Kuo: MacBook Sales Down 30% Amid No New Products for Remainder of 2023

[Student of Life]

This doesn’t take into account the surge of MacBook sales throughout the C-19 pandemic; the whole industry is currently readjusting to pre-levels.

This is the most spot on assessment one can make. The surge was unsustainable, expecting repeat numbers goes against the norm here.

 

[Steve-Jobz]

Haha, 8GB+256GB. Just do this again!

 

[GalileoSeven]

Things seemed to have plateaued now just as they have with iPhones IMO. Everyone who already wants one, seems to have already jumped aboard the Apple silicon train already.

Considering what others have already mentioned too as far as inflation, a bad economy etc etc goes and lower sales figures will be a given. Didn't need an analyst to tell us that.

 

[iZac]

The M series chips are already slowing down to an 18 month cycle so get ready for a 2 year upgrade cycle.

That lets them sell the entry level M series chips one year and fill out the higher end chips the year after.

 

[dgdosen]

I have no doubt that youtubers/leakers/macrumormongers will have no problem crufting up content. I'm gonna try to stay away till next year! Call it a pre-NY resolution. Happy Holidays.

 

[Skoobunny]

I would happily buy a new Mac Book (Pro) with an Intel processor right now. I don't need super performance or extended battery life. I need 100% compatibility with Windows software.

 

[krspkbl]

i'm waiting for M3 MBA 15". the 14-16" pros are stupid expensive. pushing myself to get a MBA lmao. wonder why sales are down....

I would happily buy a new Mac Book (Pro) with an Intel processor right now. I don't need super performance or extended battery life. I need 100% compatibility with Windows software.

buy/build a PC then.

 

[Mark.g4]

Haha, 8GB+256GB. Just do this again!

I hope that the new Mac Pros 2023 are also compatible with non-Apple memories...

 

[Any name]

too much money for ram/storage specs from 15 years ago

Yeah. I can’t justify the price tag of any 16/512 setup so I’m languishing with a useless non-MacBook laptop

 

[DevNull0]

It is 2023 and the Macbook still starts with 256 gig of SSD. Soldered never-upgradable SSD. Meanwhile, a 2 TB 970Evo Pro SSD (this is very fast storage, 3300MB/s write speed) costs $130 and is 8 times the storage of the MBP. How much does Apple charge for a 2TB upgrade that is still soldered in? Memory and storage are so insanely cheap now -- unless you buy Apple.

As non-Apple computers get cheaper and cheaper, Macs just get more and more expensive.

And as a very long term mac users, the OS has turned to absolute trash over the past few revisions. They're dumbing it down to look and feel like iPadOS and taking away a lot of what it can do. 5 years ago, the UI was sleek and well designed for a keyboard and trackpad interface. Now it's a dumbed down interface made for a touch screen on a computer that doesn't even have a touch screen.

Between the price premium and reduced functionality, why would anyone buy a computer from Timmy (What's a Computer) Cook?

 

[EdwardC]

I would happily buy a new Mac Book (Pro) with an Intel processor right now. I don't need super performance or extended battery life. I need 100% compatibility with Windows software.

I have a 2017 MacBook Air which is really still a great computer but for the compatibility issues I picked up a ThinkPad T14 11th gen I5 and 16GB RAM for $600.00 new at MicroCenter. Its a really nice laptop but obviously not a sleek as a Mac but is very well built for a really good price.

 

[falkon-engine]

My M1 Max 14” is so good that the only reason I will ever upgrade will be either 1) it dies, or 2) thunderbolt 5 arrives. Otherwise, there’s no reason to update at all. It is such a pleasure to use that machine. Apple has done good things with the Mac, but sales can’t grow forever.

 

[DarthDon]

I was thinking about buying a MBA 15". Like many smart one of us, i was waiting a little longer to see whats going on with the device within the first months.
Along came something totally different - a 2019 MBP 16" (I9,32,512, top condition) for a fair price. So - i can wait as well for the M3 ;-)

 

[Shirasaki]

I think many people are waiting longer to upgrade and or purchase a laptop. Even if there were new Macs offered, I don't think there would be a big surge in sales outside of MR.

Those sub-c ports on my MacBook Pro 13” 2020 could entice me to upgrade sooner than expected. Having only 2 really limit things, plus I think power delivery on them was not that great. Some of my USB-C hubs don’t work as reliably as I thought on that MacBook but works fine on my PC.

 

[hooptyuber]

Not that surprising. Apple is a phone company.

 

[DevNull0]

This doesn’t take into account the surge of MacBook sales throughout the C-19 pandemic; the whole industry is currently readjusting to pre-levels.

That would be a nice explanation if you hadn't just made it up and pretended it was true.

Laptops - Worldwide | Statista Market Forecast

The Laptops market worldwide is projected to grow by 3.69% (2024-2028) resulting in a market volume of US$147.4bn in 2028.

www.statista.com

2023 global laptop sales are up from 2022. 2022 did drop 4%, but that was coming off of an 10% covid surge in 2020 and further 1% growth in 2021. Contrast that to the 30% drop in Mac sales for 2023 and it doesn't look good for the Mac.

But hey, I can get a pretty good windows PC with 2TB of storage for less than Apple charges for the 2TB upgrade alone. I can get an amazing windows PC that will blow the Mac out of the water for half the price of the Mac. And MacOS these days seems to be designed by people who don't know what a computer is and just use their iPads to watch cat videos on TikTok.

 

[Abazigal]

But hey, I can get a pretty good windows PC with 2TB of storage for less than Apple charges for the 2TB upgrade alone. I can get an amazing windows PC that will blow the Mac out of the water for half the price of the Mac.

I would love to see this mythical windows desktop PC that blows the Mac Studio out of the water in terms of performance, while being only half the price. Because to my knowledge, the Mac Studio is comparable to workstations that easily cost just as much, if not more, while also taking up far more space.

 

[bollman]

We're seeing 6 weeks+ delivery times for MBP 14 and 16.
All distributors reporting increasing delivery times on MBPs, MBAs are still plenty around.

 

[Doomtomb]

increase RAM and SSD for same money would do more than a M3 to spur demand.

 

[blazerunner]

I'm not sure but I think 8+256 base config in 2023 and insane upgrade cost will put some people off

It's ok, Apple consumers are the only ones out there "SMART ENOUGH" to pay through the nose for that kind of crap.

👍

 

[azentropy]

Many many reasons for the drop in sales. But yeah for me it has to do with that my M1 MBA (my oldest system) is just a fantastic machine and there is very little incentive to upgrade with the current MBA with the incremental performance improvement and the anemic base RAM and expensive RAM upgrades.

 

[Mark.g4]

If they were to present a laptop like one from 2010, I would buy it instantly:

1) easy replacement of all components
2) ports and connectivity
3) possibility to choose the matte screen
4) ability to bind the computer via kensington lock.

Is it so difficult to make a professional laptop with these features?

I want a professional Mac, not a phone with a large screen.

 

[MilaM]

When/if upgrade prices for RAM and SSD reach a justifiable level, I will buy a Mac mini. Otherwise, I will just keep using my 2017 iMac.

Bought a 8GB/512GB Mini from Amazon two weeks ago. It's a lovely little computer. But I had to return it because 8GB of RAM is not enough and not future-proof. For the Mini you can only get 16GB RAM as BTO, at much higher prices.

 

[sdwaltz]

Apple Silicon is just too good.

 

[ikramerica]

Things seemed to have plateaued now just as they have with iPhones IMO. Everyone who already wants one, seems to have already jumped aboard the Apple silicon train already.

Considering what others have already mentioned too as far as inflation, a bad economy etc etc goes and lower sales figures will be a given. Didn't need an analyst to tell us that.

But iPhones have built in sales due to “get a 15 Pro on us!” promotions from so many carriers.

People don’t realize they are paying for that phone or don’t care, but there is no “get a new 16” MBP on us!” phone plans out there.