Mac Revenue Down 34% Year-Over-Year, But Tim Cook Expects 'Significant' Improvement With M3 Macs

[Tunster]

Apple have too many lines in all their products.

Plus, they should bring back the 12inch MacBook without the Pro. They've become obsessed with chasing the "content creator" that they're forgetting they have the perfect chip for a low powered portable. Like their phones, it's all lost in the marketing and not the reality.

 

[haydn!]

With Apple Silicon, Mac upgrades may become similar to iPad upgrades unlike the Intel era. You buy a new one if the old one dies or is no longer getting updates. And then sell a kidney to pay for it.

Realistically, I suspect this is how the majority of Mac owners already operate. They're simply not devices you update every 1-2 years. Mac's have always been designed/built to last and can easily run for a good 5-6 years without any problems.

 

[deaglecat]

M3 was the chip everybody seemed to be waiting for…but I am not so sure that it is compelling buy anymore.

…price increases, core and memory bandwidth changes and the same unusable 8Gb in a so-called “pro“ model…

and one more thing, why is the space black only on the higher end models? I could have been tempted by asthetics.

 

[canadianreader]

Lol and that's why there was an event for what would normally always have been a press release

They want so badly the M1 and Intel crowd to upgrade

 

[smulji]

The new iMac is especially disappointing

for me it's great. An orange M3 iMac with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD is on my Xmas wishlist.

 

[Abazigal]

Apple raised the price of entry level MacBook Pro from $1,299 to $1,599.

They expect to sell more?

People want performance improvement, but M1 to M3 is only 30% uplift.

You have it backwards. Prices are giving up precisely because Apple is selling less. In general, users are upgrading less frequently, so Apple is attempting to offset this by way of higher margins and stronger exchange rates.

I don’t see it as an inherently bad thing. Many people likely got a new Mac or iPad during the pandemic and this is testament to their longevity.

 

[MilaM]

I don't care about M1,2,3. I do care about extremely expensive RAM and SSD prices. It's the only reason I'm still waiting to upgrade.

 

[gk_brown]

Of course a new computer is always nice, but the total prices including needed RAM and drive upgrades are insane.

Yeah, their RAM pricing is ridiculous. $200 to add 8GB to the baseline MBA.

 

[63W]

It will be a significant improvement.....IF....... Apple sells budget friendly M2, M3 Macs and MacBooks, that are easily affordable by majority of people.

Apple needs to offer budget friendly products, similar to iPhone SE. Make a MacBook SE, under $600. Less CPU cores, less GPU cores, slower SSD and slower RAM.

My daily work horse is a 2014 MacAir, it has a dual core i7 cpu. It performs perfectly every single day and I have no reason to buy a newer MacBook Air or Pro. Only time a fan goes full speed, is when I'm torrenting at least 5 things.

There are times I use "screen mirroring" to Apple TV device, to watch movies on my TV. At the same time I can torrent files and surf internet, with mild to mid load on i7 CPU.

Average user, even today, won't be able to take full advantage of a 8 year old CPU. Same average user will never take full advantage of M1, M2, ...M12...M29 ..cpu. Apple needs to make "SE" budget computers.

 

[darngooddesign]

Apple raised the price of entry level MacBook Pro from $1,299 to $1,599.

They expect to sell more?

People want performance improvement, but M1 to M3 is only 30% uplift.

Boy that sounds really awful… oh wait

The 8/256 M2 was $1299 while the 8/512 M2 was $1499 so Apple only increased the price by $100.

And for that extra $100 you get a much better screen (larger, brighter, higher res, mini-LED, HDR-capable, etc), better speakers, fn keys instead of touchbar, a larger battery, SD and HDMI slots, more powerful charging brick, fast charge capable, MagSafe, and a faster chip.

I can’t believe how stingy Apple is. /s

 

[sleeptodream]

for me it's great. An orange M3 iMac with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD is on my Xmas wishlist.

Perfect spec, mine is also 16/512 but pink it’s def better than it was, but not enough changes to upgrade from the M1

 

[gk_brown]

I have a 14-inch base MacBook Pro with M1 Pro/16GB/512GB.

I have the 14" M1 Pro/32GB/1TB. It's two years old but still feels brand new. I may upgrade next cycle (M4 Pro or whatever they end up calling it).

 

[minik]

My work upgraded my Mac recently which baked into the Q4. Really wish they refreshed the iPad line up as well. Could it be because the yield of M3 that Apple didn't want to floor the product line with it?

 

[gk_brown]

People don’t replace their MacBook often like a phone get a grip

A 34% drop in sales is significant.

 

[JPack]

Boy that sounds really awful… oh wait

The 8/256 M2 was $1299, while the 8/512 M2 was $1499 so Apple increased the price by $100.

And for that extra $100 you get a much better screen (larger, brighter, higher res, mini-LED, HDR-capable, etc), better speakers, fn keys instead of touchbar, a larger battery, SD slot, more powerful charging brick, and a faster chip.

I can’t believe how stingy Apple is. /s

Comes down to whether people appreciate that 512GB and mini LED. Or if they prefer MBA 15.

Apple could have added mini-LED to iPad Pro 11-inch and raised the price. But given how close it is to iPad Air, they likely decided against it.

It's a sensitive balance between what consumers want and if a feature will sell.

 

[AF_APPLETALK]

You realize just the M3 is as powerful, in single and multi-core, as the M1 Pro? It's fair to say that the M3 Pro will decent performance improvements over the M1 Pro

You realize that you sound like a Redditor when you start your comment with "you realize", right?

I'm sure it's a fine system, but is it fine enough to justify an upgrade?

 

[MacReality]

I have put all mac purchases on hold (including laptops)

Why? I am looking for a new desktop to replace my 2019 iMac. I have looked at and rejected the Mac Studio twice. The all in one desktop design is what brought to and kept me with Apple since 2008. The 24 inch iMac doesn't have a large enough screen, nor does it have enough ports or memory. The Mac Studio is too expensive and the design is less convenient.

What am I interested in buying? An iMac with an M3 max with a 27 to 30 inch display, with ports, storage and memory options similar to those of a high end MacBook Pro.

Exactly like my story… and probably many others. I think a new M-chip iMac 27” would convince many users to upgrade their Macs.

I’m currently running a 2017 iMac 27 which honestly is doing fine, but am looking for an upgrade for 2-3 years without any fitting offering from Apple.

Also, those prices.. the world is just expensive at the moment, and Apple is starting to leave the sweet spot with their pricing.

 

[AF_APPLETALK]

Why would anyone order such a machine without looking into what exactly it is that you're buying??

Just because Apple puts a higher number on something, does not mean it's automatically better. You may be working well within the performance of the current machine, and for a long while too.

I currently have a 14" machine, want to upgrade to a 16" machine for extra screen space, which was my primary concern here. I compile some large projects and work with some pretty big video files, and a boost in CPU proc would save me time, but it's hard to justify a Max chip in anything other than a Mac Studio system. The proc compromises kind of dumped a cold bucket of water on the purchase and made me rethink it. The Max chip is the only suitable upgrade from an M1 Pro, and a 16" Max MBP gets too close to $4k.

Solution is to: 1) keep my existing 14", 2) turn it into a travel machine when the M3 studio comes out and get a 2nd Studio display, all for less than the 16" MBP.

 

[ostrykolesz]

In my opinion, the Mac’s are the best products that Apple sells. I think Apple needs an entry level Mac for $499 to get more people hooked…

 

[CausticSoda]

My wedge M1 MBA with 1Tb and 16Gb will last me for many more years. The M1 Macs are just "too good" for many users to need or want to upgrade. Plenty of users like myself might upgrade just for the hell of it but are likely put off by the stupid, stupid price of RAM and storage. Apple's strategy here has kind of created a trap for themselves. On a side note, I prefer the wedge design to the new MBAs which is yet another reason I won't be upgrading soon. I deliberately bought it even though the M2 was available. I hope the notch will be gone by the time I upgrade.

 

[canadianreader]

Apple have too many lines in all their products.

Plus, they should bring back the 12inch MacBook without the Pro. They've become obsessed with chasing the "content creator" that they're forgetting they have the perfect chip for a low powered portable. Like their phones, it's all lost in the marketing and not the reality.

They should simplify products names like Macbook (M3), Macbook Pro (M3 Pro), Macbook Max (M3 Max)

 

[cycomiko]

Might be wishful thinking about M3 having an impact. the globe has major issues around cost of living, and exchange rates versus US have gone off.

Its going to be fun times for most tech manufactures as consumers assume their current tech is good enough for a bit longer. My employers still have most of their staff on iPhone 11 and Surface3s. Generations old.

 

[AppleTO]

I mean, they did kill off the iMac that everyone wanted, and seem to refuse to remake it in a 27” or 32” version.

 

[Fuzzball84]

They should simplify products names like Macbook (M3), Macbook Pro (M3 Pro), Macbook Max (M3 Max)

You'd think... they have made some decisions which are kind of baffling, for a trillion dollar company.

One of the things that truly baffled me was having the MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro names printed on the front bezels of some models, and not others.

That small detail... so small, but you see and think why?? why have it on some and not others... its the details that count when you're spending so much on a device.

 

[lowkey]

The sales figures reflect a post COVID world.

During COVID, stay at home/work from home led to a massive increase in sales. Those people (me included) all have fairly new computers.

Since COVID there has been massive supply chain issues, inflation across the world and subsequent interest rate rises.

Inflation has forced up prices. Interest rate rises have reduced spending power, and those with M1 Apple Silicon don’t have a real requirement to upgrade yet.

I don’t see the M3 solving those problems as the new releases are relatively expensive, require an expensive ram upgrade in many cases, and are only incrementally faster except for the M3Max which was a big jump up, but is only a niche of a niche product.

If the rumors are true and Apple is considering a lower cost MacBook with say an M1 chip then I think that will entice more people on Intel to make the switch. I also think the MacBook Air M3 will sell well as it’s going to be cheaper than the recently updated MacBook Pros and in many cases just as powerful.