Mac Sales Continue to Slide Amid Lack of Updates

[rowspaxe]

Without high-end video, without high-end photo, without high-end 3D, the Mac is dead. Period. You ignore the professional user, you kill the Mac. As simple as that.

I agree but for different reasons. Success in high end markets creates an aspirational halo over the entire line. Will macs be as interesting to consumers as a line up of information appliances. Maybe, maybe not.
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I played with the Surface in a shop and while I like the concept, I found the execution doesn't quite live up to the promise.

As for Windows 10. It's functional and capable but in my experience (I run it on a Mac mini) it's slower than El Cap and is mired with annoying bugs and UI consistency issues.

Software's sucked ever since UI's went graphical. Bring back the CLI.

slower? thats a new one.

 

[62tele]

Regarding the weed eater vasectomy.... I'll offer to do the surgery for free.

I hope you don't mind, but my weed eater is a bit behind in technology. It's a little slower, it's hand operated, the blades slightly rusted and dull, and it's slower.

It will do the job, just gonna hurt a little.

Are you a licensed weed eater vasectomy provider?

 

[ksnell]

I'll defend the last great Macs, the 2012 lineup!
I just bought a 2012 MACBOOK PRO I7 2.7 quad with a dvd drive 16 gigs ram for $850!
AWESOME! And I think removing the DVD drive was asinine.
Oh well, apple makes good phones.

Right there with you. My 2011 17 inch MBP i7 2.3 quad with 16GB RAM is still doing great. Personally I do not use the DVD drive so I am fine with it being a separate product to connect/purchase when (if) needed though.

 

[newtonapp]

Glad to see the market responding and that Apple is hurting. When you pay a premium for Apple products and do not get the benefit of future updates, it really shows me that they don't care.

I know that the next release event will use this as an opportunity for marketing. "You've waited long enough" or "we've heard your feedback". Ugh. I hope people won't forget how crappy they've been lately and how far they're moved away from what made Apple great in the first place.

 

[ksnell]

I'm fanboy #3 -- grabbed that spot years ago -- although I probably share it with thousands. I think it's a huge testament to Apple's quality products that upgrades in this area not seen as all that important . Not much reason to update something just for the sake of updating something.

Having said that, I'm disappointed they seem to be constrained by the iPhone (and perhaps the AppleWatch) but that, too, will take care of itself.

My hunch is that Apple has much bigger fish to fry than upgrading non-mobile hardware/software products.

Yes but while trying to figure out how to fry those bigger fish, shouldn't they continue to push the Mac line forward? We all still need desktops/laptops after all. I certainly do not upgrade every year (2011 MBP 17 inch currently) but I would like to see some advancement from a company with that much R&D.

 

[jujufreeze]

Bottom line, Apple does not see a business case in a quicker refresh cycle of Mac products. Sales, profits and market share gains would be minimal relative to its primary revenue generator, the iPhone.

It hurts the Apple brand when a semi-tech literate relative/acquaintance tells someone not to buy an Apple computer because it hasn't been updated in eons and is a bad value. SJ made sure "the Apple tax" wouldn't make the customer feel cheated because the product was technologically in line with or superior to the rest of the market and "just worked"- you honestly got what you payed for . Only from a short-term business perspective does it make sense for Apple to never refresh macs and charge the same rates.

 

[Mildredop]

All of the pc makers have taken apple's place. Look at lenovo and dell. You can get a slim nice laptop without the useless cdrom in a package very similar to the retina macbook pro. Compare to 2012 when you could not buy a high end pc laptop in a slim enclosure without a cdrom. You can get a lenovo with latest gen cpu and 64gb ram for less price than a macbook pro with 4 generation old cpu and 16gb ram. It would be really stupid to buy a new macbook right now compared to the pc laptop options available.

Where? Which Lenovo or Dell laptop would you say is better than a MacBook Pro?

 

[freezelighter]

Why there is still no GTX 1080 in the new 5K iMacs 27?

 

[pat500000]

I think its a two part reason, though those parts are related.
First Apple rolled the dice on skipping a generation, I'm surmising that people wouldn't notice if they didn't upgrade to the latest chipset. The second reason, is by not updating the Macs, they would be garnering even more profit, i.e., selling a premium computer that is no longer premium

Basically, Cook the bean counter was trying to squeeze as much profit out of the mac line as possible. That did work for a period of time, but as other competitors caught up to them, and surpassed Apple in both design and performance, consumers started buying those instead of Macs.

Another word: they underestimated us as consumers.

 

[SnoFlo]

Well, from the looks of this thread I think Tim Cook may have Apple Mac users figured just right: most people are quite happy to chug along with outdated hardware - once the hardware runs Max OS X and it looks cool. I cannot fathom how people can do this but maybe Apple users really just don't need up-to-date hardware, as this thread suggests. I did, and I stopped buying Apple computers in 2012. It was really no big deal. Yes, people are grumpy with no updates but if one really needed fast computing, just move to PC: no fuss needed. Just look at the Mac Pro forum folks (of which I was one) - the forum is a ghost town compared to a decade ago. Why? Everybody who had real computing needs moved to comparatively far superior workstations from Dell, HP and Boxx.

I take umbrage to those who post that PC offerings are 'rubbish' compared to the vaunted Mac. This is nonsense. Buy from a PC manufacturer's premium or workstation lines and be done with it. Oh, and the computers come with 3 year on-site technical support standard if one ever needs it. I've been using Dell Precision and HP Z workstations since I left Apple and they have all been exemplary. Notably, even my Mac Pro 5,1 needed a repair from Apple. A computer is a computer.

 

[merkinmuffley]

I've moved on, don't care what Apple does now.

 

[strawbale]

How long should I "stay tuned" for?

New MBB (Mac Bare Bone) - BYOE (Bring Your Own Everything) ?

 

[KdParker]

It's like they've stopped caring.

I don't think Apple doesn't care.

I think it is not as profitable to constantly update the Mac lineup. Since Macs are good machines you can normally keep them 3 to 4 times longer than PCs. So even it they where refreshed every year, most poeple would simply not need to update. You would be surprized how many Macbook Pros are still being used out there even after the rMBP came out.

 

[Stella]

At this point, we see Apple doesn't have much motivation with "PC" hardware: I'd much rather if Apple kept on making OSX but let other manufacturers make the hardware - with official specs - so to prevent Apple having to support multiple fragmented hardware.

I'm sure other manufacturers would like to offer the hardware - up to date laptops, decent "Mac Pro" alternative.

 

[asiga]

I agree but for different reasons. Success in high end markets creates an aspirational halo over the entire line. Will macs be as interesting to consumers as a line up of information appliances. Maybe, maybe not.

Professional software is the only place where the Mac (and the PC) have a future. You're already seeing it in this very thread: people who don't see the lack of Mac refreshes as a problem are arguing that "an average user" doesn't need more power than what a 4-year old Mac can deliver. And that's true, because "average user" means surfing the web, using office apps, and Facebook. A 4-year old Mac is more powerful than what you need for such tasks. In fact, you don't even need a Mac for that, an iPad will do.

However, if we talk of professional users, then the story changes. You need top of the line CUDA/OpenCL performance, you need to upgrade your GPU from time to time (and the GPU market has seen remarkable performance increases these years, unlike Intel CPUs), you need >=4 CPU cores, you need huge amounts of RAM, etc, etc... in other words, you need a Mac where an iPad won't do.

That's why I say that the professional user is the only one that can provide a future for the Mac, because it's the only user that cannot use an iPad.

 

[maflynn]

Another word: they underestimated us as consumers.

Clearly they have, as witnessed in the decreasing sales

 

[pat500000]

Clearly they have, as witnessed in the decreasing sales

This got really weird as Tim been investing 1 billion dollars toward that Chinese version of Uber...and now he's a board member of that company.

 

[avanpelt]

I'm satisfied with my mid-2014 MBP. I can't think of anything I'd like it to do that it can't do already. Will I run out and purchase another $2,500 MBP when the new ones come out? Not likely. Will I purchase another MBP when this one finally bites the dust? Almost certainly so long as it will be able to run Windows VMs as well as my current machine can.

 

[pmjoe]

Apple is probably just busy removing the headphone jack from the iMac, and we'll see an update after that.

 

[BenTrovato]

I'm satisfied with my mid-2014 MBP. I can't think of anything I'd like it to do that it can't do already. Will I run out and purchase another $2,500 MBP when the new ones come out? Not likely. Will I purchase another MBP when this one finally bites the dust? Almost certainly so long as it will be able to run Windows VMs as well as my current machine can.

Perhaps but there are people out there with older machines hoping to stay with Apple but Apple is giving them no alternative. I've waited as long as I can. The next offering coming this month or in November needs to be up to date, stylish and at a better price point. I waited because I want an Apple computer, but I don't need one. The way they've been operating lately, I don't even care to be part of their ecosystem anymore.

 

[SamVilde]

My MacBook is celebrating its 8th birthday tomorrow. It was the lowest-end model at the time, but I’ve increased the RAM and swapped in a SSD. I replaced the battery 2 years ago.

It works perfectly. I’ve watched all the Airs and Retinas and Pros roll in, and - as pretty as they were - I figured the difference in performance between those new machines and mine wasn’t really that great. Compared to my 2012 iMac at work and my BF’s 2014 MBA , my 2008 machine is as-fast and as-able. No. It’s faster.

But now the replacement battery sucks. And experience with better screens is reminding me that this screen is pretty crap. Also there’s a weird buzzing noise. I’m ready to replace.

I know the new models are coming and I can wait another two weeks. I can wait a month. Here are my fears, though: I’m afraid that I’ll look at the new machines and have the same feeling I had at every other launch: that’s not a step up. That’s not better than what I have now. And I’m afraid that Apple is going to price the new machines where I have to buy the lowest-end model again. And it will still be expensive, but it won’t be as great or as stable as what I have.

 

[Schizoid]

next Tuesday for new Macs anyone?
...it had better be the most impressive upgrade in the history of Apple!!

 

[sudo1996]

As reflected in the buyers guide and I mentioned like 3 months ago, there isn't a single system I'd recommend to any of my friends/family to buy right now.

Used 2009 Mac Pro.

 

[pat500000]

Well, from the looks of this thread I think Tim Cook may have Apple Mac users figured just right: most people are quite happy to chug along with outdated hardware - once the hardware runs Max OS X and it looks cool. I cannot fathom how people can do this but maybe Apple users really just don't need up-to-date hardware, as this thread suggests. I did, and I stopped buying Apple computers in 2012. It was really no big deal. Yes, people are grumpy with no updates but if one really needed fast computing, just move to PC: no fuss needed. Just look at the Mac Pro forum folks (of which I was one) - the forum is a ghost town compared to a decade ago. Why? Everybody who had real computing needs moved to comparatively far superior workstations from Dell, HP and Boxx.

I take umbrage to those who post that PC offerings are 'rubbish' compared to the vaunted Mac. This is nonsense. Buy from a PC manufacturer's premium or workstation lines and be done with it. Oh, and the computers come with 3 year on-site technical support standard if one ever needs it. I've been using Dell Precision and HP Z workstations since I left Apple and they have all been exemplary. Notably, even my Mac Pro 5,1 needed a repair from Apple. A computer is a computer.

However, there are programs that people use that are exclusive to apple. I'm currently using FCP X....and I'm trying to learn premiere from adobe. It's hard to jump just like that.

 

[briloronmacrumo]

I think it's a mindset

Disagree. The poster's comments about Rosetta and Apple's response were a distortion of facts. Apple's decision was strongly influenced by their lack of control over Rosetta. The poster attempted to cast Apple's decision as a callus whim, which it wasn't.

Another case in point: Apple controls and owns the Carbon frameworks but they continue to be included in OS X distributions even though Apple deprecated them years ago. A whimsical/callus Apple would have removed them years ago.

Possibly some of Apple's decisions might be dubbed egregious/whimsical/callus but not Rosetta, and Apple's long-term support of Carbon is a supporting data point.