entire iPad lineup is.

Aside from the vanilla iPad, there's absolutely no reason to get the more higher end iPads over a Mac. Guts of a Mac, but does a lot less than a Mac, and is more expensive than a Mac. And if the rumors of a lower cost Macbook that's under $700 are real, then the iPad redundancy problem is only gonna get even worse.
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The only ppl I know who use an iPad are the elderly and my kids. I haven’t used one for more than 5 minutes in the past 3 years. It’s useless. With the powerful hardware apple puts in the iPad Pro, if it had a matching OS, the sky could be the limit. Instead, it’s absolute garbage.
 
Spaceboi Scaphandre said:
Mac making more revenue than iPad quarter after quarter speaks volumes of the problems with the iPad lineup, from how awful iPadOS is, to how confusing the entire iPad lineup is.

Aside from the vanilla iPad, there's absolutely no reason to get the more higher end iPads over a Mac. Guts of a Mac, but does a lot less than a Mac, and is more expensive than a Mac. And if the rumors of a lower cost Macbook that's under $700 are real, then the iPad redundancy problem is only gonna get even worse.
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I agree with this. Yes, the iPads are still great bits of kit, but compared to historical Apple standards, the line up, the costs and the OS are a hot mess. It doesn't feel like the OS has improved at all in several years. The prices are ridiculous given it blurs the lines between a full-fledged Mac and an iPad. We are now bored of it being a toy OS whilst being slapped with huge costs. iPad has to grow up and fast.
 
ashdelacroix said:
I agree with this. Yes, the iPads are still great bits of kit, but compared to historical Apple standards, the line up, the costs and the OS are a hot mess. It doesn't feel like the OS has improved at all in several years. The prices are ridiculous given it blurs the lines between a full-fledged Mac and an iPad. We are now bored of it being a toy OS whilst being slapped with huge costs. iPad has to grow up and fast.
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This. On a whim I played with a recent android tablet thinking it would be garbage. Was it as smooth as the iPad, nope. Did it feel cheaper? You bet (was also half the price of a pro) Did it have features that made my life much easier? You bet. The OS was pretty phenomenal in what it could accomplish in very few “clicks” compared with iPadOS. The whole time I’m thinking, why can’t apple do this?
 
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magicschoolbus said:
The Mac is disappointing numbers - because they have the best lineup and cost in decades.
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Personal computers are now a mature market in the industrialized corners of the world. Growth will be hard here.

The growth in sales will come from parts of the world with less relative income. Hence lower priced computers will be necessary, something Apple doesn't really do. (And neither does Dell or HP.)

Other makers, such as Lenovo, will fill that gap.

As well as off-brands one can find (and may disappear in any given month.)
 
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