Falling Mac Sales Have Apple's OLED Panel Suppliers Spooked

[farmboy]

I also believe this is part of the reason too. Apple just won't fix it.

While I have always thought that it was a strange design, I use the mouse every day, and it works quite well. I'm on the end of the third week since the last recharge and it's still 62%. You can get a day's charge out of it while you have half a cup of coffee.

It's strange, but it's not an impediment.

 

[surfzen21]

I also believe this is part of the reason too. Apple just won't fix it.

It's almost like this started as an April fools joke that skipped quality check and went into production.

 

[jz0309]

the entire laptop market has gone down, unsurprisingly after covid stimulated super growth ... the market will settle once again ...

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

I mean if you make the prices higher whilst keeping the improvements minor, stagnating, nay even lower the quality do some of them (twice as slow SSD) , you have to expect the sales to get lower

And refraining from improving it further will only lead to worse sales

And it's not like apple is poor, they're the biggest company in the world , they can afford to pay for some "risk"

 

[KaiFiMacFan]

Yeah, I'm not really buying into this "doomsday" Mac sales narrative. It makes sense that Mac sales have slowed recently. M1 was a major upgrade and M2 was a very minor one. With the high cost of Macs, the primacy of phones and tablets, and the diminishing returns with Apple Silicon upgrades, there are going to be fewer purchases with each iteration unless there's a redesign, a new Mac product, or a major jump in performance (none of which happened recently, except for perhaps the M2 Pro Mac Mini).

 

[CWallace]

Considering The Elec is effectively the media outlet for for the Korean Electronics Industry, I interpret this report as once again using Apple as a smokescreen to cover the fact that OLED sales in all markets are likely falling and the companies are hesitant to invest heavily in expansion because of weakening sales across the board.

I mean we still have no actual proof that Apple is moving from (Mini)LED to OLED across any product line, much less all of them, outside of reports from sources like, ironically, The Elec.

 

[spcopsmac21]

That revenue decline is revenue, not unit sales. Perhaps the number of Macs sold has increased, but people are fed up with The Apple Uptick and simply don't max their machines out anymore.

The number of macs sold had declined significantly. They have so much stock of the M2 chips and the m1 iMacs people can’t even get rid of them on the secondary market. The resell value of their devices has plummeted with the transition to apple silicon.
People are wise to the fact their apple silicon devices fail much faster than Intel macs. Repair costs are through the roof because of motherboard integration. $2500 MacBook pros failing because of a $6 part yet it’s somehow a complete motherboard replacement.
People see windows machines as more acceptable now.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

That revenue decline is revenue, not unit sales. Perhaps the number of Macs sold has increased, but people are fed up with The Apple Uptick and simply don't max their machines out anymore.

Half of the people buying Macs in any given year are not fed up with the Apple Uptick because they’ve never owned a Mac before.

 

[Remy149]

It's not the notch IMO, it's the Mickey Mouse upgrades since the original M1 😏 Most people are waiting for a proper upgrade with the M3 and if Apple doesn't deliver, Mac sales will continue to be in trouble!
As far as the notch is concerned, if they're keeping it, then it should at least have a Face ID and a camera on a par with iPhone

I have an m1 Mac and m3 is still too soon to upgrade for most users. A lot of people bought m1 macs with no need to upgrade for years now

 

[slothinker]

Imagine the price of THAT iMac now that Apple has successfully launched only the screen portion of the former 27” at what used to buy that same screen WITH the computer, keyboard and mouse. 💰💰💰

Agreed. Dropping the 27" iMac (with a reasonable price tag) was kinda like what would happen to GM if it dropped the base Corvette.

 

[matthew12]

I think sales are down for general consumers and enterprises. Consumers (like myself) got new laptops in 2020/2021 during the large "stay at home" lockdowns. Enterprises likely bought new laptops too for remote workers but now with this weird economy, they're not buying laptops either. I'm IT at my workplace and we haven't bought any new laptops (Mac or Windows) since last fall. We're in a "buy when needed" mode. Sales will probably be down this year and through mid next year, thanks to COVID-amplified purchases and the strange economy.

 

[sw1tcher]

Apple in its recent quarterly earnings call reported a significant year-over-year decline in Mac revenue, falling from $10.4 billion to $7.2 billion.

That revenue decline is revenue, not unit sales. Perhaps the number of Macs sold has increased,...

You honestly believe units sold increased from a year ago even though revenue fell from $10.4 billion to $7.2 billion?

I suppose it's possible Apple was selling boat-loads of maxed out Mac Pros last year...

and then sales plummeted in the most recent quarter while sales for the new $599 M2 Mac mini announce this past January 2023 skyrocketed.

 

[MuppetGate]

I also believe this is part of the reason too. Apple just won't fix it.

Obviously not the reason.

If it was such a problem then folk would just buy a different mouse

 

[jjudson]

I also believe this is part of the reason too. Apple just won't fix it.

Apple will resolve that in the new AR/VR headset by including a larger battery...

 

[seek3r]

Get rid of the Notch on the MacBook Pro model and the sales will increase. In addition, release a new iMac, please.

When is another day? Still waiting...

I have serious doubts that the notch is hampering sales. The bigger likelihood is that pent up demand drove a lot of Intel-->M1 updates and now those folks aren't about to update to an M2 machine, they just bought a machine basically, and one that's still super fast! And a lot of folks like me with last gen Intel machines (for my mobile use, I have an M1P MBP for work and an M1 Mini personally) are waiting for their machines to age a bit more - I expect I'll update to an M3 MBA next year.

 

[upandown]

It should be noted that the different manufacturing panel Generations (as stated in this article) only affect panel output and not OLED technology. Gen 6 vs Gen 8 OLED panel quality and performance are independent of these generations. But one could assume since gen 8 operations will start a year or two later, the panel itself will be more advanced only due to time.

 

[Vol Braakzakje]

It's not the notch IMO, it's the Mickey Mouse upgrades since the original M1 😏 Most people are waiting for a proper upgrade with the M3 and if Apple doesn't deliver, Mac sales will continue to be in trouble!
As far as the notch is concerned, if they're keeping it, then it should at least have a Face ID and a camera on a par with iPhone

What do you mean Mickey Mouse upgrades? They update the prices like freaking Musaffa. The Macbooks are just getting too expensive. Also the air is now way too expensive. When it was under 999€ for a decent machine it was okay. Now it’s €1500 for the baseline M2 MB Air… what on earth are they thinking?

 

[Xand&Roby]

The first Apple device with an OLED screen is from 2015.

Apple is the most capitalised company in the world or one of the first.

There are no further excuses.

 

[ignatius345]

Because their iPad lineup and pricing is ****ing bonkers and their Macs RAM and SSD upgrades are nothing but outrageous. While their base models have absolute bare minimum RAM and SSD with a high starting point overseas.

Apple is nothing but greed and bare minimum now due to Tim Crook.

I know, right? Remember back when they used to sell Macs at cost and the specs were all maxed out right out the box? Yeah, me neither.

Fact is, the cost of an entry-level Mac has been going down for years when you factor in inflation. Open up EveryMac.com and your favorite inflation calculator if you don't believe me.

 

[zakarhino]

Covid + Apple Silicon debut meant a lot of us picked up new machines. These suppliers should not panic too much because by the time the OLED MBP ships a lot of us will be due to upgrade. OLED is one of the major upgrades I'm looking for on the MBP, more so than a faster chip.

Then again, the coming depression may be a reason to panic.

 

[sleven]

Honestly, maybe it’s time for Apple to follow Microsoft and create a surface-like device.

Merge the iPad and MacBook lineups. Have some of the ports on the OLED tablet itself, have remainder on the detachable keyboard portion.

Cannibalize one of the products to reduce options and guide usage of products down a particular path. Enhance the OS to allow a blended-experience.

Multiple sizes; 11,13,15.

Maintain basic iPad, two generations lagging, for low-cost option.

 

[MacsRgr8]

what’s wrong with the notch? Isnt it just in the taskbar dead space anyways? iMac is BADLY Needed

I agree iMac is BADLY needed. But the notch on my M1 Pro MacBook Pro... it's just obnoxious.

 

[cutlub]

My M1 MacBook Pro is my favorite Apple computer I've ever owned. The last Ive-designed MBP was the worst Mac I've ever owned. Apple knows best selling Macs, and I'm sure they're prioritized accordingly. Hence, the imminent MacBook Air 15".

I'm curious how many people complaining here own the entire Mac lineup. The new Mini might be the best value computer on the market. I wonder how many people here are typing on a Mac Pro. Are the improvements to be made across the entire Mac lineup? Of course! But the Mac isn't going away and Apple isn't going to fail overnight.

 

[seek3r]

I know, right? Remember back when they used to sell Macs at cost and the specs were all maxed out right out the box? Yeah, me neither.

Fact is, the cost of an entry-level Mac has been going down for years when you factor in inflation. Open up EveryMac.com and your favorite inflation calculator if you don't believe me.

I think the point you were replying to is you used to be able to buy a base machine and upgrade it yourself later. The 2012 MBP sitting in the drawer next to me right now, for ex, got drive and ram updates. So did the 2014 mini server I have. The og Intel mini I have around somewhere got *CPU* (core 2 duo) ram and drive updates.

My 2013 Mac Pro (basically the equiv of the studio) has a replaced CPU, drive, and ram too. On the extreme upgrade-ability side I've updated my 2010 5,1 Mac Pro on nearly everything except the backplane (gpu, cpu, ram, nvme boot drive, wifi, bluetooth, usb3 card, and 10gbe network card) in the time I've had it. Even the 2010 iMac allowed replacement CPUs and GPUs, though it was rare that someone actually did.

back on laptops though it was common up until recently for ram and drives to be replaceable, so you could buy the base and upgrade it later. Now you have to get the specs you want for the lifespan of the machine upfront - and some of those upgrade costs are pretty steep.

Now I get why Apple did that, especially with AS and the SoC (though we'll see if that painted them into a corner on the Mac Pro), and I don't disagree with the reasoning (at least on AS) but it is frustrating when buying a machine and budgeting.

 

[seek3r]

I agree iMac is BADLY needed. But the notch on my M1 Pro MacBook Pro... it's just obnoxious.

I honestly do not get this complaint. I legit don't notice it at all on my work MBP, which is the computer I spent the most time on.

I *do* notice the increased screen real estate compared to the Intel machine it replaced though.

The notch is fine, it's not eating any space I ever was going to use since it sits in the middle of the menubar and it lets them move the menubar up and give me more workspace.

Even if you typically work in full screen apps and thus have eveything sit below the notch it just fades into the black bezel they put up and you don't have any less real estate than you did on the old machines without the notch.

So what exactly is your issue with it?

fun fact: when I use my personal 2020 MBA after using my work laptop a bit the top bezel looks absurdly huge to me, it's actually kinda irritating, I can't wait for a MBA with more real estate and the notch