“Declines in the percentage that the Mac contributed to total revenue reinforced the complaints of some that Apple had ignored the personal computer in favor of the iPhone, by far the firm’s biggest money maker,” Gregg Keizer reports for Computerworld.
“To some, the Mac’s shrinking share of Apple’s revenue hints at a more general lack of interest in the company’s top offices,” Keizer reports. “The Mac’s 12-month share of all revenue was 10.8% in the September quarter, down from 10.9% the year prior and off from 13.2% two years ago. Compared to the September quarter of 2014, this year’s third quarter Mac share was down nearly a fifth.”
MacDailyNews Take: No new Macs will do that.
Jan Dawson, principal analyst at Jackdaw Research, says that “because of the Mac’s importance, Apple must please those creative professionals, enough, anyway, to keep them in the fold. ‘[The new MacBook Pros] didn’t satisfy every need,’ Dawson agreed. ‘That left a vacuum which neither the MacBook Pro or the desktop Macs filled. Apple needs to put something into that vacuum,'” Keizer reports. “Dawson believes that Apple has a plan. “They will update the desktop Macs, maybe starting with the Mac Pro, in the next few months,” he said.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Yes, they will.
I truly believe that Tim Cook hates Apple. The decisions he makes, the products he releases, the failed launches, the dying stock… Apple is in a shambles. The most pitiful part is that Tim Cook supporters ignore all that and make believe that everything is fine.
Pathetic. Sad.
I truly believe you are both a Troll and an Idiot.
But then there are the numbers…iPhone sales/revenue consistently blowing away competition..new MacBook Pro already exceeding revenue than ALL OTHER LAPTOPS..etc.
“Yes, yes! Apple is DOOMED, I tell you! DOOMED!”
We’ve been hearing that idiotic line from people like you for literally decades. It must really chap your ass that Apple is doing so well.
Haters gonna hate.
You’re absolutely wrong. Tim Cook loves Apple. He just does not understand what has made the Apple great during its greatest years.
Tim Cook believes you make a “great company” (i.e., the best financials, the best marketing, the best brand, the best infrastructure, the elite customers, and so forth). He believes this “great company” will inherently create “great products” that people will want to buy.
Unfortunately, reality does not work the way Tim Cook thinks it does. You can coast for many years and look good just as Sculley did, but it eventually catches up with you.
You can have great products and good management making a great company. If you have a great company and good management but turn out mediocre products eventually you will have a mediocre company.
Either Tim Cook wakes up and makes great products the focus, or we’re headed to another dark age for Apple within five years. I hope it’s the former and not the latter.
The reality is that Apple’s best days were based upon truly “great products” that changed users’ lives for the better. People bought these great products in droves and left other potential products for Apple’s products. That’s how Apple got to where it was three or four years ago. It has grossly stagnated since.
I don’t know, I read twice your post and I agree on many things but I started to disagree Tim Cook loves the Mac. If he loves the Mac he should try his best to understand it and make sure those who use it, who trust their lives on it and those who really produce their beloved work and art with it have what they really need. All of them. The Mac should not be enough but all you really need as a personal computer. Apple cannot limit what users may do with a Mac but provide a solid, versatile and robust platform for users to figure it out.
When TC said he doesn’t understand why users wanted more than an iPad pro, “really”, that makes him look very bad for users who spent their lives on a Mac, who know he has no clue on what to do next with the Mac, and for users who really Love the Mac.
He is also confusing less experienced users who started to love and admire Apple making them believe the wonderful iPad Pro may be all they need, or the MBP is so fast it only needs 16GBs of RAM. Many users want to believe in Apple because of Apple’s most brilliant products in the last 10 years. People want to love Apple and also want to trust Apple. Many users started to think Apple is the leader in desktops and mobile PCs and Macs as Apple leads the tablet and smartphone market. But the Mac is still great because of its foundations and some inertia. The Mac needs a clear path with machines and a OS that may handle easily mayor and the most demanding desktop applications at their best. Not just some applications on a show to make it look good.
Sales drove PC lead over the Mac for too long, even today, so sales numbers are not indicative of how a product really performs.
Tim Cook loves iOS, the iPhone and the iPad. It shows, he use those and he understand what they are all about because the iPhone and the iPad are leading the industry.
The Mac has so much uncertainty today I doubt its receiving all the love it deserves.
Your last two words describe you well.
We’re also waiting for you to finish up with a stirring porch swing rendition of DUELING BANJO’S on your well-worn banjo.
did you help by voting to remove him? https://www.change.org/p/apple-board-of-directors-remove-tim-cook-as-ceo-of-apple
stop with this bs .. unless you can give us a name of a Real perosn who is as qualified and is available… with as much experiance as Tim.
bogus compliants and rants without offering a better solution are stupid.
are you the idiot who stole the samsung galaxy note 7 in the previous article ?
I’m telling you, get ready for this headline, it’s coming:
“More blood on MS Windows: Beleaguered Apple Macs are dead”
For me, its not so much the hardware specs, its that that every time Apple “updates” the operating system, the developer of my most critical app has to change the app, and at a certain point, that means that I will that I have to replace 2 computers, one desktop and one mobile in order to be able to run whatever the latest and greatest operating system as well as the the critical app. The app is not replaceable with any other at this point.
When whatever replaces Sierra, this most likely will have to happen before it is actually necessary. My mid 12 and mid 13’s are working well, but even if they do, point they won’t run the latest OS.
Exactly.
A simple case in point are the encrypted Kingston USB sticks. Every time Apple comes out with a new macOS you have to re-flash the drive (and that can only be done in Windows) or else you can’t use it with the new macOS. When you re-flash the drive you lose 100% of the data on it. It feels like the transition from MFS to HFS thirty years ago without any of the upside. (I know it’s not, but it still fees like it.)
The macOS is Mach and FreeBSD based. There is no underlying reason at all for having to change the drivers within those secure drives. They are already FIPS 140-2 Level 3 — about as secure as anyone other than the U.S. DoD or Intelligence Community could ever want them to be.
Updating one of my machines through various versions of Windows did not require these updates. Why should macOS require that?
“Dawson believes that Apple has a plan. “They will update the desktop Macs, maybe starting with the Mac Pro, in the next few months,” he said.”
Said almost every analyst every day for the last 2 years.
That clock’s still ticking. And will we even want what they come out with?
At the risk of talking only to myself, at this point I think it’s clear we won’t see new desktops until Spring at earliest, hopefully released by June (worst case would be with the next OS release in the fall).
I hope there will be a new desktop ‘Pro’ form factor, that basically harkens back to the gray towers.
No display (most of the people that want it already have one or more) at least 6, maybe 12 USB/Thunderbolt ports (I get it – we’re moving on from legacy ports and we can dongle the hell out of it because no one is going to carry it around), 2-4 internal drive bays like before (ideally 2 are standard sized, 2 are SSD-sized, and there are cabled attachments for 6 internal drives) an optical bay option would be nice (ideally be easily convertible to additional SSD storage for those that don’t need DVD or Blu-Ray, anymore), with unsoldered RAM with no upgrade ceiling, and 3-5 PCI bays for video and other upgrade expansions.
And the drive bays are negotiable – I would accept only 4 SSD-sized bays, because that’s the future that’s coming.
Businesses would get back to 3-5 year upgrade cycles for this machine, and the market for this form factor would last at least 2 cycles needing only processor upgrades, unless some crazy new tech (easily added) comes along. And even with pricing higher than the current Mac Pro, I think you’d sell the crap out of these for at least the next 10 years, because a lot of prosumers, and even casual buyers with means would buy them.
They would do for the enterprise and pro markets what the iMac and MacBook Pro did for the PC and laptop industries – ie., redefine them and return them to growth.
And if they’re too expensive, so what. Apple will still sell them like crazy because no one will be able to complain about the specs or usability any more.
Very good, exactly correct………..but will Jonny Ive allow that kind of fashion statement. Maybe if we agree to keep them in the back room where they can’t be seen and thereby offend someone?
Definitely believe only when you see it.
This headline contains the most important issue of our time:
What is the Mac means to Apple.
Such profound.
The reason why mac sales are down is actually a pretty simple explanation.
1 – Loyal mac users upgrade in cycles. 1,2,3 year cycles.
So many of those wanting to cycle have been waiting for a new machine.
2 – When searching for a time to buy a new machine and invest a lot of money into one, it’s all over the internet to “wait” and not purchase one now, as a new one is just around the corner… problem is, we’re in a cycle room with no sights of a corner from Apple right now.
It’s just amazing to me to see the disconnect Apple has with it’s user base. They are actually surprised by the high volume of sales from the new MacBook pro??? I’m not surprised at all. Release new MacPros, iMac, MacMini and watch the sales soar… and Apple can be surprised?!?! These, along with other consistent poor leadership decisions is why I, as a shareholder, would like Time to step down and go back to operations and let someone else lead the company. I’m not a Tim hater, I just want a person in charge of the biggest company in the world to have a set.. have vision.. execute better.. listen to the customer base.. it’s so painfully obvious to me WHY the stock lingers, why loyal mac users are frustrated and why Apple has lost some luster.
Please sign this to replace Tim as the CEO
https://www.change.org/p/apple-board-of-directors-remove-tim-cook-as-ceo-of-apple
What Apple also needs to do is quit building any type computer where the owner cannot upgrade RAM and Hard Drives…at a minimum…Their upgrades are way over priced and they surely don’t need Soldered in RAM and SSD’s that are a proprietary connected…
T.C performance has been a mixed bag
Some good, some bad, some indifferent.
but I believe…
WHAT TIM COOKS REAL MISSION IS (or was as he’s toned it down).
isn’t ‘PRODUCTS’ BUT TEACHING AMERICA’S INDUSTRY HOW TO BE MORAL.
(note morality in his own value base. )
(before people reflexively one star me please finish reading, and I’m NOT necessarily saying I AGREE with T.C’s stand.. )
TC believes how his and Apple’s stand on Green Energy, Diversity, Gay Rights, labour reform overseas ETC counts as much as making products as he hopes other companies will follow suit. This is what Cook believes is his and Apple’s TRUE CONTRIBUTION to the world.
Nonsense? One example: Look at his PASSION for Green Energy , in many places Apple has 100% renewable. No matter the difficulty like in Singapore where they had to rent nearby skyscraper roofs for solar panels, or cost he pushes it through… vs say …. renewing Macs
(Mac Pros, Mac Minis etc. Some machines are 3 years old with no drop in price. People please ALSO note that MACS MAKE MORE MONEY THAN IPADS and heck a lot more than Watch, Music, Beats etc , so unlike many believe Macs are not a dead revenue stream).
Look I’m not saying Green Energy is bad, on the contrary, I’m just pointing out the passion vs something like Macs for Pros.
Tim Cook over and over has said the two inspirational photos on his wall are Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther, two SOCIAL ACTIVISTS. He’s quite clear cut what he’s getting at i.e his drive is social change yet pundits, us (fans) etc try to ignore it because we in our hearts don’t want to see that but want a single minded Product genius like Steve Jobs.
I remember there was crisis, I believe a financial report coming up to announce the first drop in sales (or something, a big deal for shareholders) yet a few days before Cook joined the Board of the Kennedy Foundation. The foundation does a lot of good work but at the time I thought, Cook doesn’t care about ‘optics’, the stock was going to crash (which it did, note at the high of aapl was 130 ) but he’s signalling to major shareholders he’s got more important social things on his mind.. (No wonder the PE of aapl is one third googles, i.e if it had investors trust as much as Google Apple stock would be 300 now). With some Macs having no updates cook lets Jony Ive design stuff for AIDS charities (btw Ive is now with Apple’s OTHER top designer Marc Newson designing Christmas trees for London while the Mac Pro has no updates for 3 years.. )
Tim cook I think believes that his LEGACY will be APPLE THE ETHICAL COMPANY and less about products. (btw, he’s very gung ho about Apple Watch, look at the dozens of Watch ads vs the virtual zero for Macs although macs make more money, because he thinks the health features of Watch CAN SAVE LIVES, i.e there’s a strong SOCIAL GOOD COMPONENT to the Watch ).
Tim Cook this last several months has TONED DOWN his social rhetoric and has changed his stance by saying somethings he’s doing as ‘private citizen’ rather than as rep for Apple.
I’ll leave with this: the ONLY time T.C lost his temper in public that I know off and a shareholder meeting was when a shareholder questioned Apple’s use of resources for ‘sustainability’ projects . Cook snapped on him when the guy asked about ROI (return on investment) and asked him to sell his stock !
Forbes.com
“Mr. Cook replied –with an uncharacteristic display of emotion–that a return on investment (ROI) was not the primary consideration on such issue… “I don’t consider the bloody ROI.. The company does “a lot of things for reasons besides profit motive. We want to leave the world better than we found it.. “If you want me to do things only for ROI reasons, you should get out of this stock.”
(I actually think Cook said the right thing to the shareholder at the time BUT in contrast) : Last few days I watched some old Jobs videos and encourage others to do the same: see how Jobs PASSION was for PRODUCTS, he’s almost electrified by it…
———
Note personally I am inclined to T.C’s social outlook (I believe in environment as in recycling , labour reform, etc) but as an Apple fan for 20 years or more and an aapl shareholder I wonder about Apple’s direction.
let me reinforce my theory:
I read Apple news all the time, MDN daily and others for years. I’ve found and you can do it yourself: look through a whole bunch of major articles on Jobs and Cook and see the difference.
There’s a whole bunch of articles on Jobs working, nay MASTERMINDING PRODUCTS , none on Cook. You read articles about the plastic iMac, how Jobs found Ive in the basement, got together to build the ‘Internet’ Mac because he believed the next big thing was the web , threw out the floppy drive etc. Similarly with the iPod, Mac transition to Intel and OSX, iPhone, him checking the SCREWS on a Macbook, the wires INSIDE a Mac PRO etc. You never get stories like that about Cook. Where’s the story like “two weeks before unveiling, Cook yells at the Apple TV team that the REMOTE is bad and go back to the drawing board and FIX IT! ” (you read dozens of stories of Jobs doing that).
Cook simply isn’t a passionate product guy (in contrast you hardly read about Jobs — or Apple — doing outside social work although now after his passing we learn he and his wife did a lot privately).
To his credit though, Cook who IS a VERY SMART GUY (way smarter than me! lol) REALIZES his weakness. that’s why he got Ive to head design and Federighi to coordinate the different OS etc. Jobs was also a marketing genius and Cook paid a huge bomb to get Ahrendts to try fill the gap etc. (I don’t want to get into Ahrendts controversies, just want to point that Cook TRIED to fix a problem… ). And Cook seems to have the loyalty of his team ( i suspect Ive will not work with somebody else as boss at Apple ). When his TEAM functions they do GREAT STUFF like the iPhone.
ANOTHER outside Apple illustration.
Elon Musk is a PRODUCT Guy. when you read about Elon you get either Product news or his acrobatics in fund raising. Look at Space X, you read about how he first started obsessed with rockets that he tried to buy used ICBMs from Russia (and was laughed at by Russian scientists when he told them his dream) , then how he pushed (cajoled, flattered, etc) his engineers to do the impossible : launch a private rocket for business and get it to land (12 storey tall device) upright back on a barge in the ocean, how he got a bean bag to sleep in the control centre because he won’t leave it.. etc. When he talks you see his passion about technology. This is a PRODUCT person.
(No I’m not saying he might be as successful as Jobs as he’s got money raising issues, and no I’m not necessarily saying he should run Apple… )
My big worry (and it’s a huge elephant sized worry) is that the MacBookPro is it.
That’s it, that’s all there is.
Why show the MBP hooked up to a monitor?
It’s because they are discontinuing the desktop line and asking all of us to by a laptop and if you want a bigger screen, hook it up to a monitor.
Which we don’t sell anymore by the way.
Tim Cook said himself that he doesn’t know why everyone doesn’t use an iPad with a keyboard. That statement alone speaks volumes.
Apple has “dumbed-down” the Mac to make it more like the iPhone. And “brilliant” hardware designer Jonathan Ive placed the beautiful, 3-D dock into a stupid-looking cage. He should have nothing to do with software at all, since he’s pretty much ruined the OS. Most agree that the best OS ever was Snow Leopard (10.6), and Apple needs to bring back the look and feel of that OS. All of the Mac’s OSs since Snow Leopard have been way below Apple’s previously-high standards. Get rid of the trash can Mac Pro and give us two new Mac Pro tower machines: a 4-bay “industrial” version (Mac Pro Plus), and a 2-bay Mac Pro for home users (Mac Pro Standard). Let the customer customize it, and not solely by plugging in external drives and peripherals; we want bays and slots. And I don’t know about these “trucks” and “cars” analogies. You don’t write a term paper, a contract, or law code on an iPhone or iPad. Computers won’t go away, we will need them long into the future. I like my iPhone, iPad and iPod, but I love my Mac much more, because I can do so much more with it. Make the Mac better and more powerful, and don’t “dumb it down” any more. The Mac should set the standards; the iPhones, iPads, and iPods will then benefit and further improve.
When Tim Cook says that he and Apple love the Mac I find interesting. This is a statement that was never said in the pass. It was just understood that the CEO and Apple loved the machine. Now TC has to say that because he and his company has done nothing to show they do. Now we have a laptop and nothing else after years of no updates at all. This does not show me very much love.
To cook:
Get the social out of your ass and get back to what made apple a great machine for those who need to WORK.