“Apple on Tuesday reported that it sold 3.72 million Macs in its third quarter, which spanned April 1 through June 30, the fewest in any single quarter since it sold 3.47 million in the third quarter of 2010,” Joe Rossignol reports for MacRumors. “It’s also the first time Apple has sold fewer than four million Macs in a quarter since the third quarter of 2013, a span of five years.”
“Apple reported sales of 4.29 million Macs in the same quarter a year ago, so this is a pretty significant 13 percent decline on a year-over-year basis,” Rossignol reports. “Mac revenue also dropped five percent over the year-ago quarter.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s treatment of the Mac was criminal mismanagement and anyone who claims otherwise isn’t qualified to run a lemonade stand.
Hopefully, the regrettable period where Apple forgot they had a Mac business (that, by the way, even at the depths of neglect just generated over half a billion dollars more than iPad ($589 million) is behind us and Q318 taught Apple’s upper management a valuable lesson.
SEE ALSO:
Apple’s iPad vs. Mac juggling act – July 26, 2018
Apple to unveil ‘iMac Pro’ later this year; rethought, modular Mac Pro and Apple pro displays in the pipeline – April 4, 2017
Mac Pro: Why did it take Apple so long to wake up? – April 4, 2017
Apple sorry for what happened with the Mac Pro over the last 3+ years – namely, nothing – April 4, 2017
Apple’s apparent antipathy towards the Mac prompts calls for macOS licensing – March 27, 2017
I poop on slow Mac development by Apple and hope never to need to poop on Apple Management again
Take that, nuthin’ dog haters
Yes and why under any circumstances would a properly run Apple allow this to happen? Yes I’ve heard the “Intel is late” stories but it doesn’t excuse the neglect of much of their line, notably the Mac Mini and Mac Pro.
Because, Apple wants to be done with the Mac. How many Mac developers are there? Add roughly 30% to that, and that’s how low the market is likely to trend to over time. Anyone here, without any internal knowledge, could have predicted this result.
The power available in today’s portable devices is such that the vast majority of people’s day to day needs just don’t really rise to the level of today’s computers, whether it’s Mac OR Windows.
Nah, that’s a lame argument. You can’t get a lot of tasks done using anemic sized handheld tablets and phones. True for many it’s enough for their simple tasks but obviously millions more need it for much bgger tasks and pro work and there are huge profits still to be made so why would you want to lose it as a source of revenue? There’s still plenty of reason to keep making Macs & PC’s. Their day is not even close to being done.
Yes, Wrong Again is lame again.
He spouts the same Mac HATE post after post. I don’t get it. If an iPad is nirvana for Wrong Agaign then use it and STFU!
Don’t come on here day after dissing the Mac …
“True for many”
Unlike many who begin to froth at the mouth any time anyone mentions iOS and Mac in the same sentence, you at least get the gist that, it IS indeed absolutely true for many. There are WAY more 12 year old’s playing Fortnite and 70 year old’s checking email and 40 year old’s surfing the web than there are developers and there ALWAYS will be.
“millions more need it for much bigger tasks and pro work”
Again, you’re agreeing with me 🙂 Count all the active developers, let’s say there’s 12 million. Add 30% for those that require Logic or FCPX and other Mac-only uses, that’s 15.6 million. We’re in agreement that MILLIONS need it for bigger tasks and pro work. While that’s a pretty good number, it’s dwarfed by the fact that there are over 1.3 BILLION iOS devices of every type in active use right now. There’s a few Apple Watches and Apple TV’s in the mix, and some of them own a Mac AND an iOS devices (like myself) but as modest users consider upgrading their aging MacBook or iBook, they may find that an iPad or an iPhone (that’s always online and can be always available) will suit their needs better.
“huge profits still to be made”
Again, 100% in agreement. Even if ALL the 15.6 million don’t need a computer THIS year, they will need one EVENTUALLY, so why NOT have something (at a decent markup allowing you to make a good profit) available for those few million a year to buy? I’d guess that Mac sales would drop to 5 million a year before Apple would consider pulling the plug. They sold 20 million last year, roughly 5 million a quarter, so they’re still a long way from that.
Your tedious Mac HATE is beyond obsession approaching mental illness. You need help …
Please stop pulling numbers out of your ass.
Macs, the second most profitable hardware that Apple offers, could be much more if Apple would bother to keep its hardware fresh. It is necessary, because without the Mac there would be no iOS development and no professional users of note. Annual macOS updates show that somebody still cares, unfortunately Cook doesn’t give a shit about having competitive hardware. He is ignorant of the Mac user needs. He sees fresh hardware design as an expense to be avoided. Instead of delighting users, Cook is using Ive’s bad fashion sense and planned obsolescence software (Metal, macOS) to force users to buy “new” hardware that cannot be repaired. What people complain about is that Apple honestly thinks fashion and low manufacturing costs are more important than user experience, value, or versatility. The sealed old hardware with thermal constraints and years between hardware updates, unmaintainable hardware, is turning people off. The high prices have turned off bulk buyers like businesses and education customers. The deluded cupertino caretaker management are not killing the Mac actively, they are putting their primary effort into subscriptions and app stores. Antiquated or anti-user hardware is just fine in their their fat innovation-free ass opinions. But most people see that Apple is losing markets and leaving money on the table with their bad Mac hardware management.
It all would turn around if Cook, Schiller, Ive, et al got their heads out of their asses and simply announced that Apple would henceforth update the Mac lineup at least once every 2 years, and delivered on customer requests when they did update their Macs.
I also think it’s long past time Apple remove Pro labels from its products. Apple doesn’t do Pro anymore. Apple does Expensive Fashion.
According to MacRumors:
– iMac: 422 days since last minor refresh – thin sealed laptop grade components in an all-in-one unrepairable case is the best Apple can do on desktop Macs.
– MacBook: 422 days since last minor refresh – dongle hell single port wired connectivity, worst Apple keyboard ever
– MacBook Air: 422 days since last minor refresh – not Retina screen, integrated GPU, Broadwell processor
– Mac Pro: 484 days since last minor refresh – Ivy Bridge processors and Thunderbolt 2 and no internal upgrade path.
– Mac Mini: 1385 days since last neutering !!!! still sporting Haswell processor and Thunderbolt 2, still sold with a single 5400 rpm hard drive. Really, Apple !?!?!?
“could be much more if Apple”
“unfortunately Cook doesn’t give a shit about having competitive hardware”
We’re in agreement. It COULD be more, it’s not. They SHOULD care, they don’t. Where we differ is, instead of saying “Apple doesn’t care but they SHOULD!!!” I’m saying, Apple doesn’t care, so, KNOWING that they don’t care, what’s their possible end game on this whole Mac thing?”
They need the Mac for iOS development for now, so they at least DEFINITELY plan to continue supplying developers for the foreseeable future. The vast majority of developers can develop games for today’s iOS systems on yesterday’s Mac, which aligns with the fact that Apple is not regularly updating their systems like they used to. Folks who NEED more rapid updates (or more control over when they update with upgradable systems) are moving away from the Mac, so who are the ones left FORCED to use the Mac? Who, REGARDLESS of how poorly designed their systems seem to be, will still buy a Mac in the future because they have to?
iOS developers absolutely would. If it runs Xcode and compiles quickly, they’d pony up for it because they’re making hundreds of thousands a year on their iOS app and it’s a small price to pay to keep that money coming in. Professional FCPX users, Logic users and others using Mac only apps would also not like the IDEA of buying a future stunted Mac, but they’re making so much money doing it, if it does what they want to do, but faster, they’d fork out the dough. Then, maybe a few folks that are primarily doing virtualization, but for whatever reason, prefer doing that on a Mac…. but, since their main work requires virtualization, I think they’re actually more likely in the group that would likely just move off to another platform rather than deal with the stagnation.
Whatever Apple’s end game is, “increasing sales of the Mac” is absolutely not it. What do YOU think it is?
“so who are the ones left FORCED to use the Mac?”
FORCED? What a stupid straw man ARGUMENT. You have ZERO CREDIBILITY commenting on Macs.
Go see a shrink, you are overdue …
I believe the phrase you’re looking for is: Criminal Negligence.
I understand that Apple has had a lot ‘irons in the fire’ lately, but the simple fact that the Mac Pro, Mac Mini, and others have been neglected for, some, up to four years is a bit of an embarrassment.
Apple has traditionally made aspirational products. It’s a shame that they’re not so aspirational at this point in time.
When people have a love for something, they care for it, nurture it, make sure that it has what it needs to thrive and flourish.
Does Tim Cook care for the Mac anymore? Or is he simply ‘milking it for all it’s worth’ and moving on to other platforms / priorities?
People are going to continue to need, want, and use ‘trucks’.
It would be helpful if Tim were to make sure that Apple have some the best ‘trucks’ available.
As I mentioned around here a few days ago, it may make folks feel all warm and fuzzy thinking that getting rid of one person at the top would change things, but think about it this way. WHAT IF I were to get rid of Tim tomorrow and put that tech visionary Chinstrap in his place. Chinstrap’s first order of business would be to get the Mac back on track! So you’d call a meeting with these folks:
https://www.apple.com/leadership/
And say, “WHAT CAN WE DO TO INCREASE THE SALES OF THE MAC?” There would be silence. There would be crickets, maybe. There’s not a SINGLE one of them that are exited or DRIVEN about the Mac. So, the only thing that would be different after getting rid of Tim would be that there would be a new nickname for the new guy that’s also not doing anything about the Mac situation.
Having a lot of ‘irons in the fire’ may be a good excuse for a smaller company than Apple, but with all the funds they are sitting on they could have all the ‘foundries’ they need to put as many irons in the fire as they need. That ‘pile of gold’ they’ve accumulated has them hypnotized.
I believe current leadership (and maybe even Steve Jobs did) have completely underestimated the continued interest in buying & using Macs. Business 101 would say “Find new reasons for people to buy them, don’t discourage people to buy them at all through neglect.” And get those ads working to promote the product after the Mac is again firing on all cylinders.
100% agreed with MDN.
100% of the blame goes to Pipeline.
Pipeline hates the Mac.
Pipeline has never developed the Mac, nor macOS.
The Mac has been utterly relegated by Pipeline.
It’s time to relegate Pipeline.
Pipeline is not good enough to run a lemonade stand.
For the sake of the Mac and its future, get rid of Pipeline.
HEAR HEAR!
Amen, brother.
His neglect of the Mac is almost criminal to users and shareholders.
Outstanding MDN Take ….
Criminal…. to … shareholders…. which are holding shares….. in the first US company…. that reached a $1 trillion valuation.
Huh.
Nice try at an EXCUSE.
There is NO excuse. It’s called FAILURE …
Pipeline has made owning a Mac embarrassing.
Big surprise. Pipeline ignores the Mac, and so customers ignored the Mac. It’s really that simple.
Everyone can understand except one person: Pipeline.
Dear Apple,
This short-sightedness is really sizzling by bacon. How are we suppose to prepare for THE marque event for WWDC19? More to the point, how can you expect us to design the next generation Memoji without new Macs! This is my livelihood you are screwing with here, get your act together now!
I would imagine… ummm… the Mac you have RIGHT NOW could be used to create the next generation Memoji. It doesn’t take a brand new $6,699 MacBook Pro, a $15,000 iMac Pro or a $30,000 Mac Pro.
The know it all Mac HATER once again is telling us pros what we need. Listen brainless, you have no clue and don’t you dare to speak for us again. Go back to your room and play games on your iPad …
So, you think it DOES take a brand new $6,699 MacBook Pro, a $15,000 iMac Pro or a $30,000 Mac Pro to make Memojis. Hm, ok, I guess that’s an opinion.
I repeat: Listen brainless, you have no clue and don’t you dare to speak for us again. Go back to your room and play games on your iPad …
Macs are apples second largest hardware money maker
The neglect over the last several years is a appalling. besides slow or no updates Apple only recently started advertising Max again
Macs like iPhones should be compelling products with the best bang for the buck, best in class not poor relations to pcs so that PC users would have a good reason to switch . Having a 2013 flagship mac pro is really sad….
The biggest advantage Apple has is the ecosystem : iPhones, Macs , iPads. Apple should be trying to sell this i.e that there is a big advantages using products in the ecosystem from the same company, it is way smoother and efficient than a mishmash like Windows machines and androids . I always thought Apple not marketing this big ecosystem advantage is bizarre.
Apple should be trying to sell Macs to every iPhone user. there should be iPhone and Mac tie in marketing campaigns like for example if you buy an iPhone you can get a Mac for 10% off if you buy within 30 days or something (note i’m just thinking off the top of my head. The multi million earning Ad guys of Apple can think of better ideas)
there is no reason why apple management can’t set a target to dominate the PC space with compelling Macs and marketing.
if Apple had Not neglected macs back over the last several years an increase of 5 to 10% of sales a year would have resulted in billions more profit today
Unfortunately, I have been expecting this.
I work in education. In 2011 fifty percent of our new students had a Mac. (We know this because from software downloads). Now it less than 10 percent.
We have discussed this issue in depth. We believe there are two reasons for this. Prices and outdated technology.
In 2011 Macs were about $200 more than a roughly comparable PC. However, Macs had far better fit and finish, better materials and and they included a lot of useful software such as iWorks and iLife. In addition, they were largely immune to parasites floating around the Windows world. In short, they were a great value.
Now MacBook Pro’s are really high priced compared to machines such as the Dell XPS 15 which offers similar design and great fit and finish.
Is iLife and iWorks worth more than the $1,000+ difference between the MacBook Pro and the XPS 15?
This question is especially important when Apple products are often based on old outdated technology.
MacDailyNews has done a great job of reminding Apple that even great products need attention. Why should the customer pay more for unloved, outdated technology?
Are college students using iPads instead of Macs or Windows? Not that we can tell.
Apple desperately needs to wake up and improve in the following areas:
Reliability (it needs to work properly when the box is opened.)
Technology – keep the products updated with the latest in chip technology – processors and graphics etc.
Value – Apple needs to get realistic on their prices.
Jobs was right in 1985 and in 1998. The Mac was overpriced. He lost the first fight in 1985 and we know the result. When Jobs returned he introduced the iMac a much more reasonably priced Mac than Apple had been offering. Macs sales took off.
Mark Twain was right when he said history may not repeat itself but it sure rhymes.
“I work in education. In 2011 fifty percent of our new students had a Mac. (We know this because from software downloads).”
Looking at your grammar I’d more believe that if you worked in education it must be as a janitor for a preschool.
For all the others critical of Apple’s support of the Mac line, you can’t bake a cake without proper ingredients. To that end, Intel hasn’t made the proper ingredients available to Apple.
Further, the decline in Mac sales (YoY) only amounted to 550 Thousand units, and it took the lack of an LPDDR4 capable processor two years to cause the drop. That is the clearest indication of how unimportant the “professional” market is. Services generate 32% more revenue as Macs on their best day.
So for the minuscule number of cry babies that congregate here, I say don’t let the door smack your ass on your way out.
Go ahead, give me a bunch of negative stars, you’re just identifying yourself as a loser by doing so.
“Go ahead, give me a bunch of negative stars, you’re just identifying yourself as a loser by doing so.”
Posters so self-defensive & making such statements are the real losers – by a wide margin.
Greg,
I am not anti-Apple. In fact, I own and use a 5k iMac, two 2017 MacBook Pros, a 12.9 inch iPad Pro, a 9.7 inch iPad Pro, a 3rd generation Apple Watch and an iPhone 7+.
While I myself might be a good Apple customer, the same cannot be said for our students. The ratio of students with Macs has declined.
The corporate business is improving – great. No complaints there. However, watch the college market very carefully. Higher education drives the future.
P.S. I am not the janitor and this typed on an iPhone.
Greg: posts like that will enable you to take the Asshole of the Day award from Goeb and Firsty. Please make a valid point and stop the personal attacks. If you have a point….
“Why should the customer pay more for unloved, outdated technology?”
Jobs also said, “If I were running Apple, I would milk the Macintosh for all it’s worth — and get busy on the next great thing.” Definitely seems like milking… and it’d be hard to miss that iOS has not been just a big thing. iOS plus the Services it depdends on is a HUGE thing.
Well, Emperor Has No Clothes, and somebody needed to say it.
As I have posted many times on this site. I have an old 2011 iMac that I wish to replace. I do not want or need the iMac Pro, nor can I afford it.
I would gladly buy another mid level Mac, pay the Apple Tax for the better gear, and be on my way. But, I refuse to pay the prices for equipment that is technically out of date on the day I buy it. Give me the more modern processor and a good sided SSD drive for starters. Also plenty of modern ports. Oh, and let me upgrade much more easily. Until then Apple can keep its computers and I will keep my money. So far the SSD I attached to the old iMac has kept it going.
The decline of the Mac is hurting the Apple Ecosystem, which lessens the time I will wait and the loyalty to Apple.
Apple is doing something that others (looking at MS and Google now) can’t. The other day I was talking to friends about what software and apps I could get that duplicate those in the now decaying Apple Ecosystem. Horrors!! But, I can’t wait forever.
Foolish me! I forgot that Apple is buidling a fantastic new headquarters building. What was I thinking?!?!? Rather than worry about what I will replace my aging iMac with, I will look at photos of the new building and I escape into the throws of ecstasy at seeing photos of the new building. Maybe I will visit Apple Headquarters and view it myself! That should be better than modern Macs. Right?
Apple’s real problem: Macs sales are down because Macs are overprices and outdated.
Apple’s view of the problem: Mac sales are down because nobody is buying Macs.
Pathetic.
Apple’s view of the problem is more like, “YES! We’ve been successful at decreasing sales of the Mac! A few more years and we’ll only have to make enough for developers that need them to make iOS apps and put out an update every three years or so for the companies that are deep into FCPX.”
If that’s the attitude, I feel sorry for IBM and all the businesses they ‘duped’ into buying Macs with such a short road ahead.
When you consider that most large companies rotate computers every 3-5 years anyway, a new computer every 3 years is probably a rate faster than IBM would need.
I agree that there is a ‘rotation’ rate that varies for each company. However that also heavily depends on a good portion of the software that can continue to run on the newer machines. Switching to Macs and investing on new hardware and software then having to switch back to PCs in the next cycle or two is NOT a smart roadmap.
Last year I was cutting the cord and needed a TV solution that could run Playstation Vue. Up to this point I was all Apple. But my AppleTV 2 and 3 couldn’t run the PS Vue app. I needed the AppleTV 4 but the one that was available (4th gen) had no 4K and that wonky remote, and would cost me $200 for one with enough memory. Instead I got a Roku Premiere+ for $89 that supported 4K and had a usable remote with a headphone jack feature even. Thus started me leaving my Apple only ecosystem. Since Roku couldn’t play my iTunes movies/music, I bought at $25 PC at Goodwill, added a spare 1TB drive that I had on hand, then installed Linux Mint and a Plex server. Moved all my movies there. Now I need a new Mac since my 2011 iMac is not Metal compatible. The lackluster and outdated selection from Apple is disheartening. Does Apple just want me to switch something else? Their inability to keep their hardware updated has already opened the door for me to leave the Apple ecosystem.
Yes, they do. Seeing as how 60% of folks that bought a Mac this year are new to Mac, they’ve replaced your dollars with someone else’s dollars. And, just because they bought one of these new Macs, that was a person who doesn’t care about cost, someone who doesn’t care about expandability or upgradability, doesn’t care how “current” the tech is. This was someone that needed to do a thing, the Mac could do that thing, and they bought it. This was also likely someone who will buy 2 or three more similarly deficient machines over their lifetime.
So, maybe it’s not that they WANT you to switch to something else. It’s more like they don’t care if you do. Which, at LEAST puts you in a different boat from folks that HAVE to buy these new machines for either their job or their business. They don’t even have the choice that you have.
So evidently Pipeline has got no new Macs in the pipeline.
If he did have any pride left, he’d be all over the issue, but the longer this slips, the more he comes across as a liar with his constant reassurances how important the Mac is to Apple.
I think I finally have clues to understanding Cooks behavior:
Jobs was fundamentally Mac.
Cook is fundamentally iPhone.
Jobs v1 was Mac, total Mac.
Jobs v2 was Mac/iPhone overlap.
Cook is vindictively rejecting all things Jobs v1/Mac.
If I am correct, this demonstrates a deep-seated resentment, hate, and rebellion against his mentor and his innovations. Just what did Jobs do to Cook for the latter to react this way? Is it unrequited love or is it that he simply wants to be his own man?
I’d say typical beta male passive aggressive behavior for unknown reason.
There is not an ounce of personal or professional passion over any Apple product in Cook.
In comparison Steve Jobs was on fire with pride over the company’s creations fueling his famous reality distortion field.
Exactly! Steve loved Apple and the products it produced. He wanted the products to be the best they could be so he could show them off because he was proud of them. He nick picked the details because he loved them and wanted everyone to love them too.
Indeed: Pride, love, and showing them off. Cook does not seem capable of projecting this which is what I want, more, crave.
Yes, yes, yes! And, yes, no one really knows.
Is it not True though, that Steve had entered the “Mac is dead” mode himself before he became ill? Steve was the one who said the desktop wars were over and that Microsoft had won. He was the one who started the whole some people will need trucks but most people will want cars metaphor for Mac vs. iPad/iPhone. Is it not conceivable that Apple is just following the plan that Steve laid out?
We also have to keep in mind that MDN and conversation areas like it are bubbles like any other. If I complain about Apple’s treatment of the Mac, pretty much everyone in here will agree with me. It’s an echo chamber.
When I visit clients, they tend to not see anything wrong. Their 5,6, and in some cases 7 year old Macs work just fine, and when they get a brand new one, it’s much faster. They don’t see the problem. Maybe that is the majority of the world that Apple caters to.
For me, MDN is indeed an echo chamber and a bubble of sorts but, on the other hand, the articles are not fake news and, I think, offer a good cross section of news about Apple’s goings on.
While Jobs likened Macs to Trucks, he did not reject them like Cook seems to be doing with maximum neglect which is palpable.
Well, as I posted earlier in the thread, it was Steve Jobs that said, “If I were running Apple, I would milk the Macintosh for all it’s worth — and get busy on the next great thing.” So, it’s possible that Steve would be doing the same, with the only difference being that he’d be pushing harder and faster on whatever the next thing is.
There’s also the way that Apple just REFUSES to listen to what customers say they need. ZERO people are asking for thinner Macs. EVERYONE is asking for faster, reliable, expandable, fixable, Macs that can cool themselves properly. No one, absolutely no one wants the stupid touch pad on the MacBook Pro. It’s the worst gimmick ever. Get rid of it. Add LTE to MacBook Pros. People need connectivity, not an emoji bar.
People keep referring to Tim as Pipeline, but the whole pipeline thing has been and continues to be a joke. I ordered a new MacBook Pro last week on Thursday. There has been no activity on that order since Thursday last week. Its just sitting there labeled “preparing.” If you can’t ship them in a reasonable amount of time, don’t even list the damn things as available.
“Pipeline,” of course, is ridicule which, I think, refers to tardiness in shipping. You might be referring more closely to supply chain management.
Wellll, I think we’d have to think about which customers they’re listening to. And as you said, this is an echo chamber, of COURSE everyone here is going to want faster, expandable, fixable… BUT, the people BUYING Macs today are the customers they are listening to and, unfortunately, by voting with their dollars, those customers are saying they are ok with the thinner, lighter Macs and are fine even if that means only one type of port, non-expandable, non-upgradable.
It’s generally a good business practice to listen to your customers. It’s even a BETTER business practice to listen to those customers that are actually spending money on your products, today.
Actually 13% fewer customers did not find a reason to buy thinner, lighter, only one type of port, non-expandable, non-upgradable YOY.
Meaning more potential customers are a voting to NOT spend their dollars on the current product line.
Just because Apple’s making limited systems to people who want to BUY limited systems that does NOT change the fact that the end game for Apple is to SELL FEWER MACS. Because they’re Apple, they are driven to make a profit on the few machines they ARE selling, hence the limited, thin (the thinner, the less aluminum per system) systems.
I used to buy a new macbook pro every year and sell the old one on eBay. Then in 2016 Apple stopped making computers that I want to buy. As a business user, I can carry my 2015 Macbook pro into any office space or meeting room and plug my machine into the projector or monitor. I often walk around my office with my macbook with no bag, case or accessories. This isn’t possible with the “new” macs (3 years and counting). Now I’d have the “convenience” of needing a bag to hold the dongles required for connecting to ANYTHING. I know this conversation has been beat to death, but it’s still an issue that I consider to be unacceptable. Limited ports on the macbook… sure. Limited ports on the Macbook pro was a game changer and many decades long loyalists like myself have simply decided not to buy a new machine. Someday my machine will die and I’ll have to replace it. Right now the idea of a hackintosh is more appealing than a macbook pro. It’s just sad
Pretty much my predicament on buying a Mac Pro. I needed a new Mac Pro in 2015 but hated the 2013 one. And rightfully so. Still waiting some 3-4 years later (and still contemplating a trip to the Dark Side where every user wish is their’s to command). And well, that can’t be good for business.
I am please, very very pleased, to see the members of this forum absolutely bitchslapping Pipeline over his handling of the Mac.
It’s inexcusable.
It’s reprehensible.
It’s contemptible.
Pipeline is a total embarrassment for Apple.
Get RID of Pipeline!
I bought a fantastic Mac a couple of weeks ago. Fast, expandable, solidly built, pleasure to use.
A 2009 Mac Pro for $100.
I bought my wife last year the only worthwhile consumer Mac Apple still makes — the 5K iMac. And more than a year later, the same model is still for sale, same hardware, at the same price.
I can’t understand Apple’s refusal to update the Macs- people LOVE the iPhone because how it worksand the Mac works the SAME WAY as the iPhone. All Apple need to do is update each Mac model twice a year with a speed increase with the latest processors and SAY they’ll do that. Then Apple would triple their Mac sales- they could easily be the top PC vendor.
2018 is all about new Macs, so please shut upski.
Revenue could have been A LOT higher if Pipeline Tim had better focus. Not a fan of Tim.
Dear Apple,
1 – MacPro
Update the MacPro every year with any updates that exist – more ram, faster graphics, MORE I/O ( not less ), more storage, expandability and upgradability. THIS is what a PRO user wants and needs. No reason not to update this yearly. In the Q1 timeframe, a time when companies allocate funds towards equipment and the consumer market slows down. It’s not a fluke why the consumer electronics show, NAMM, auto show, etc.. all pimp new products in Jan/Feb.. now sell to them. 5 YEARS since last update.. unacceptable.
2 – Displays
No reason to blow this market off. You proudly advertise how great your retina display is, yet you ignore making a desktop one? Confusing. Make displays to compliment your MacPro and MacMini. Not to mention having a Apple logo in front of millions of users doesn’t help sustain the brand in people’s minds. 5 YEARS since last update.. unacceptable.
3 – Mac Mini
I still think this product is used and should still be made, just update it.
4 – iMac
WHY is this not a priority to Apple? Make NEW iMacs every year. Announce AND release it in Q3 for the Holiday season; and make sure you manufacturer enough to meet the demand.
5 – iPhone
Increase battery life. More innovation. Don’t neglect the 4″ size, just because Samsung made you think the world wants huge phones… not everyone does. Loose the “s”, it makes no sense on the marketing side to the consumer. And if you are going to do a whole keynote and release a new model, make sure it has more than “look how thin it is”
6 – Apple Watch
Utilize the board of directors you built on this device to help recognize heart attack and stroke symptoms before they happen. Having the watch excel in the medical and health field will reap dividends for years to come… making it a must-have product.
7 – AppleTV
The i/o again is lacking for systems that run like Control4 that needs better options for i/o.
Get the deals done with the networks to help consumers rid the stranglehold on cable companies that over-charge for a million channels.
8 – MacBook Pro
Bring back i/o!!!!
If you want to be respected as a PRO machine, allow there PROS to USE it without 1,000 cables coming out of it. Pro users do not want to deal with dongles.
9 – MacBook / MacBook Air
just give them a refresh more often than 3 years
I really don’t understand the difficulty to update these yearly, without the need for a re-design…
10 – Stock
Keep buying back diluted shares so it’s harder to be manipulated. AAPL is one of the most manipulated stocks on the market.
11- Aquisitions
Make sure what you are looking to acquire is not something Apple can achieve on it’s own with the talent within. (See Beats). And whoever is negotiating these deals needs to grow a pair and learn how to get better deals and not waste so much money on some of these companies. When I see what Apple pays for these acquisitions, I shake my head. Paying $3B for beats was a terrible decision.
Tim didn’t get the memo that Apple CREATES ecosystems and doesn’t just buy them.
If you’re gonna acquire a company, acquire Adobe; for the assets.
12 – Diversify Manufacturing
Apple needs to diversify manufacturing to more than one resource to meet the demand. Be the leader in bringing back manufacturing on a large scale back to America. Utilize China, Mexico and India to meet demand for products so the consumer can purchase the products you are advertising.
13 – Advertising
More money needs to be spent on Advertising and aggressive advertising. Apple has gotten a little weak on ads. Marketing is everything.
14 – iTunes
Fix iTunes. It’s such a pain and over-bloated. iTunes 2010 runs better than iTunes 2017… that is messed up.
15 – Software
Fix Mail. Fix spotlight. Bring back Aperture.
Allocate staff to interact with users of your software and aggressively update them based on the users input. It’s not that difficult.. the users will give you the answers to the quiz. Listen to them and your software will shine.
16 – iCloud
This is kind of embarrassing. Other companies offer better services for less money. it almost makes more sense to roll $5 – $10 more into each product and offer iCloud for free with a generous space to sustain the
user base, offering tons of services with all that content. 1TB free is what I would offer.
Get the servers out of China and on U.S. soil for security reasons.
17 – Retail
Allocate more employees to help people at the help desk. Every store I go in has 10-20 sales people, mostly talking to one another, meanwhile 2-3 tech people are backlogged with pissed off customers. This is mis-managed and can be better handled.
18 – Keynotes
Tim, step aside and let someone with passion, excitement and a great stage excitement do the keynotes. Make them count. Don’t assemble the press and your fan base to come to one of these events to tell them the new iPhone is thinner. Don’t waste everyone’s time and understand when you have the stage.. perform… sell… and if you lack things to talk about, then it should be telling to your allocation of the talent around you and how you utilized them.
19 – Apple Pay
WHY is this not being advertised like crazy? No excuse for the lazy approach to this. Advertise this everywhere. Co-Brand with world brands. Do a co-brand commercial with subway showing people buying a sandwich and paying with their phone in seconds. Show how easy and secure it is. Almost every person I tell about Apple Pay has no clue about how much more secure it is than the other choices. Even the retail staff doesn’t know. Who’s job is that to tell them? Apple! Run ads showcasing that strength.
20 – HomeKit
See how users use products like Control4 and start building the ecosystem for that. I feel this, along with CarPlay, can be a game-changer if done right. You create great things like HomeKit, yet trying to educate the consumer about it is lacking. There should a fun section on the website all about these technologies you have. Consumers should not have to dig for that info. The website and marketing should be promoting them more aggressively. This is a under utilized sector for Apple.
21 – iPad
iPad should be updated every year and announced and released Q3 for holiday quarter sales.
22 – R&D
Make sure the products are tested enough so you don’t have issues after the release (see maps, EarPods, macbook pro 2016 battery, etc.. )
23 – Fix your Christmas failures
2017 – missed releasing HomePod release for Christmas
2016 – missed AirPod inventory to sell
2015 – missed inventory on iPhone to meet demand
2014 – missed iMac inventory to sell thru Christmas
This is a ongoing problem. The date for Christmas has not changed in 2017 years.
Take around 1% of your revenue $200 – $250B and hire 50,000 workers averaging $50,000 each
and diversify them into manufacturing plants: 20,000 in the U.S., 10,000 in China, 10,000 in Mexico and
10,000 in India to meet your product demand so the cycles of the products are announced, released and
exercised in ONE financial quarter so your analytic data points are more accurate sand consumers are better served.
24 – Better communication
Way too many PR nightmare from one CEO for such a small sku product line. Throttling the iOS without
letting people know was one of the worst executions this company has ever done.. again under Tim Cook.
Those are some of my ideas.
Richard Hofherr
If you feel Pipeline Tim has had more than enough chances (years) to keep the small Sku hardware count fresh and also meet the Holiday demand (which he has missed 3-4 times in the past few years), then lets VOTE him OUT!!! – Sign this petition – https://www.change.org/p/apple-board-of-directors-remove-tim-cook-as-ceo-of-apple
Yeah, internet petitions are how CEO’s get chosen. 🙂
Any replacement in mind? What about the rest of leadership that also doesn’t care about the Mac, gonna replace all those, too? I mean, if you’re living in a fantasy world, where boards listen to random non-shareholders and are keen to kick out the person that led them to a trillion dollar valuation (which no other American CEO has achieved), why stop at Tim, let’s go big!
Any CEO can be a caretaker of Steve’s legacy. Absolutely nothing special about Cook. He is lagging in all areas except the iPhone cash cow — he needs to go, pronto! …
You can’t stop at Cook, though. The ENTIRE LEADERSHIP needs to go. It isn’t that Tim Cook is holding back an industrious executive that wants to seriously push the Mac, if ANYONE in the leadership wanted to shift funds in a way that would drive profits, they would have made that case and have been leading that effort. WHO has stepped up? No one.
I could put CEO GoeB at the top of Apple right now and that wouldn’t change the fact that the current leadership team doesn’t care about the Mac.
Until Apple can make its own components, it is also limited to the refresh cycles on part makers like Intel. There is only so much it can push out on a regular cadence if they’re still waiting on part refreshes. Would you rather the new models be almost indistinguishable from the previous model, or wait for real upgrades that are worth the investment? Apple focuses on the best product, not being first.
Every other computer maker has the same limitations with components from Intel. Every other computer maker puts out updated machines with a much faster cycle. Most other computer makers give their customers options and the ability to buy a pro-level machine with ports that professionals actually use.
The biggest updates are now coming from the GPU, not the CPU, so you can’t blame it all on Intel. Even a slight CPU bump is fine as long are the new Macs are also getting a GPU update to keep up with the latest. There are many ways to provide an updated Mac other than the Intel CPU; RAM and SSDs included. No reason to not have updates every year or more.
“ Apple focuses on the best product, not being first.”
Take off the rose colored glasses. That was true under Jobs, NOT under pipeline.
The latest MBP with all its flaws is the prime example.
The Intel excuse only goes so far. PC makers nimbly deal with it and churn out faster computers on a dime. Why can’t Apple? …