Ok so what would you attribute it to then? We have months on months (or in some cases YEARS of "Caution" or "Do Not Buy" and people holding off on buying Macs then Apple releases new Macs and suddenly sales increase.
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Apple Sold Fewest Macs in Any Quarter Since 2010 as Nearly Entire Lineup Was Outdated
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That’s not bad at all when you consider they aren’t in the computer biz anymore. Lol
I'm with everyone else who points out pricing. A lot of the Macs Apple sells are relatively outdated, and they were expensive when new. With the prices the same after years with no updates it's just extortion; just proving to the anti-Apple crowd that Apple is overpriced. Considering iPad revenue is now less than Mac, maybe Cook will realise that iPad isn't the "post PC" replacement he'd hoped it'd become.
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They have to start though. Without Mac platform the iPhone and iPad will die eventually. People will shift to better ecosystem and I'm sure if this trend continues there will be someone taking advantage of that.
Your argument makes no sense... there has been a lot of growth in the Mac ecosystem since 2009... that is way more than one average replacement cycle.
BTW, I would be happy if the Mac Pro went backward in aesthetics... I really like the cheesegrater... but I will still buy another Mac... just have not decided which one yet (I prefer headless, the market prefers headed).
Why worry about what other people choose to do with their money?
The iPhone may be overpriced and too expensive for you, but not for the close to several hundred people who repeatedly choose to open their wallet and reward Apple with their currency. Year after year after year.
That’s me. Wrong spec mix, wrong prices.
But the interesting take is 60% of those 3.6 Million Mac's sold were to people who did not previously have a Mac. So Apple does seem to be adding new users to the base. My 2012 Macbook Air still does everything i want, as does my Macbook Pro 2013 and 2015 Macbook Air , if i was to get another it would be want not need, and i do want the new Macbook Pro and i do want a touchbar i love playing with them in the Apple Store, but i cannot justify that amount of money yet for a want.
Part of the issue is that many people are in a transition from believing they need a traditional workhorse computer to using a mobile device (chrome book, iPad, iPhone, etc.). While there will always be a need for more powerful computers, I think we will see a slow contraction of the traditional computer market. All it takes is another disruption or two and it might not be a slow contraction.
this is history repeating itself. it's not that they're trying to be the "brand of the rich" it's just that the current direction of the company is focused more on the financials side of things than the products. Apple is catering to the stock market crowd for their business decisions and not necessarily the products themselves.
This can be directly tied to the fact that the CEO's net worth and renumeration is heavily tied to the stock price. it is in Tim Cook's best financial interest personally to operate in this manner.
THe problem is this sort of behaviour can backfire (but not always). if volume decreases due to products that no longer are capable of easily selling themselves due to their own merits that they decide to raise prices across the board to make up for the potential loss revenue, there's always threat of blowback from the customer base.
Often this is seen as "profiteering for the sake of profiteering" or a "tax" to keep wallstreet happy. This can have potential ramifications of pissing off customers. Apple should be no stranger to this, as this nearly tanked them in the 90's. The term "Apple Tax" didn't come from out of nowhere. Many, especially in foreign markets where there is additional currency conversions in place so that Apple's US books can look good, we are paying for those hefty margins just so that Apple can boast to the investors how well revenue wise they did.
This quarter has been a resounding financial success for apple. However, there are certain things that should be paid attention to by Apple, that might pose future risk. iPhone sales were relatively flat with no growth. Mac Sales declined as this article shows. Service revenues, and an increase of ASP accross almost the entire product lineup should make investors raise an eyebrow.
swingerofbirch
macrumors 68040
Yeah because no one who has an older Mac would want to downgrade to a new one.
I wish people would stop looking at how old a technology is vs how a technology is used. Just because something is old doesn't mean it's bad. If you're thinking like that, why are you still using processor technology from four decades ago? Why are you still using keyboards invented at the beginning of the 1900's?
Let me start by saying that I'm not against USB-C, I'm against USB-C everywhere.
It's a waste to put USB-C ports everywhere. It makes the computer more expensive because it requires more CPU lanes for every single USB-C port. If you want more USB-C ports, you automatically need a more expensive processor. Not every device needs that much bandwidth. The bandwidth for a single USB-C port could be used to have multiple USB 3.1 ports.
Let's take a keyboard and mouse as the perfect examples of why USB-C everywhere is a waste. The bandwidth required for a USB keyboard and mouse is so low that those devices are usually still USB 1.1
Being okay with USB-C everywhere is like designing a new street in a city and having two car-wide lanes for cars, two car-wide lanes for bicycles and two car-wide lanes for pedestrians. It's nonsense.
The only thing saving the Macs from extinction is the fact Apple needs them to compile iPhone apps.
Selling fewer Macs perhaps shows current Macs are not worth the higher cost when competitors like HP and Microsoft are making some comparably expensive stuff that appears to be quite nice.
I'm waiting to upgrade my "mid 2010" mini. I like the small quiet computer on my desk. Installing an SSD drive makes my mini good until a new more powerful mini arrives.
I'm waiting to upgrade my "mid 2010" mini. I like the small quiet computer on my desk. Installing an SSD drive makes my mini good until a new more powerful mini arrives.
I’m not surprised by this report based on my own anecdotal evidence. I purchased my MacBook Pro in August 2010 just before starting university. It lasted me all throughout undergrad and grad school. I wanted to replace it prior to starting medical school but I was disappointed in their lineup so I upgraded the RAM and replaced the hard drive instead. I have many friends who did the same thing. In my circle, I don’t know one person who bought another MacBook after getting the one they bought for university. They have either gone with a cheaper windows alternative or made do with their original MacBook. Luckily these machines were built to last if you take good care of them. 8 years later, I think I have finally reached the point where I can’t hold out for Apple to make the laptop of my dreams that matches my limited student loan budget, so I too will be getting some form of a windows laptop this fall.
Maybe we childish people simply want updated computers with modern technologies, like USB-C and up-to-date CPUs and GPUs. We're not being unreasonable to think it's ridiculous that Apple is still selling computers that are over four years old, in the case of the Mac Pro.
I looked into this as others have. Intel doesn't have an 8th gen 15W CPU with an appropriate GPU (Iris Plus) to run a Retina display.
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/26303525/
I reckon part of it is price, especially with the laptop lines. If you want a new-ish 15” laptop from Apple, you need to pay $2400! Here in the UK, that’s nearly a straight symbol exchange, where it’s £2350. It sure didn’t used to be that way...back in 2011, if you wanted the bigger size, the buy-in price was $1800. $600 in six years. Nuts. All this is doing is making people like me reconsider whether they really do need the “new shiny”.
The transition (in US currency, anyway) was the introduction of the Retina class MBPs. They marked those up as premium models, and then simply removed the cheaper options and made the ‘premium’ prices the defaults.
I’m still on a 2014 rMBP. Probably going to stay that way for a while longer from the looks of things. The iMac line’s prices aren’t anywhere near as bad, but they’re still pricey. I just hope it stays that way through the next refresh.
The transition (in US currency, anyway) was the introduction of the Retina class MBPs. They marked those up as premium models, and then simply removed the cheaper options and made the ‘premium’ prices the defaults.
I’m still on a 2014 rMBP. Probably going to stay that way for a while longer from the looks of things. The iMac line’s prices aren’t anywhere near as bad, but they’re still pricey. I just hope it stays that way through the next refresh.
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Sadly I think the entry level 13" MBA is the only laptop in their range that represents acceptable value (despite being so old).
Two weeks ago when MacRumors reported Apple were about to stop selling the 15" 2015 Macbook Pro, I started searching local stores for a good refurbished unit, for two reasons. 1) All the newer Macbook Pros are impractical (for me) with their lack of ports, soldered in SSD's, and horrible keyboards. 2) The entire laptop line up, especially the newer Macbook Pros, are ridiculously overpriced.
They cant keep raising the price (and castrating the MBP's) and expect as many people to keep on paying.
I really hope so. I just think Apple’s approach will be to keep the Mac platform on life support and barely bother with it. Just look at their public outreach to the pro market by announcing the Mac Pro. That was such a positive step. Then they go ahead and depreciate OpenCL/GL which means Nvidia cards support will never happen, despite the fact most professionals would kill for CUDA enabled Macs.
People demand yearly mac refreshes akin to the iPhone, but don't understand there's no groundbreaking hardware advances to justify it. If people want to shell out 3K every year for the sake of a new laptop shell, maybe apple should oblige them.
Considering there insane prices, being outdated and you have to spend at least $1,500 for halfway decent specs. I'm not surprised sales are down.
You can get a nice, slim, light and fast Windows Ultrabook in the $600 to $900 range. Which stand somewhere between Apple's $1,500 and $1,800 models. MacOS X is nice but it's not that nice.
Now I know Apple includes some premium features that drive the price up.
- Thunderbolt: Not necessary. It's nice for a few pros but only a tiny minority uses it. Everyone else has to pay a premium for this. Drop it or make it a BTO option.
- Retina Display: It's nice but being an odd resolution drives up cost unnecessarily. Make it 4K or 1920x1080.
- Aluminum Case: Sure Apple's cases are nice and help get the weight down a little. They are aluminum. Aluminum isn't expensive. It's not as if they are made of titanium or sterling silver or hand carved by French artisans.
- Touchbar: Not worth it. Not as convenient as function keys.
Now OS X takes time and money to develop. It's reasonable to expect a $200 premium on Mac hardware. Windows gets spread out over a much larger install base.
The question is why is the Mac lineup so outdated? Doesn't Apple have engineering teams for each model?
At this point Apple should just use an off the shelf server board from Supermicro, Gigabyte, &c. Write some custom code for the EFI to make it a Mac's EFI. Make any remaining drivers necessary. Get a nice Mac looking case fro InWin or similar. Then get it out the door.
Same with the Mac Mini. Go to Intel. Get one of their NUC. Slap an Aluminum case on it. Get any remaining drivers worked out. Then get it to market.
Sure it would not be the same level of refinement. It's better than selling five to six year old hardware.
You can get a nice, slim, light and fast Windows Ultrabook in the $600 to $900 range. Which stand somewhere between Apple's $1,500 and $1,800 models. MacOS X is nice but it's not that nice.
Now I know Apple includes some premium features that drive the price up.
- Thunderbolt: Not necessary. It's nice for a few pros but only a tiny minority uses it. Everyone else has to pay a premium for this. Drop it or make it a BTO option.
- Retina Display: It's nice but being an odd resolution drives up cost unnecessarily. Make it 4K or 1920x1080.
- Aluminum Case: Sure Apple's cases are nice and help get the weight down a little. They are aluminum. Aluminum isn't expensive. It's not as if they are made of titanium or sterling silver or hand carved by French artisans.
- Touchbar: Not worth it. Not as convenient as function keys.
Now OS X takes time and money to develop. It's reasonable to expect a $200 premium on Mac hardware. Windows gets spread out over a much larger install base.
The question is why is the Mac lineup so outdated? Doesn't Apple have engineering teams for each model?
At this point Apple should just use an off the shelf server board from Supermicro, Gigabyte, &c. Write some custom code for the EFI to make it a Mac's EFI. Make any remaining drivers necessary. Get a nice Mac looking case fro InWin or similar. Then get it out the door.
Same with the Mac Mini. Go to Intel. Get one of their NUC. Slap an Aluminum case on it. Get any remaining drivers worked out. Then get it to market.
Sure it would not be the same level of refinement. It's better than selling five to six year old hardware.
Very misleading headline ignores PC sales trends as a whole.
As we see here, computer sales are on a downward trend as a whole across the entire industry. Everyone is at their lowest sales level in years. Not just Apple. Dell, HP, everyone.
As we see here, computer sales are on a downward trend as a whole across the entire industry. Everyone is at their lowest sales level in years. Not just Apple. Dell, HP, everyone.
Most people would be happy with every 2 years. Just look at the current line up. The average refresh is almost 2 years! I don’t expect them to launch them annually but it’s their whole freaking attitude towards the platform
Or maybe they'll realize there's no such thing as the "post PC" era. I hate to bring this up because people seem to dislike Steve Jobs quotes, but he said that some people need trucks (Macs) and some people need cars (iPads).
Well, if you need a truck, you're never going to buy a car. It just happens that cars (iPads) didn't exist before so a lot of truck (Mac) owners switched to a car (iPad). This explains the many years of amazing iPad sales, the slowdown is just market saturation. The people who didn't need a computer before have now switched to iPads, but those who need a computer still need a computer. And now we're waiting for Apple to upgrade the Macs. Unfortunately, they keep adding gimmicks that nobody asked for like the touch bar, which in turns increases the price, which in turns means people switching back to Windows or Linux because on top of the new higher prices there's the exchange rate world-wide making Macs more expensive than ever before.