Tim Cook Says 'Strong Demand' For 2016 MacBook Pro Helped Set New Mac Sales Record Last Quarter

[SamVilde]

It's such a success they are doing a significant redesign for the next update? Hmm.

There are 6 pages of posts. The article said there's a new, significant redesign for a 15" MacBook.

Assuming that's not a typo, I read that as a larger version of the 12" MacBook. Not a -pro.

Dunno what the market would be for that, but that's how I interpreted the text.

 

[nvmls]

Keyboard seems to be getting good reviews.

Magsafe? I'm with you on that one; but there are 3rd party solutions; so, meh.

SSD: Twice as fast as 2015 model, and according to reviews, perhaps fastest in any laptop, period. Would I like to see it replaceable? Sure; but I'm an old guy. And you should be running backups anyway. Most people just buy another laptop these days instead of upgrading (even if it is allowed). Same with the RAM.

Battery? What's wrong with the battery? They took advantage of reduced power consumption of the CPU to reduce weight without reducing battery life.

GPU? Only choice they had to drive 2 5k external displays (or 4 4k external displays). More than any other laptop.

Keyboard: getting good reviews? epic. If you say so, it must be that way.

Magsafe: a step back, 3k laptop and you can get 3rd party solutions, so aside from adapters, you can now get the magsafe extra accessory on a 3k laptop as well? impressive thinking.

SSD: Backups are great when time machines actually works, but I'll give you that one, even though, seems kinda ironic they are trying to reduce waste in the world and promoting sustainability and they aim to replace laptops boards entirely every time a drive fails, because it's not like their GPUs failed and cracked the board before even though they are low-end.

Battery: you call that "advantage"? interesting, I'd consider it an advantage to be superior, not the same, which is not either, and capacity is smaller. Form over function, thanks god for thinness.

GPU: Only choice? LOL, and what do you run on those two 5k monitors, crossy roads and tetris at 15fps? Tremendous graphic power, a true powerhouse Stevie would say. Reminds me of the 5K iMac running mechanical drives, must be amazing to watch the beachball in such resolution & colors.

Note I didn't mention ventilation neither dongles.

 

[otternonsense]

Keyboard seems to be getting good reviews.

It's a bit of a learning curve until that flat thing is usable and typo-free.

Magsafe? I'm with you on that one; but there are 3rd party solutions; so, meh.

Gloating about throwing money at a problem? Wow, people like you are Cook's ideal customers.

SSD: Twice as fast as 2015 model, and according to reviews, perhaps fastest in any laptop, period. Would I like to see it replaceable? Sure; but I'm an old guy. And you should be running backups anyway. Most people just buy another laptop these days instead of upgrading (even if it is allowed). Same with the RAM.

SSD I/O is only ONE metric for overall system performance. Backups or not, why defend killing your system's expandability?

Battery? What's wrong with the battery? They took advantage of reduced power consumption of the CPU to reduce weight without reducing battery life.

AHAHAHAH that thing is dead in less than 3h on even average workloads.

GPU? Only choice they had to drive 2 5k external displays (or 4 4k external displays). More than any other laptop.

Have you tried driving even 1 5K display without getting slowdowns and RAM alerts?

 

[Timothy Leo Crowley]

There is an old expression in the computer techy world that seems to be ignored these days.

Your Mileage May Vary.

So many people seem to think that because they don't like a particular computer or feature that no one will. Or conversely that since they love a particular gadget or feature that everyone will or should love it.

Folks, everyone is different. We have different needs, desire and likes. People that post on techy boards, even ones like MR; are not representative of the general computer buying populace. Individuals are no even close to representative.

Your mileage may vary.

 

[macduke]

Most people I know have been buying the version without the TouchBar. Some bought the TouchBar version but returned it because they didn't really think it was super useful, and they bought the model without it. If I were buying today, I'd get a refurb of the 2015 model as there isn't a huge improvement otherwise. But for now I'm going to upgrade to an iMac next (especially if it's an iMac Pro) and then maybe get the small MBP or a MB in a couple years as my portable Mac.

 

[Kobayagi]

I did not participate in those numbers, but did pick up the 2015 maxed out version after announcement.

Same here, got the M370X on it too. So far, it's been amazing. No graphics issues, battery issues, speakers issues (what other issues did the 2016 have?), a nice keyboard, magsafe and lots of usable ports. Its been a great buy for much less money.

 

[Timothy Leo Crowley]

Imagine the sales increase IF someone high-up at Apple demanded they release updates to ALL Macs regularly, every year??

I want to hear the excuse about why they can't update Macs every year. I wonder if they don't have enough money to do that.

Because most people don't upgrade every year.

 

[jase1125]

What would one expect Timmy to say? If he sold 10 MacBook Pro's he would exclaim the strong demand and the strong pipeline with revolutionary innovative products. It's a good report, no doubt. But I'm sick of Timmy his view of slapping new colors on something is innovative. Honestly, I like Mac better than Windows devices. However, he is fooling himself if he thinks that touchbar is better than a touchscreen. Touchscreens have proven their value and are here to stay. I rather love my Surface Pro 4 for regular productivity work and I routinely use touch. However, for photo and video editing I would rather use a MacBook Pro, iMovie and Final Cut Pro.

 

[MacsRuleOthersDrool]

Very nice kick in the **** lol.

Apple dropped the ball in productivity and focused in leisure. Just to read their comments on how much they realized they failed with the "new" mac pro... and it took them 3 years to realize it.

I would imagine it didn't take them that long to "realize" it. They have been gathering specific data, and giving the product a fair chance.

It would have been utterly spastic for them to abandon the Mac Pro's new design in under two years. And once they decided it really wasn't going to work out, another year to gather internal and external data, and formulate a strategy is completely understandable. Megacorporations aren't internet trolls: They can't just pivot because they read a few bad posts, especially when there is sales evidence that somebody is still buying them (which they were). In fact, I bet we would all be surprised at just how many Mac Pros were sold. A "failure" to a company the size of Apple would be a mega-windfall for a lot of other companies.

7.244 BEELION dollars worth of Macs (all Macs) were sold last QUARTER. That means that ONE PERCENT of that is $72.44 Million. Even at a (likely too low) guesstimate of $5000 for an average Mac Pro, if they even sold ONE PERCENT of all Mac Sales, that's still 14,488 units. In one Quarter. Or 57,952 units per year, for a total revenue of $289,760,000 per year. Certainly not huge sales; but enough to justify a place on the line-card, especially since high-end machines are never going to sell as many units as lower-end models.

And that one percent is pretty much a worst-case guess. It is likely 2 or 3 times that, minimum.

 

[AZ63]

FTFY
[doublepost=1494007564][/doublepost]
You're thinking of the Mac Pro. At least do your research next time you want to troll.

Maybe you don't follow the Mac stories as closely as you think as it was indicated that Apple was re-evaluating the MacBook Pro after its release and the following outcry by user groups. I believe it came out when Apple invited a few "pro" Mac users to Cupertino for a discussion of the Mac.

 

[jase1125]

Sales numbers and product quality do not always correlate. Prime example: Micro$oft Windows.

Windows product quality is every bit as good as MacOS. You may not like it, but that isn't the same thing. Both companies release buggy products/software and then update and get better.

 

[MacsRuleOthersDrool]

Sales were up only 4% after such a long pent-up demand cycle? That doesn't seem very healthy to me.

What "Long pent-up demand cycle?"???

You DO realize, of course, that the MBP was updated in 2015, and then again in 2016.

That's "long"?

No, that's more like they already had the 2016 model on the drawing-board when they released the 2015 model. It takes a bit more to squirt-out a new laptop design (even one that is much like the previous one) than you would think...

There's meetings, and proposals, and more meetings, and more proposals, and prototyping, and more meetings, and more prototyping, and engineering sign-offs, and more prototyping (remember, Custom TouchBar display and Custom TouchBar Controller, and Customer SSD Controller, and???), and Software changes to the OS and Drivers, and then there's the whole Supply-chain and Contract Manufacturing trip.

Yeah, a "whole year" sounds like a long time, until you've actually done Product Development, like I have...

 

[Porco]

Ok, this is why we can't have nice things...

Apple takes their time on redesigns, waiting for the available technology (mostly CPU tech) to advance enough to make it worthwhile to redesign, and they get hammered for "taking too long between refreshes".

So, then, they try to be more "responsive" to user-feedback (read "internet trolls"), and slightly adjust the design (changing the memory controller isn't a "Significant Redesign") in response to people whining about the 16 GB limit (which is actually a legit. gripe for some users), and they get hammered for "updating 'Too Fast' "???

So, which is it? How does Apple satisfy both of those criteria?

Answer: They can't. And neither can any other computer OEM.

That really wasn't my point.

My post, (which again was posed as a question) was really about the possible disconnect between the impression I think Cook's comments were supposed to make, and Kuo's rumour. To be more specific, I question how successful the latest MBP sales are by Apple's own expectations and measures (which we are all in the dark about) if Kuo turns out to be right and there is a significant redesign (as opposed to a simply a RAM upgrade) to the MacBook (and I think he means MacBook Pro, judging by the context and discussion of high end users).

If all Apple do is bump the RAM from 16GB to 32GB that wouldn't indicate to me the same level of disappointment in the MBP's sales from Apple that some users had from its overall specification/features.

There are 6 pages of posts. The article said there's a new, significant redesign for a 15" MacBook.

Assuming that's not a typo, I read that as a larger version of the 12" MacBook. Not a -pro.

Dunno what the market would be for that, but that's how I interpreted the text.

Possible. But I don't think so. I guess we'll find out before too long. I took it to mean MacBook Pro because it mentioned 32GB of desktop RAM for high-end users. I don't think they'd do that in a non-pro MacBook before they even get round to it in the MacBook Pro, do you? Especially given it was one of the criticisms of the current MBPs when they launched.

 

[jase1125]

Yes it very probably would require some redesign. The vast majority of other laptops that get to 32GB of RAM use so-DIMMS and not soldering planar RAM chips to the logic board. So the 15" would have to adjust to that. That solution requires ripples through the case and to the motherboard. That would meet the criteria of major redesign.

If try to do it without so-DIMMs than it will means expanding the logic board significantly and shrinking the batteries. ( which I doubt would be a popular overall decision as life time would go significantly down). Trying to solder 32 GB of RAM onto a planar surface is waste of volume. There would be a penalty for that.

Where it would not be redesign is if it didn't exist yet. There was no 2016 15" function key model. In that context, technically it isn't redesign.

What would not be surprising would be to see Apple kill off the 2015 models and to pair the "fcn key" 13" 2016 case design with a matching 15" 2017 design that was thicker, had function keys, and a USB 3 Type A port ( and maybe HDMI and/or MagSafe ). Also, maybe some somewhat minor tweaks to the 13" MBP fcn key model to get a Type-A port on the other side ( so had 3 + headphone jack). They would need to tweak the speaker assembly, but two ports is kind of a low amount for a MBP. Lower the prices of the function key models into the slots held by the 2015 stuff.

In short, fill out and update the "function key" options ( only 13" got updated in 2016), and keep the higher tier of touch bar. ( similar how had full regular screen line up just after had high tier Retina line up... before Retina went 'mainstream' in the MBP line up.) At least one, if not both, of the 2015 models will probably get tossed. ( the comatose MBP 13" 2012 stuck around for a long time (~4 years) , so maybe the 2015 13" will take its place in historical legacy offering. )

The 2016 13" function key model looks like a hijacked MBA 2016 project. Apple needed a 'safe' design to roll out along side something that might not high the deadline. There was no 'safe' 15" option. Therefore Apple held the 2015 models in the line up. Fix those two things properly and Apple can do with the normally do and "let go" of the older models.

Apple could just "speed bump" the touch bar models to gen 7b (Kaby lake) with no other tweaks ( except for minor corrections ).

You are correct. However, many people equate redesign to releasing it in rose gold LOL

 

[MacsRuleOthersDrool]

I wanted the touch ID, which I naively thought that would do more than currently.

What naively?

It most certainly does do a lot more than a bunch of dedicated function keys. How do you not see that?

I assume you meant TouchBar, not TouchID.

Do you even own a TouchBar MBP? I'm beginning to wonder...
[doublepost=1494023138][/doublepost]

Maybe you don't follow the Mac stories as closely as you think as it was indicated that Apple was re-evaluating the MacBook Pro after its release and the following outcry by user groups. I believe it came out when Apple invited a few "pro" Mac users to Cupertino for a discussion of the Mac.

Um, it wasn't "pro" Mac Users, it was "well-known Tech Journalists".

Maybe it is you that needs to follow more closely, eh?
[doublepost=1494023272][/doublepost]

Windows product quality is every bit as good as MacOS. You may not like it, but that isn't the same thing. Both companies release buggy products/software and then update and get better.

You're joking, right?

Just read the reviews of the Surface Pro's keyboard, trackpad, digitizer, and pseudo-cloth covering.
[doublepost=1494023368][/doublepost]

I think it was desperation more than anything else that drove people.

Desperation? Over a ONE YEAR "refresh-cycle"?

Gimme a break!

 

[MrX8503]

I got the 13" nTB and I'm very happy with it. It's close to a MBA in terms of size and weight, yet it's powerful enough to drive a 5K display.

I was hoping to get the 12" MacBook, but it's too underpowered. I'm probably in the minority here, but I want my laptop to be fanless and comparable to a tablet in terms of size and weight. Maybe in a few years the 12" MacBook will be powerful enough to be my main computer. That'll be my dream machine.

 

[happyslayer]

I bought one and really love it. Yeah I had an issue, but Apple fixed it and all is good. Best MacBook Pro so far and I have owned a few. All the haters can... keep on hating. The rest of us will keep on buying and using our awesome laptops.

And I don't necessarily use the Touch Bar for everything, but in certain apps I use it a lot and that's cool. Though Touch ID, I use every day and, just like the iPhone and iPad before it, I love it! Especially for purchasing things.

 

[Defthand]

Hopefully this is paranoia speaking, but I wonder if Apple is secretly disappointed that it’s laptop sales are still strong while iPad sales are receding. Apple clearly prefers to make consumer products—products for recreation and consuming services rather than for productivity or enterprise. The iPad was their futurist vision of a consumer PC. Mind you, I love mine for casual uses. Alas, some customers still want productivity tools. Enough, apparently, that Apple can’t dismiss us after all.

 

[oldmacs]

Apparently MacRumors is in their own reality distortion field...

When an Apple product sells well "Apple is perfect, they sell a heap of x product which makes it the best". When an Apple product sells poorly "Apple isn't looking to be a sales leader, the best selling products are never the best products".

 

[Pootie Tang]

If it were truly in good shape, it would've increased a heck of a lot more than 4% after not having been updated for years and years. I know I would've bought if it were worth buying.

Apple is fortunate to see any increase in year-to-year sales at all. The entire market for personal computers is down regardless of who made them: "
Sales of PCs hit 10-year low
As consumer interest lags, global shipments fall below 63 million
Another quarter, another decline in PC shipments.

The personal computer market extended its gradual descent in the first three months of this year despite modest growth in business sales and a saturated smartphone market, according to market researcher Gartner. For the first time in a decade, worldwide shipments dipped below 63 million.
The whole mechanism of consumer computing usage is through smartphones,” Gartner analyst Mikako Kitagawa says. “We go to sleep and wake up to them. You maybe open your personal laptop once a day, but your smartphone is an indispensable item in your daily life.”

Shipments of PCs totaled 62.2 million, a decline of 2.4% from the same quarter a year ago, Gartner said in preliminary results last week. The last time global PC shipments rose, albeit 0.1%, was in the third quarter of 2014.
http://ee.usatoday.com/Olive/ODN/US...doc=USA/2017/04/16&entity=Ar00801&sk=4307F8D4

 

[Rogifan]

Strong demand? That's your smoking gun evidence? So I assume when they tell you "greatest pipeline EVAR" that you lap that **** up too right?

Tim Cook has sales data you do not. I think he knows what he's talking about vs the fake news here.

 

[oldmacs]

All the haters can... keep on hating. The rest of us will keep on buying and using our awesome laptops.

The new MacBook Pro is unsuitable for many many people. Doesn't make us haters, just Apple being inflexible and not offering products that suit a wider range of their user base.

 

[Asantos]

I did not participate in those numbers, but did pick up the 2015 maxed out version after announcement.

I did exact same thing. Now I need to figure out my transition to a linux laptop. I don't think I can live with touchbar and lack of decent range of ports including magsafe. F u apple for ruining perfection.

 

[dbri306]

Because users had no real choice if they wanted OS X.

i had to buy a 2016 Macbook Pro despite it being overpriced and with the useless touch bar. BTW the touch bar is totally useless as I touch type and I NEVER look down at the keyboard as it slows me down. Still confused how Apple thought this was a useful feature and not a "gimmick", maybe in a year or two it will be helpful.

Anyway, it was either this expensive Macbook Pro or an old + out of date Macbook Air... so yeah, the 2016 macbook pro is selling great!

Why wouldn't you buy one without touch bar?

 

[otternonsense]

Why wouldn't you buy one without touch bar?

Here's a reason. There's no 15" model without it.