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New MacBook Air and Mac Mini Models Driving Record Mac Sales for 3Q 2011

applefan289 said:
Yeah, I will be hitting a road block in the future when my Mac dies and I have to buy a new one without a disc drive...burning CDs is very important to me for iTunes music, etc. I hope they still have the SuperDrive available in the future for the minority that wants to be able to use/burn discs.
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You can buy one today to sit next to your Air. Or, you can look into why "burning CDs is very important to" you. Presumably, it's not the intrinsic thrill of causing a phase transition in a layer of dye sandwiched between two plastic disks ... maybe you should be planning on upgrading something else before you upgrade your Mac?

In my experience, notebook-size optical drives are one of the most fragile components in Macs. My wife's MacBook Pro lost its optical drive twice in two years, and right now my iMac from Spring 2010 is sitting without the ability to read a DVD from its optical drive.

I'm personally not bemoaning the death of the optical drive. I'll buy a little $50 USB drive that can more easily be swapped out when it goes on the fritz for those ever-more-rare occasions when an optical drive is necessary.
 
I'd love to have one of those 11-inch MacBook Airs but as I already have an iMac and an iPad, I just can't justify it to myself. But wow that thing is sweet!
 
Trauma1 said:
Not really surprised, seeing as how they are the two cheapest models. And I'm sure a good number of potential white MacBook buyers went to the MacBook Air now that it is discontinued.
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The Mini is hardly anyone's standard definition of a "desktop computer." The Mini is selling despite very slow desktop sales in general, mostly because it is quite unlike other desktops.

Interesting how the PC market is sluggish and projected to contract even further, yet Apple manages to sell record numbers of their own "computers" quarter after quarter.
 
yuenadan said:
I'd love to have one of those 11-inch MacBook Airs but as I already have an iMac and an iPad, I just can't justify it to myself. But wow that thing is sweet!
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I actually prefer my 11-inch air to my iPad. Just wish I could run iPad apps on it!
 
The Air is a fantastic machine and deserves the sales it is getting. I think Apple should price it lower, but they'd be stupid to with how well it is selling.
 
gpat said:
Mac Mini? That's a surprise.
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I'm the kind of guy who like to have "the latest & greatest", so I''ve had pretty much all minis to date, but my monitor, a nice and big IPS screen, is perfect for me, so I don't want to change it each time.

Also, it's easier to install an SSD in it without having to worry about dust on the screeen/behind the glass. Pretty dusty in my area :/
 
nspindel said:
Apple doesn't own Thunderbolt, meaning the protocol, Intel does, you are right. But I believe the Thunderbolt connector used on the Macs is proprietary to Apple, designed to be compatible with mini display port. If that's the case, then it's possible that only Apple-licensed products would be able to use that connector.
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Mini DisplayPort physical connection is a VESA standard (part of DisplayPort 1.2) and a part of the Intel Thunderbolt standard as well. Its use does require a license from Apple, but that license is free and easy to obtain.
 
Waiting a year

Next year once Intel/Apple join the rest of the world with USB3....
 
jettredmont said:
Mini DisplayPort physical connection is a VESA standard (part of DisplayPort 1.2) and a part of the Intel Thunderbolt standard as well. Its use does require a license from Apple, but that license is free and easy to obtain.
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Easy to get as long as your intended use doesn't compete with Apple interests. I'd love to see a third party thunderbolt hub, believe me. It would be great to be able to take any monitor, plug it into an external thunderbolt hub, and have a much cheaper version of the Thunderbolt display. And that... is precisely the reason why I doubt Apple will let it happen.
 
The Mini

Every workstation in our small office is some generation of the Mini. The small size is perfect for a cluttered desk and they have more than enough power to do office stuff. One of our ladies even has a G4 model and it works fine!
 
chrmjenkins said:
The Air is a fantastic machine and deserves the sales it is getting. I think Apple should price it lower, but they'd be stupid to with how well it is selling.
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No, you want Apple to price it lower so you can pay less for it. That's a very different thing than saying Apple should price it lower.

There was a story on MacRumors a few weeks ago about how the other mainstream manufacturers have been trying to come up with an "ultrabook" to compete with the macbook air, but have not been able to produce something that matches specs and form factor that is any cheaper than the macbook air. If that's the case, Apple's got this thing priced just right, despite the fact that you're a little light in the wallet after buying one ;)
 
*LTD* said:
The Mini is hardly anyone's standard definition of a "desktop computer." The Mini is selling despite very slow desktop sales in general, mostly because it is quite unlike other desktops.

Interesting how the PC market is sluggish and projected to contract even further, yet Apple manages to sell record numbers of their own "computers" quarter after quarter.
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Except even though it's contracting, it's still growing. Just not as fast as it was. Apple is growing, Microsoft is growing. From this, I can't determine why you think that Apple is better than a PC due to sales figures.
 
nspindel said:
No, you want Apple to price it lower so you can pay less for it. That's a very different thing than saying Apple should price it lower.

There was a story on MacRumors a few weeks ago about how the other mainstream manufacturers have been trying to come up with an "ultrabook" to compete with the macbook air, but have not been able to produce something that matches specs and form factor that is any cheaper than the macbook air. If that's the case, Apple's got this thing priced just right, despite the fact that you're a little light in the wallet after buying one ;)
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I don't want or need an air, I'm commenting from a marketing perspective. I think they can greatly increase their penetration with a lower priced MBA, but that point is moot when they're already selling all the ones they make.
 
chrmjenkins said:
I don't want or need an air, I'm commenting from a marketing perspective. I think they can greatly increase their penetration with a lower priced MBA, but that point is moot when they're already selling all the ones they make.
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That's true with any product. You can always increase unit sales by lowering price. Mercedes would sell a lot more cars if they sold the S series for $50,000.
 
BRLawyer said:
DRM sucks anytime, so comparisons with the Cube's unique design are unwarranted to say the least...:rolleyes:
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The point isn't "DRM", it's the URL - "Defective by Design".

And your post:

BRLawyer said:
There were no defective "cracks" - they were a deliberate result of the Cube's industrial manufacturing process... :rolleyes:
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You're saying that the cracks are there intentionally, that they are not defects.

Many Cube buyers refused to drink that Kool-Aid. They thought that cracked cases were defects.
 
nspindel said:
That's true with any product. You can always increase unit sales by lowering price. Mercedes would sell a lot more cars if they sold the S series for $50,000.
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This market functions differently. It's not as if you buy toyotas all your life, your gas foot or steering hands aren't compatible with mercedes. However, if you want to own a mac where you've only owned windows machines before that, you have to begin a laborious process of converting files to do so. A lower price of entry is just one more incentive to make that switch.

We're definitely seeing a halo effect from iOS devices leading to mac sales, but price of entry is no doubt a deterrent for many.
 
Trauma1 said:
Not really surprised, seeing as how they are the two cheapest models. And I'm sure a good number of potential white MacBook buyers went to the MacBook Air now that it is discontinued.

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I would be curious to see who these buyers are. I wonder if a majority of them are switchers, who are BYOD.K.M. It seems people are still jumping on the Apple/Mac bandwagon and this is a good machine to start with.
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They are likely folks like myself...owning a 3+ year old Mac Mini and use it far less frequently than my Wintel. Although the price is better this year (remember last year when Apple raised it $100 for no reason???), I recently saw and used the new Mac OS with the new Apple mouse...totally confusing if you ask me. My bud who just got an iMac 2 weeks ago says he finds the new mouse (and maybe new OS but I'll let him speak for himself) a nightmare.

Not sure if I will buy the Mini...mainly due to a lot of bad reports about iPhoto these days...my wife has 10s of thousands of photos in iPhoto and it works just fine...ain't gonna plunk down $600 and find it muck up the giant archive.
 
Icaras said:
Sarcasm or not, I laugh at the people who argued so vehemently about Apple ditching the optical drives, going so far as to citing this as among one of the worst mistakes Apple could ever do.

Yea, right... :rolleyes: Look at the sales numbers. Again, I'll reiterate: people who constantly b*tch and whine on these forums have no idea how to run a company like Apple. Numbers show the truth. Not a handful of whiny complaints on an internet forum.

Come on Apple. Take out the ODD in the iMac next. I'm ready!
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What is the benefit of taking the ODD out of the iMac? It would make the iMac thinner and shave maybe $70 off the price but it's still a desktop and not meant to be carried around like the MacBookAir.

I argue to keep the ODD in the iMac for ripping CDs in iTunes and DVDs to quicktime. I still buy CD because they are maybe a dollar more than what iTunes charges and I get the full CD quality album to rip. Ripping DVDs to quicktime is great too for when my internet goes out and I can't stream Netflix.
 
iChrist said:
Yes, but I believe so because was before its time. It was too soon, but we may see new version of it in future, now that world is ready for it and knows of Apple. :apple:
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More than "before its time" it was hugely overpriced at $1799 for a machine with performance in the low to midrange.

Icaras said:
Again, I'll reiterate: people who constantly b*tch and whine on these forums have no idea how to run a company like Apple.
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But the whiners are sometimes right, look at an example like that ipod shuffle with no buttons. And I'd argue that the spike in mini sales is because it's finally not a ripoff like people here had been pointing out for years.


Obi-Wan Kubrick said:
What is the benefit of taking the ODD out of the iMac? It would make the iMac thinner and shave maybe $70 off the price but it's still a desktop and not meant to be carried around like the MacBookAir.
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I agree with you, but it's probably closer to $15 than 70.
 
MacRumors said:
NPD has also reported iPod sales down 16% year-over-year for the first two months of the quarter, which actually puts Apple at a slightly better pace than analysts had been expecting. Despite continued strong sales of the iPod touch, Apple's overall iPod sales have been declining for the past year or two as customers have turned more toward smartphones such as the iPhone as single-device options for their phone, music, and other portable media needs.
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Not having a needed refresh for the ipod lineup didn't help either.

I am looking to buy an ipod, but usually this time of the year is when Apple refreshes them; and I'm still waiting!

Chances are ipod sales figure could go up again once there is an refresh. Many potential buyers may be waiting out on one.
 
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