“Apple sold 4.03 million Macs in the March quarter, a 9% decline from the same period in 2015. It was the second consecutive quarterly contraction for the personal computer line,” Dennis Sellers writes for Apple World Today. “The problem, according to Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research, is that Apple is ignoring its Mac line-up. He’s right.”
“Gottheil cited the line’s lack of innovation on both hardware and the OS X operating system—and confusing customers with overlap between models, particularly the 12-inch MacBook and the MacBook Air,” Sellers writes. “Of course, just updating the Mac product line would be welcome. Last week’s refresh of the MacBook and MacBook Air was merely incremental (I expect the Air line to disappear and the plain ol’ MacBook to be available in different sizes a la the MacBook Pro). The Mac Pro desktop hasn’t been updated since 2013. The Mac mini hasn’t been upgraded since 2014. And the Thunderbolt Display, which needs a 5K display, hasn’t been revved in four years!”
MacDailyNews Take: When you’ve sold yourself on the idea that the iPad is the future of personal computing by swallowing your own marketing hook, line, and sinker, and then fail to deliver on that promise for too long (skimping on RAM, offering underpowered multitasking, etc. – now, finally, largely corrected with iPad Pro), you neglect the horse that brung ya (Macintosh is his name) and shoot yourself in the foot (Q216 results, Mac sales unable to make up for the continued iPad sales decline, and Mac’s streak of outgrowing the PC market shattered).
Mirror, Tim Cook. Tim Cook, mirror.
A big picture revision and course correction would be well advised. Perhaps some new blood — not stuffed quite so complacently with RSUs, perhaps? — high up on the food chain, as well?
Here’s hoping Apple has big plans for Mac (software and hardware) at WWDC this June.
Hey, in the name of bridging the gap between traditional computers while we wait for tablets that can really displace them, how about a 12.9-inch device that’s an OS X-powered MacBook when docked with its keyboard base and an iOS-powered iPad Pro when undocked?
How many of those babies would Apple have sold last quarter, had they been available?
Illustration from Apple’s hybrid Mac-iPad patent application
I’ve been a Mac guy since day one. I’ve seen some shitty times, the ups and downs. this is a dark time for Apple. it seems like the first time in a long time where things are headed in the wrong direction from almost every avenue.
everytime I turn around it’s something else. everything I do with my Mac (27″ 5K) is backwards or just plain broken. the software is fucked!!! bought into the Aperture thing early, learned it and might even say mastered it—I was loyal. and even though I’m a pro Photoshop user I never crossed over to Lightroom where all the shortcuts are second nature. I knew Apple would take care of me like they had for years. well, now that’s more than fucked. I even stayed with Aperture while Lightroom pulled ahead…
what about iTunes? I’m a power user if there is such a thing. I won’t get into the details because my doctor says for my heart’s sake I shouldn’t. I’ll just say this: what the flying fsck is going on with fscking iTunes??? it makes me want to literally kill someone—anyone—several times a day.
the only two things I really use my Mac for is photo cataloging and editing. well, that and music. and now it’s all fscked. everyday is shit now. feels like a job I had back in the late 90s. I had the top of the line Dell with dual displays.. brand new.. I had a few tech support guys making sure it could run Outlook and Photoshop at the same time. it would crash hard at least 3 times a day, it was fscking hell.
all things being equal, I’d say I’m about as pissed off now as I was then.
Apple, stop acting like a bunch of marketing bozos are in charge.
what would Steve do?
I’ve been a Mac guy since day one. I’ve seen some shitty times, the ups and downs. this is a dark time for Apple. it seems like the first time in a long time where things are headed in the wrong direction from almost every avenue.
everytime I turn around it’s something else. everything I do with my Mac (27″ 5K) is backwards or just plain broken. the software is fscked!!! bought into the Aperture thing early, learned it and might even say mastered it—I was loyal. and even though I’m a pro Photoshop user I never crossed over to Lightroom where all the shortcuts are second nature. I knew Apple would take care of me like they had for years. well, now that’s more than fscked. I even stayed with Aperture while Lightroom pulled ahead…
what about iTunes? I’m a power user if there is such a thing. I won’t get into the details because my doctor says for my heart’s sake I shouldn’t. I’ll just say this: what the flying fsck is going on with fscking iTunes??? it makes me want to literally kill someone—anyone—several times a day.
the only two things I really use my Mac for is photo cataloging and editing. well, that and music. and now it’s all fscked. everyday is sh!t now. feels like a job I had back in the late 90s. I had the top of the line Dell with dual displays.. brand new.. I had a few tech support guys making sure it could run Outlook and Photoshop at the same time. it would crash hard at least 3 times a day, it was fscking hell.
all things being equal, I’d say I’m about as pissed off now as I was then.
Apple, stop acting like a bunch of marketing bozos are in charge.
what would Steve do?
– No advertising
– Hardware is out of date
– Way overpriced SSD’s. ($600 more than Amazon)
– Overpriced RAM
– Soldered ram that can’t be upgraded
– Mac software that has either the same or fewer features than the iOS counterparts.
– Destruction of Pages and the failure to develop a powerful yet easy to use flat file database for iWork. This is essential for many small businesses.
– Font sizes in the operating system that are too small and can’t be adjusted.
Here is nice list of where to start on improving the Mac OS:
Remember their CEO’s claim to fame before ascending was supply chain mgmt, the ultimate bean-counting job at Apple, so yeah them… …and the lifestylists, fashionistas, oh-so-PC, be-seenists….
One more thing. Give us back some upgrade-ability. Getting an SSD drive into my slow and aging iMac is a chore to say the least.
At the very least allow us to add memory chips and upgrade the storage. It pains me to see how much I have to spend because I have to pay somebody to add an SSD to my iMac rather than just popping it in myself – like my poor, deluded, Windows machine friends do.
I still like Apple better, but at some point they Apple Tax just gets to high.
Apple has lost its way. To increase profit it has become about making products either disposable or to expense to repair. At what point do I choose to replace a battery for over $460 or replace the computer. Same goes with iPad and iPhone repairs. Consumers can live with a faster turnover rate for iPhones and iPads, not so with computers. Those still need to be constructed to be serviceable, including upgradability, i.e. RAM and SSD sizes. If not Apple will have shot themselves in the foot. As the aging of the US continues, the consumers on fixed incomes will leave apple or move to cheap apple products.
Apple needs another Jobs and Cook isn’t it. Cook is horrible. It used to be that Apple and Macs were synonymous. They need to make that so again.
I’ve been a Mac guy since day one. I’ve seen some shitty times, the ups and downs. this is a dark time for Apple. it seems like the first time in a long time where things are headed in the wrong direction from almost every avenue.
everytime I turn around it’s something else. everything I do with my Mac (27″ 5K) is backwards or just plain broken. the software is fucked!!! bought into the Aperture thing early, learned it and might even say mastered it—I was loyal. and even though I’m a pro Photoshop user I never crossed over to Lightroom where all the shortcuts are second nature. I knew Apple would take care of me like they had for years. well, now that’s more than fucked. I even stayed with Aperture while Lightroom pulled ahead…
what about iTunes? I’m a power user if there is such a thing. I won’t get into the details because my doctor says for my heart’s sake I shouldn’t. I’ll just say this: what the flying fsck is going on with fscking iTunes??? it makes me want to literally kill someone—anyone—several times a day.
the only two things I really use my Mac for is photo cataloging and editing. well, that and music. and now it’s all fscked. everyday is shit now. feels like a job I had back in the late 90s. I had the top of the line Dell with dual displays.. brand new.. I had a few tech support guys making sure it could run Outlook and Photoshop at the same time. it would crash hard at least 3 times a day, it was fscking hell.
all things being equal, I’d say I’m about as pissed off now as I was then.
Apple, stop acting like a bunch of marketing bozos are in charge.
what would Steve do?
I’ve been a Mac guy since day one. I’ve seen some shitty times, the ups and downs. this is a dark time for Apple. it seems like the first time in a long time where things are headed in the wrong direction from almost every avenue.
everytime I turn around it’s something else. everything I do with my Mac (27″ 5K) is backwards or just plain broken. the software is fscked!!! bought into the Aperture thing early, learned it and might even say mastered it—I was loyal. and even though I’m a pro Photoshop user I never crossed over to Lightroom where all the shortcuts are second nature. I knew Apple would take care of me like they had for years. well, now that’s more than fscked. I even stayed with Aperture while Lightroom pulled ahead…
what about iTunes? I’m a power user if there is such a thing. I won’t get into the details because my doctor says for my heart’s sake I shouldn’t. I’ll just say this: what the flying fsck is going on with fscking iTunes??? it makes me want to literally kill someone—anyone—several times a day.
the only two things I really use my Mac for is photo cataloging and editing. well, that and music. and now it’s all fscked. everyday is sh!t now. feels like a job I had back in the late 90s. I had the top of the line Dell with dual displays.. brand new.. I had a few tech support guys making sure it could run Outlook and Photoshop at the same time. it would crash hard at least 3 times a day, it was fscking hell.
all things being equal, I’d say I’m about as pissed off now as I was then.
Apple, stop acting like a bunch of marketing bozos are in charge.
what would Steve do?
Apple has neglected the Mac terribly. How so?
– No advertising
– Hardware is out of date
– Way overpriced SSD’s. ($600 more than Amazon)
– Overpriced RAM
– Soldered ram that can’t be upgraded
– Mac software that has either the same or fewer features than the iOS counterparts.
– Destruction of Pages and the failure to develop a powerful yet easy to use flat file database for iWork. This is essential for many small businesses.
– Font sizes in the operating system that are too small and can’t be adjusted.
Here is nice list of where to start on improving the Mac OS:
http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-would-you-improve-osx.1961714/
It feels like the bean counters are slowly taking over at Apple. I hope I am wrong.
Remember their CEO’s claim to fame before ascending was supply chain mgmt, the ultimate bean-counting job at Apple, so yeah them… …and the lifestylists, fashionistas, oh-so-PC, be-seenists….
One more thing. Give us back some upgrade-ability. Getting an SSD drive into my slow and aging iMac is a chore to say the least.
At the very least allow us to add memory chips and upgrade the storage. It pains me to see how much I have to spend because I have to pay somebody to add an SSD to my iMac rather than just popping it in myself – like my poor, deluded, Windows machine friends do.
I still like Apple better, but at some point they Apple Tax just gets to high.
Wake up!
One more thing:
Forget about fancy edifices and self driving cars.
Make good computing devices – hardware and software, the best in the industry.
If I want a car I will buy one from Toyota or BMW or even GM!!!
Very informative chart:
Apple revenue growth or lack of revenue growth when the iPhone is not counted.
Apple has lost its way. To increase profit it has become about making products either disposable or to expense to repair. At what point do I choose to replace a battery for over $460 or replace the computer. Same goes with iPad and iPhone repairs. Consumers can live with a faster turnover rate for iPhones and iPads, not so with computers. Those still need to be constructed to be serviceable, including upgradability, i.e. RAM and SSD sizes. If not Apple will have shot themselves in the foot. As the aging of the US continues, the consumers on fixed incomes will leave apple or move to cheap apple products.