Mac Sales Remain Flat in July, 5% Year Over Year Drop Expected for September Quarter

[GizmoDVD]

You don't think there is a market for 17" laptops? Almost all other manufacturers offer 17+ inch models. I once had a 20" Dell XPS M2010 laptop, now that was certainly way too big.

No.

If there was, Apple would continue to produce a 17" model. But they didn't, since the sales were low compared to the 13" and 15".

 

[tuxon86]

I agree. Win8 runs really well (i.e. fast). I typically use Win7 at work and OS X at home, but I got curious and bootcamped Win8 on my Mac Mini. The only problem with it is the new Start page. I found a recommendation to clear it and just put the things you want there... made all the difference.

yep... And beside, I prefer to hit the windows key on my keyboard to get the start screen instead of the start menu and then scrolling down a long list of sub menu entry to find the icon of the app I want to launch. The Metro screen I've splitted in 5 column b app category. It's way faster to find what I want since that screen has all my apps that I use on it.

 

[GizmoDVD]

Time to bring back the 17" MacBook Pro so some of us "pro" users can stay loyal Apple.

Like I said before, Apple does not care about the 27 of you. You are not a "Pro" just because you want a bigger screen.

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Guess people really do want CD Rom drives and you know, bigger hard drives. I'd love a new MBP because they are thinner and have longer batteries, but the lack of a CD-ROM (Which, I DO still use) and the tiny SSD drives are non-starters for me. Especially at those price points.

I think more people want Floppy Drives and Serial ports.

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YOU may not want optical media but some of us do and just because you don't want it doesn't mean you have to be a dick about it. Case is not "closed." Until there's NO physical media left in the world, An $1,800 to $2,000 computer damn well should have an optical drive. Especially considering said $2,000 computer ends up having a measely 500 GB HD (or worse 256) in it.

You can't have it both ways - claim that everything is digital, physical media is unnecessary and then take away the storage required for digital media. It's STUPID!

Since every Apple Product (except for the classic MBP and the soon-to-be discontinued Mac Pro) do not have an Optical Drive, I suggest you get used to it if you want to stay in the Appleverse.

Plenty of PC's also now omit the drive. It's becoming fairly useless in todays society, and if you need one, go buy an external. You can be as vocal as you want - it's not coming back.

 

[tuxon86]

Windows 8 is hugely annoying on a desktop until replacement third party apps are installed to regain control, imho. Apple know what they are doing keeping OS X and iOS separate.
(Agree about the BSOD, haven't seen one for years except when a graphics card came loose.)

If I were a company making huge profits on devices that only take up tiny warehouse space and sell in tens of millions, I would be concentrating on pushing them the most too. But Apple do need to refresh their computers for the power users and because it's kind of expected of them.

I don't find it so.
You still have the same options, they are just elsewhere. Take the control pannel for exemple. Before it was in the start menu. Now it's in the right side popup side bar. It is still there, just not at the same place.

The start menu could also be a nightmare on a system with many installed apps. Its tree like structure could become bogged down by to many sub folder entry. The start screen is better in that regard since you can group, pin and unpin what you want on it or use. You can also group them by category, which I did.

It isn't restrictive, it's different.

 

[3282868]

And yet the Mac line continues to outperform the PC market by a wide margin. Just look at Dell for god's sake. What part of "post PC era" do you not understand?

Breathe... just... breathe... life will go on.

 

[phpmaven]

It's a much cheaper machine to build. MUCH

It is a much beefer machine than a decked out $1499 Mac Mini, and that gives you 256GB SSD and 16GB of RAM. The new Mac Pro delivers dual FirePro, multiple Thunderbolt 2, and most likely SSD starting at 512GB. I can still see Apple being able to deliver this at a $1799 price point, even with the 12-core processor and PCIe SSD drive. Think I am nuts, maybe? Or perhaps the entry model will only be quad-core of six-core and able to deliver at the cheaper price. I can see a top end model being around $5000, easily.

If you actually believe that the new Pro will come out at $700 less than the current Pro, then yes, you are nuts, certifiably.

 

[ElTorro]

Like I said before, Apple does not care about the 27 of you. You are not a "Pro" just because you want a bigger screen.

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I think more people want Floppy Drives and Serial ports.

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Since every Apple Product (except for the classic MBP and the soon-to-be discontinued Mac Pro) do not have an Optical Drive, I suggest you get used to it if you want to stay in the Appleverse.

Plenty of PC's also now omit the drive. It's becoming fairly useless in todays society, and if you need one, go buy an external. You can be as vocal as you want - it's not coming back.

I need a larger screen for my work. I bought the first 17" MBP because of it and kept using Apple until they discontinued it. I consider myself as a pro user and not because I need a bigger screen. But then again, some of us do serious work and others just watch Justin B.

 

[foodog]

Acer.
The rest are seeing only minor drops, or in the case of Lenovo - growing significantly.

Remove Lenovo's record sales and PC sales are falling by a considerable amount. The industry as a whole is contracting and other than Lenovo the other vendors would love to have flat sales.... which was the point of asking "How many PC vendors WISH for flat sales.

 

[Fairthrope]

Give us a reason to upgrade.
The Mini needs dedicated graphics and SSD standard.
The Imac needs SSD.

Stop concentrating on making things as thin and flat as possible and give us some meat!

They will have to sack Jonathan Ive first.

 

[foodog]

Like I said before, Apple does not care about the 27 of you. You are not a "Pro" just because you want a bigger screen.

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I think more people want Floppy Drives and Serial ports.

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I need a larger screen for my work. I bought the first 17" MBP because of it and kept using Apple until they discontinued it. I consider myself as a pro user and not because I need a bigger screen. But then again, some of us do serious work and others just watch Justin B.

Honestly I prefer the smaller screen size for portability, which is what a laptop is designed for. When I want screen real estate I plug it into a 27" ACD. The difference between a 15" screen and 17" is not worth even considering in this century.... Maybe in the 1990's

 

[joepunk]

This is what happens when you do not update your desktop and notebook line. Haswell is nearing 3 months old now on the retail market.

Or this might be what happens when people who have already bought a computer a year or more ago find that they have no need to upgrade every year because what they have works perfectly.

 

[SusanK]

What varieties of malware require the hard drive to be replaced?

That's crazy talk.

I have no idea, sorry. Someone I know is waiting for his son to get him up and running. Said had needs to be replaced. Son is IT. In any case I know of people rely on adult offspring for tech help. They question nothing. I don't ask as everybody has perfect offspring. I don't go there.

I have a Win 7 netbook. No malware issues. Security suite, Win updates and other endless processes discourage me form using it.

 

[SusanK]

Replace hard drives for malware? No way, you could just reformat the drive. I think half the problem there is a dishonest serviceman, but that is bundled with the Windows experience I guess.

Another poster commented that replacing the drive is not necessary. In the instances told to me adult offspring take care of all tech issues for parents.

I listen politely when I am told of these things. Most people have perfect kids. I only know what they tell me. My impression was that there is some process to disinfect. Only had two Windows notebooks. No malware. Other issues were discouraging to me.

For my needs the Mac is better. I am always amazed by people who question my purchasing decision then tell the current tale of woe as to why their Windows computer is down. I make no comment. I consider it a family affair.

Apple seems to provoke strong negative feeling in some people. They never had a Mac. Just don't like it sight unseen.

 

[Eidorian]

Another poster commented that replacing the drive is not necessary. In the instances told to me adult offspring take care of all tech issues for parents.

I listen politely when I am told of these things. Most people have perfect kids. I only know what they tell me. My impression was that there is some process to disinfect. Only had two Windows notebooks. No malware. Other issues were discouraging to me.

For my needs the Mac is better. I am always amazed by people who question my purchasing decision then tell the current tale of woe as to why their Windows computer is down. I make no comment. I consider it a family affair.

Apple seems to provoke strong negative feeling in some people. They never had a Mac. Just don't like it sight unseen.

Fellow Mac owner here, I find it outrageous to replace a hard drive for malware.

I find it more likely it was an unrelated mechanical issue or even an upgrade to a SSD. I fail to see the need to replace the hard drive otherwise.

 

[AppleZilla]

Been waiting nearly most of the year for the Haswell 15-inch rMBP with 1TB SSD.

 

[phoenixsan]

Apple has shown.....

a truth evident for me time ago: Not all the people needs a computer to be productive or to meet their fun needs. Some people get along with a iPhone, an AppleTV and a iPad (even a mini). Also, Apple get a bigger revenue in these items.

So I can see that figure about sales becoming lower. And dont ge me started about the iPod classic..........Seems to me as a product put to death by itself....

 

[SusanK]

Fellow Mac owner here, I find it outrageous to replace a hard drive for malware.

I find it more likely it was an unrelated mechanical issue or even an upgrade to a SSD. I fail to see the need to replace the hard drive otherwise.

Hi, the most recent person had his Windows desktop frozen with an onscreen message that it was done by the FBI. Clearly the FBI did not disable the computer. Son works IT and they rely on him. I am not signing on to a need to replace hardware to resolve a software issue.

I do find it very curious that the same people with non-operational computers complain about my working Mac.

Same couple just got iPhones. Complaining that one is no good. Said a defective speaker caused calls to be missed. Claimed Apple replaced speaker 10 days prior and the new speaker is faulty. Same issue, no ringer.

I asked to see the iPhone. Went to settings and turned up volume. Problem solved. Still they complain about Apple specifically the cost. I'm amazed and amused.

 

[rovex]

Expect a retina macbook air soon.

 

[everything-i]

Considering the current PC market trend and the fact that there has been no new product out for a while I would say this is a pretty good result.

 

[melendezest]

Wow, that is a string of bad luck. I've only had problems with two since buying the first iMac. Basically:

1) Original iMac - after several years passed on to my sister who then passed it on to her kid after getting my mini Mac (below). Finally bit the dust when the kid plugged the wrong fittings into the usb hubs.
2) Mac G4. Kept going although it was loud. Passed on to my brother after four years (I upgraded the processor card). I think the total life on that one was eight years before it wouldn't boot.
3) Mini Mac G4. Passed on to my sister who still has it.
4) White Macbook ~ maybe 3 years before the inverter board died replaced with...
5) Current Macbook seven years and going though the screen is dimming
6) An iMac ~ 4 years ago had problems with the DVD drive. Covered under warranty. Still going no problems.

I think that longevity is true for most electronics these days though I can't say that about a certain brand of PCs. I was a LAN administrator where I worked and one of the PC brands had a high failure rate after about two years. Since we bought in bulk it may have been limited to one model but our next batch wasn't from that manufacturer and we haven't had the problems with others.

Laptops will always be less reliable than desktops and tablets. With a laptop you have more heat issues and the wiring in the hinge is always problematic. How many times can you open and close a laptop before the wiring breaks or if it is a sliding connection, wears out? Plus they get tossed, jarred, squeezed, etc. Solid state drives are a plus but they have their own issues.
5) Current Mac

I see that most of your examples are older. My point was that Mac reliability may not be what it once was today.

The issues I've encountered have been with 2010 models and newer. My first Mac, a PB G4 17in, lasted me for 8 years, until I sold it (in working order).

I don't abuse my laptops; their use has been identical to the PB I mention, but the issues have become more common. I would fix them, then sell, at a rate that I actually bought a new Mac every year (thank you, resale value).

The iMac was the biggest disappointment, and despite loving the concept of it (beautiful machine), I'll never buy one again. I am 2 for 2 with those (I sold the first right after getting it fixed under warranty);I really wanted to keep the last. But that sucker gets WAY HOT.

Graphics cards and CPUs are far more powerful today and generate a LOT of heat; combine it with HDD and screen heat and you got a furnance in there. I even found an incident online where the screen simply fell off one of the new ones (while the owner was using it). This is easy to believe, given the heat the machine can produce combined with the fact that the screen is glued on.

So, right now, I'm stuck with purchasing an under-powered Mac mini or an over-powered (and likely EXPENSIVE) Mac pro...

Fedora is looking better by the minute... (I saw a mod that made it very OSX-like)

But I really don't want to leave...

I still think that Mac laptops are the best in the business though, as is OSX. Apple is just not giving me the hardware I want (took away the 17 in MBP too). Bummer.

So bottom line, temper expectations (and get Apple Care).

 

[3282868]

a truth evident for me time ago: Not all the people needs a computer to be productive or to meet their fun needs. Some people get along with a iPhone, an AppleTV and a iPad (even a mini). Also, Apple get a bigger revenue in these items.

So I can see that figure about sales becoming lower. And dont ge me started about the iPod classic..........Seems to me as a product put to death by itself....

Sure, I suppose the good deal of professionals that kept Apple afloat when they were about bankrupt, who have now had to leave for other platforms in order to make a living, investing in new hardware, software licenses, hours in learning and adapting, they don't need professional systems.

And please, don't start with the "they're a niche market" excuse. It's tired and a misnomer. Businesses spend quite a bit in system and software upgrades at a time, it adds up. No one needs a thinner iMac or smaller Mac Pro in the professional industry with less BTO and more $$$. Apple dropped the ball on Mac's and its slowly showing.

 

[gctwnl]

Waiting for a 13.3" rMBP that can actually handle retina with appropriate performance.

I expected these for WWDC (nope) or maybe BTS (nope, but there we have the MBA upgrades) and now the silence is deafening.

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Expect a retina macbook air soon.

Unlikely. rMBP yes. rMBA no.

The power and package combination is just beyond what is doable I think.

 

[rovex]

"Beyond what is doable"?????

That's not true. People kept saying a retina pro was not "doable" and others said a retina ipad was not "doable".

A retina Air is absolutely "doable".

 

[donutbagel]

Another poster commented that replacing the drive is not necessary. In the instances told to me adult offspring take care of all tech issues for parents.

I listen politely when I am told of these things. Most people have perfect kids. I only know what they tell me. My impression was that there is some process to disinfect. Only had two Windows notebooks. No malware. Other issues were discouraging to me.

If it was the kids, then maybe they're just misinformed. I know from my grandparents' experiences that professional computer repair guys can claim that things need to be fixed when they don't. My grandma got an iMac recently when her Dell supposedly got infected (well it did have like 3 Yahoo! toolbars), and the repair man said that she needed to sign up for some monthly service. I did way more good for her Dell for free when I visited, threw the IE shortcut in the trash, and downloaded Chrome.

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"Beyond what is doable"?????

That's not true. People kept saying a retina pro was not "doable" and others said a retina ipad was not "doable".

A retina Air is absolutely "doable".

The retina iPad wasn't doable when people were saying it wasn't doable, and then new technology made it doable later.

 

[tongxinshe]

Exactly. On a trip to Best Buy last weekend I noticed several worthy Windows laptops. HP had a 17 inch Haswell i7 quad with a full keyboard for about $1000. Asus had a desktop replacement (10lb!) 17 inch Haswell i7 quad with space for two hard drives and a Thunderbolt port for about $1250.

Neither had that great unibody MacBook Pro feel but they were excellent machines for a whole lot less than Apple's $2000 + for powerful laptops.

The $1250 machine doesn't use SSDs, not to mention the high-end SSDs. The $1250 machine doesn't have the retina display, either. That $1250 machine can only last 4 hours after each charge, forcing you to bring the power adapter all of the time. In addition to all that, a lot of people would love to pay an extra 15-20% simply for the lower weight and slimmer form factor. Oh, of course, there are also some people would love to pay an extra 10-20% simply for a premium brand name.