Apple Sold Fewest Macs in Any Quarter Since 2010 as Nearly Entire Lineup Was Outdated

[pl1984]

No it hasn’t. The latest MBPs are outstanding laptops, as is the iMac Pro desktop.

Apple designs products for its target markets, rather than the relatively tiny handful of people hanging out in tech forums.

That kind of goes without saying as that's what just about every company does. The issue is they're shrinking their target market (at least wrt to existing Macintosh users). There are a lot of Mac users who were happy with their previous offerings but dislike the direction of their latest offerings. This may even be reinforced in the article:

"...with nearly 60 percent of purchases coming from customers who are new to the Mac..."
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They don't really "update" anything, that's why.

Other companies don't use a solid block of aluminum for their laptop cases. Duh.

Still waiting:

Now that you're finished with your work will you now expand upon what you mean by "untrusted, unworthy, INCORRECT" user?

 

[citysnaps]

Why aren't they updating their lineup? Are they trying to say to investors that they don't sell so they can kill off the lineup?

You mean like the recently released MBPs? And frequent macOS updates?

 

[pl1984]

Remember the Power PC? Motorola and IBM chips? Those two companies couldn't keep up with Intel. We went with Intel, and reaped huge benefits. Nowadays? Intel is stuck. That is the main reason for the pause in renewed Macs. When Intel gets down to 10 nanometer, and their chips don't fry eggs, there will be a new explosion of desktop and laptop. Or will Apple step in and somehow make a super-speed ARM chip? Stay tuned.

So it's your position Intel hasn't released any new processors since the release of the current Mac Mini and Mac Pro?

 

[Swift]

While I do think their MacBooks are overpriced, they do have much better longevity overall. Or at least, had much better longevity. I agree with this post:

I think a new sub $1000 MacBook, a new Mac Mini, and ProMotion added to the iMacs would add a major boost to Mac sales. At the same time, Apple is absolutely correct. For millions of traditional computer buyers, the iPad/iPad Pro especially on iOS 11, can be a computer replacement. That certainly has to effect Mac sales. I did notice interestingly, iPad sales are still less than Mac sales.

I think you're right. The 9" iPad Pro with a keyboard has everything you need if you're not going to edit feature films. Plus, you can have a touchscreen.

 

[pl1984]

Apple has some of the best engineers and designers in the world... but for some reason they can’t innovate without a new CPU? Nonsense. PCs are innovating. Just not the Macs.

Mac Mini and Pro users aren't asking for innovation. Many would be happy with updates to existing products with later technology.
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If you use Windows, then no "examples" are necessary.

If you don't, then just keep avoiding Windows and you'll be fine...

I'm using it right now which is why I asked you to expand upon what you mean by "untrusted, unworthy, INCORRECT" user. Why? Because I'm not seeing it. But I'm willing to listen to reasonable examples. So, now that you've wrapped up work can you please expand upon what you mean?

 

[mikethemartian]

You know... if you just looked... you could realize that pretty well most things (other than those hard wired) ... you just have to buy a cable (cheap) from places like Monoprise... When I buy a computer today, I want it futureproofed as much as possible, rather than backward focused... then I make the old stuff work with the new stuff... buying a new Mac (that might last you 5 to 10 years)... then worrying about whether an old $100 peripheral works with it without compromise... stupid IMHO...

I thought Apple discouraged the use of cheap cables.

 

[Swift]

So it's your position Intel hasn't released any new processors since the release of the current Mac Mini and Mac Pro?

New? Yes. Better? Not particularly. They're stuck. They're resorting to gimmicks. It's almost as bad as the IBM fiasco. Remember the first Intel Mac? Steve said, "IBM has promised me their next chip will be over 4 gHz. Never made it.

 

[bkkcanuck8]

Remember the Power PC? Motorola and IBM chips? Those two companies couldn't keep up with Intel. We went with Intel, and reaped huge benefits. Nowadays? Intel is stuck. That is the main reason for the pause in renewed Macs. When Intel gets down to 10 nanometer, and their chips don't fry eggs, there will be a new explosion of desktop and laptop. Or will Apple step in and somehow make a super-speed ARM chip? Stay tuned.

They could not keep up with Intel on the Mac because Apple was pretty well the only buyer of the chips and IBM had no motivation to continue trying to innovate with it. The Power chips used in large Unix boxes (AIX/Linux) are still being updated. The area that this hit hardest against Apple is they were never really designed with laptops in mind. Apple switched to Intel and the result was an explosion of growth in their laptop market. If you do not need Intel compatibility, ARM-based processors would probably be the best choice for laptops, but they are not likely at the point of replacing the Mac Pro with ARM-based processors. Apple has put in place enough of the pieces that they could probably support a multitude of processors with little impact on users (other than VMs). The App Store could supply either based on bitcode application uploads, and the XCode distribution could support "multi-architecture" distributions - which would hide the architecture from the user having to pay as much attention to it. It really depends on whether Apple wants to risk pulling away resources to design laptop based ARM processors and potentially take resources away from their big money business (iDevices).

 

[Works4Me]

A 9 inch iPad with a keyboard maybe all some people need, but it doesn’t even come close for me. And I’m not editing feature films. The screen size alone makes it inadequate for me, but there’s also the way in which editing text is faster with a trackpad or mouse, having multiple windows open in different apps that you can actually see at the same time, software options, etc.. The list goes on and on. It doesn’t come close to having everything I need.

 

[lilrush]

Not surprised. I saved up for an iMac starting 2 years ago and had the amount in full for some time now (about 6 months). But not spending a dime until apple drops a new one. Until then I'll stick with my 2012.

 

[bkkcanuck8]

I thought Apple discouraged the use of cheap cables.

They discourage the use of garbage cables. There are inexpensive cable suppliers that supply quality -- those are not an issue.

 

[Swift]

I thought Apple discouraged the use of cheap cables.

Nope. If it's going to have the Made for Apple logo, they demand strict specs, but other companies make cables and sell them low and high. Monoprice has quality, but they're very cheap. It can be done.

 

[citysnaps]

There are a lot of Mac users who were happy with their previous offerings but dislike the direction of their latest offerings. This may even be reinforced in the article:

"...with nearly 60 percent of purchases coming from customers who are new to the Mac..."

Do you really believe that number should instead represent existing Mac owners who want to update their Mac every year?

60% new customers is outstanding.

 

[MacsRuleOthersDrool]

You're right as I have gone to configure laptops with the same specs as the latest MB Pro that I would want. Namely 16 gigs of RAM and a 1TB SSD, plus the current i7 processor. They are within $200, if that.....but the Windows laptop will have a superior GPU. My issue with the 2018 MB Pro and the two previous year models are the ports. All USB-C/Thunderbolt. Need to hook up to an external monitor? Adapter. Use a common flash drive found at any store or office? Chances are super high that it's USB-A. You'll need an adapter. Ethernet port...adapter (although to be fair they haven't included ethernet ports for awhile now). A video/photo guy with SD cards? Adapter. Yeah they have USB-C hubs, but their obsession with aesthetics just takes away from practicality.

Apple chose the AMD GPUs because they were the only ones that would let the MBP drive 2 5k Externals (plus the internal) Display.

Issues with Adapters/cable-swaps are a one-time thing, easily obtainable and inexpensive. Time marches on. In 5 years, you'll still have that MBP and all your USB-A peripherals will be dead and replaced with USB-C (Apple isn't the only one putting USB-C on computers, ya know...)

I have an SD slot on my 2012 MacBook Pro. I have used it exactly ONCE (just to see if it worked!).

There are a ZILLION $50 docks (or less) listed on Amazon that hook up with ONE measly USB-C cable, and give you your USB-A, HDMI, Gig Ethernet, and not only SD, but MicroSD and CF Card slots (something NO Mac has EVER had!). Those docks are sleek, about the size of a dollar-bill, and cheap enough that you can have one at your work and home. One cable, and ALL your peripherals are "plugged up" (oh, how I hate that term!). And you STILL have THREE identical ports FREE!

What's not to like about THAT?!?

80 Gb/sec I/O bandwidth (more than ANY other Laptop!), that you can configure in about a Googolplex variety of ways! You can expand that I/O up to FIFTY-THREE ***SIMULTANEOUS*** Ports! Sorry; but I'll take that over a couple of USB-A connectors ANY day!

 

[pl1984]

Do you really believe that number should instead represent existing Mac owners who want to update their Mac every year?

60% new customers is outstanding.

I'm not the one who wrote this article nor am I the one who caused the decrease in Mac sales over the past eight years.
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New? Yes. Better? Not particularly. They're stuck. They're resorting to gimmicks. It's almost as bad as the IBM fiasco. Remember the first Intel Mac? Steve said, "IBM has promised me their next chip will be over 4 gHz. Never made it.

Not particularly? Then why have they updated some of their product line? One of which was just updated within the past month.

 

[falainber]

Remember the Power PC? Motorola and IBM chips? Those two companies couldn't keep up with Intel. We went with Intel, and reaped huge benefits. Nowadays? Intel is stuck. That is the main reason for the pause in renewed Macs. When Intel gets down to 10 nanometer, and their chips don't fry eggs, there will be a new explosion of desktop and laptop. Or will Apple step in and somehow make a super-speed ARM chip? Stay tuned.

Other PC manufacturers seemingly have no issues with Intel CPUs, I wonder why? Maybe they just know how to use them? For example, not only Origin PC manages to put Core i9 in their new EON15-S laptop, they even overclock it! Compare this to Apple which frequently underclocks stuff to fit it into their skinny laptops and AIOs

 

[bkkcanuck8]

Apple chose the AMD GPUs because they were the only ones that would let the MBP drive 2 5k Externals (plus the internal) Display.

Actually, they use AMD GPUs because AMD is willing to Apple to use them just for the hardware. Apple has full control over programming the driver stack for Metal etc. nVidia requires you to go through their driver stack etc.
The secondary issue was the last time Apple used nVidia in laptops, the chips did not live up to Apple's expectation with regards to reliability -- and they never came to an amicable agreement on nVidia reimbursing Apple for that issue.

 

[DNichter]

Why do you assume content creators would want to use an A series chip? You think the work YOU do is the most demanding on processors?

As long as they app performs well and gets their task done, I don't see why not. No, I don't.
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I would tend to agree; followed/preceded quickly by a low-end (non-Pro) MacBook or Air.

I think they will eventually divide the Mac Product line into "consumer" machines that will be ARM-based, and "Pro" machines that will remain Intel-based (at least for now). Because of Apple's spectacular and proven abilities to switch CPU platforms without a hitch, I doubt that anyone will notice any difference.

Yes, that's exactly how I see it as well.
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I'd be willing to wager that inside three years Apple will say adios to Intel

In some machines, yes, but only in the short term. I think they'll keep some Intel chips in MacBook/iMac/Mac Pro's and use their own developed chips in everything else.
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Perhaps they only appeal to a small number of users because they've been left to languish. You keep qualifying your argument with words like "frequent" when I'm not even arguing that level of update. Do you consider three and five years to be frequent?
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Then give me half a dozen.

That's possible, but that small number also supports Apple's reason not to upgrade the machine until they have compelling reason to do so. A modular Mac Pro and an ARM Mac mini make sense in that regard. No, I wouldn't say that's frequent.

 

[fairuz]

Stock prices up, Mac sales down: That's why I don't care about Apple anymore.

 

[cwkoller5]

Don't forget the ARM-based Macs coming not too far down the road. Apple's going to control the CPU, the storage, the displays for its upcoming machines. Of course they care about the platform, but they've made some mistakes that should be addressed by this Fall in short. But long-term, their advancing AX chips will afford them much more flexibility in charting their own course. We've already seen what their investment in SSD storage has done to generate ultrafast transfers on Macbook Pros.

 

[bluecoast]

Apple should be ashamed of how much they’ve neglected the Mac.

Absolutely Intel is to blame here (by not delivering 10 mn processors when they said they should) because obviously the MB 12 & MBP are machines that were intended for 10 nm processors.

However - as I’ve posted here tonnes of times before - I think an over-reliance on numbers circa 204-15 (‘the PC form factor is dying!’) led Apple to believe that iPad/tablets were going to be the replacement.

Hence the Mac was effectively going to be tapered off and the only investment that it was going to get was to make sure that it kept up with iOS in certain areas, to allow iOS breathing space to surpass the Mac.

However this was wrong.

The resurgence in PC purchases overall AND the fact that that the iPad is absolutely not (yet) a Mac replacement showed the bad decisions that Apple made.

This is where they really miss Jobs.

Someone who in his gut knows where tech is going.

I’d imagine that yes, Jobs would’ve absolutely believed that iOS was the future for most people (the ‘car’) but that it was important for Apple to still invest in the Mac (the ‘truck’).

I do believe that Apple have seen the error in their ways & I’m a big believer in ARM Macs.

However the hit to the Mac over the last few years has been a strategic error almost completely of their own making.

 

[pl1984]

That's possible, but that small number also supports Apple's reason not to upgrade the machine until they have compelling reason to do so. A modular Mac Pro and an ARM Mac mini make sense in that regard. No, I wouldn't say that's frequent.

Then it's a self fulfilling prophecy. Apple doesn't update them because people don't buy them and people don't buy them because Apple doesn't update them.

As for ARM I am confused by some people's fascination with this processor. It's a nice processor but it's not the answer to languishing Mac updates.

If you don't consider three and four years frequent then why do you continue to use frequent in your responses?

 

[Naraxus]

In some machines, yes, but only in the short term. I think they'll keep some Intel chips in MacBook/iMac/Mac Pro's and use their own developed chips in everything else.

That would be my guess. Apple's pretty much about doing everything in-house. They'll test the waters on their own chips and if it's looking like it works I'd fully expect them to go full hog. It'd be one less hassle for them.

 

[ChrisMoBro]

Um, I don't know if you watch TV; but Apple is putting their money where their mouth is in regards to the Mac.

Oh wow, an advert totally makes up for outdated technology and lack of support of Nvidia for the pro market. But man, what a sweet advert... please note extreme use of sarcasm

 

[Roadstar]

No surprises here. I know I've delayed my purchases until the line-uo is updated.

Same here, I’m waiting for something I can justify buying.