Windows 10 Deadline Boosts Mac Sales

[MacRumors]

The Windows 10 end-of-support deadline is driving the largest coordinated PC replacement cycle in years across the industry, and Apple is emerging as one of the main beneficiaries as Mac shipments accelerate.

Counterpoint Research this week reported that nearly 40% of the global installed PC base was still running Windows 10 ahead of the October 2025 cutoff, triggering early fleet renewals across both commercial and consumer channels. This pressure lifted shipments for most large brands, and the Mac is among the strongest gainers. According to Counterpoint, Apple's global Mac shipments grew 14.9% year-over-year in the third quarter of 2025, supported by demand for new MacBook models and rising enterprise adoption of Apple hardware.

Lenovo remained the largest PC vendor and had the highest annual growth at 17.4% year-over-year. Asus saw 14.1% year-over-year growth. HP followed with a 10.3% increase, driven by commercial penetration. Dell shipments declined 0.9% year-over-year. Counterpoint said that the top five vendors together controlled nearly three-quarters of the global PC market in the period, while smaller brands were flat or down.

Counterpoint noted that computer companies have started marketing systems with neural processing units and integrated AI features. While these features have not yet converted into a primary sales driver at scale, enterprise buyers are beginning to incorporate AI capability requirements into forward procurement so as not to retire devices before emerging AI workflows arrive.

Article Link: Windows 10 Deadline Boosts Mac Sales

 

[matt_and_187_like_this]

Just got a Lenovo to run Linux as an experiment and the Hardware quality you get on a Mac is unmatched. It's day and night really. I was surprised how big the difference still is.

 

[Letsremax]

For a Second i thought Apple was bringing back Windows Support over Bootcamp 🤷‍♂️

 

[_apple_apple_]

Probably why the haven't released that rumoured 13"... Apple always adds the lowest-cost iteration last.

 

[Th3ChaOsW3aver]

I made the transition in 2012 when Microsoft moved to windows 8.

Windows 7 was great but every release from microsoft since has been lacklustre

 

[gpat]

Microsoft is destroying Windows in a way that no other company could.
Let's praise Microsoft, folks.

 

[Apple Weeb]

Someday, when macOS can handle games as well as Windows, we won't need that corporate, bloated OS anymore.

 

[d5aqoëp]

Windows 11 is really a PAIN to use. You cannot even set up a local account to use Windows 11 without workarounds. Microsoft literally begs you across various places in Windows to use their wretched Microsoft Account.

Microsoft also really hates their Windows users with user hostile changes and shoving their Co-Pilot garbage down our throats. At some point, something’s gotta give.

 

[apparatchik]

Just got a Lenovo to run Linux as an experiment and the Hardware quality you get on a Mac is unmatched. It's day and night really. I was surprised how big the difference still is.

The out-of-the-box UX between a Mac and a similar priced PC is striking, not just due to how anti-privacy, ad-riden and ever more bloated Windows has become, but the Mac will usually have better build quality, have better graphics, run faster and for longer, etc.

Linux can be a good alternative (better privacy, leaner, etc), but it will still not be as polished.

 

[LeeW]

I don't believe Windows users are suddenly running to Mac because of this.

 

[Happy_John]

Someday, when macOS can handle games as well as Windows, we won't need that corporate, bloated OS anymore.

Honestly, it’s more likely that gaming will continue to move from Windows to Linux ( eg SteamOS ) than move from Windows to Mac

 

[Happy_John]

I don't believe Windows users are suddenly running to Mac because of this.

Enterprises might, however. Bulk buys of Mac minis and MacBook airs / base level MBPs might be an attractive alternative to upgrading all PC hardware to be able to run Windows 11.

 

[Th3ChaOsW3aver]

Someday, when macOS can handle games as well as Windows, we won't need that corporate, bloated OS anymore.

One can dream. There has been some welcome moves on the gaming front though but it's far from what is available on windows

 

[iZac]

Aside from Windows 10 users migrating to shiny new macs, Valve have a major opportunity to expand SteamOS into a general consumer operating system right now.

I’d happily ‘bootcamp’ SteamOS on an Apple Silicon Mac!

 

[Parowdy]

Welcome to a better OS and experience.

Is what I would say if it wasn’t for macOS 26…

 

[JosephAW]

Too bad Apple didn’t capitalize on this and provide some type of migration path to a new macOS on existing Intel hardware, there’s a big push of videos on how to migrate to Linux.

People don’t want to go out and buy new hardware just to support the macOS, a lot of that hardware is still good.

Possibly start charging for macOS like they used to for the Intel platform.

 

[con2apple]

Let's see what all the new Apple buyers say when they realize that the "alternative to Windows" doesn't offer 5 years of updates and forces them to always upgrade to the latest system.

Then Windows, which receives security updates for an average of over 10 years, will suddenly not look so bad anymore. Apple, on the other hand, will seem all the more incomprehensible.

 

[Rradcircless]

Microsoft is destroying Windows in a way that no other company could.
Let's praise Microsoft, folks.

Alright, not too much now. Before I became a Mac person I felt so at home in Windows 10 and missed it dearly while I cut my teeth with Mac. Now that I'm fully converted to Mac, I don’t miss Windows but I do lament that Microsoft has self-destructed something I remember having so few problems with.

 

[con2apple]

Someday, when macOS can handle games as well as Windows, we won't need that corporate, bloated OS anymore.

To do so, the company would have to change two things.

First:
Enable hardware upgrades. No gamer wants to buy a new Mac for the latest game when all they ever had to do with Windows was replace the GPU or upgrade the RAM.

Second:
Compatibility with old systems. No more "We're getting rid of API XY, deal with it." Instead, "Yes, we still support the fifteen-year-old system."

You can see that this will never happen. And now you know why Windows is defamed as „bloatware“.
Apple has no interest in compatibility. The company expects users to always upgrade to the latest system and, if in doubt, rebuild their entire workflow.

For the same reason, Apple can't gain a foothold in businesses either. Yes, they sometimes advertise with individual examples. But Apple simply doesn't want to offer what businesses or gamers want.

On the other hand, why should they? They earn enough from end customers who willingly replace their devices every few years.

 

[gank41]

I was just thinking about upgrading my 2018 mini BootCamp install from Win10 to Win11 this morning.

 

[chucker23n1]

Would be curious to see some deeper analysis.

Is it that people feel screwed over because Windows 11 has higher hardware requirements? Because I've seen that criticism a lot, but those seem rather reasonable to me. Windows 10 is from 2015. Of course 11, from 2021, is gonna have higher requirements. Apple bumps its requirements more often.

Is it that people are annoyed how Windows 11 tries really hard to get you to create a Microsoft account? Or that it has a ton of ads, questionable privacy policies, integration with services of questionable user? (Fair enough.)

What drives someone from Windows 10 to macOS specifically?

(I suspect this is all long-term fall-out from Windows licensing revenue being on a downward trend. Apple has a stable business where hardware sales subsidize OS development; Microsoft does not. OEMs pay less than they used to, or at least the growth isn't there any more. So, Microsoft has to find other ways to sweeten Windows revenue, and then on top of that reduce cost by investing less in the OS. The end result is rather meh.

Despite that, I find that Windows 11, when "decrapified", is prettier than Windows 10. But it feels like they've stopped developing it much while it was barely out.)

 

[chucker23n1]

First:
Enable hardware upgrades. No gamer wants to buy a new Mac for the latest game when all they ever had to do with Windows was replace the GPU or upgrade the RAM.

The market segment of people who perform upgrades on their computers is small, and it's high-risk.

For the same reason, Apple can't gain a foothold in businesses either.

Businesses by and large do not upgrade computers. They lease them and replace them a few years later.

 

[yabeweb]

Just got a Lenovo to run Linux as an experiment and the Hardware quality you get on a Mac is unmatched. It's day and night really. I was surprised how big the difference still is.

Well... to be fair if you get a Surface, the hardware quality matches the Mac one.

 

[jonnysods]

Just got a Lenovo to run Linux as an experiment and the Hardware quality you get on a Mac is unmatched. It's day and night really. I was surprised how big the difference still is.

Depends on the model of Lenovo you get, the X1 Carbons or even the T series ThinkPads are good, but you are right it’s still not even close.

 

[ab2c4]

After MS informed me my perfectly good laptop wasn’t eligible to install W11 I decided to switch to Mac. I did so about a year ago and have been very happy with my MB Pro. I might consider a Mac mini for my next computer when the time comes, something about it looks very appealing along with its price. Plus I prefer a desktop setup.

I’m also thinking of taking another one of my now obsolete W10 laptops and installing Linux to play around with. I have to deal with W11 at work but I no longer have to at home.