MacBook shipments down 30% in 2023, but Apple is betting big on the M3 chip in 2024

[DragonSlayer101]

What just happened? Apple introduced the 15-inch MacBook Air earlier this year in an attempt to boost its laptop sales, but it appears that the desired effect hasn't materialized. According to a recent report, MacBook sales could be down by as much as 30 percent this year due to decreased demand following the back-to-school season.

The report comes from the generally reliable Apple insider and TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who states that shipment forecasts for MacBooks have been revised downward by "about 20 percent or more" this year. Due to this downturn, total sales are expected to decrease to around 17 million units in 2023.

With no new MacBooks anticipated to be launched for the remainder of the year, overall shipments during the upcoming holiday season could be "significantly lower" than in previous years.

Kuo explains that several factors contributed to the decline in MacBook sales, including reduced demand for work-from-home setups and decreasing consumer interest in Apple Silicon and mini-LED technology. However, Apple is reportedly placing substantial confidence in the M3 processor, with expectations that it will boost MacBook shipments next year. Kuo suggests that Apple may need to "clear inventory" through potential discounts and then devise new product and marketing strategies for 2024.

Kuo also noted that the average cost of key components in MacBooks is "significantly higher" than that of Windows laptops in general. This impacts the profitability of MacBook suppliers, and these higher costs are passed on to consumers. Consequently, MacBooks are often considerably more expensive than their Windows counterparts, which may not suit individuals seeking budget-friendly work laptops.

Given the decline in MacBook sales this year, 2024 must be a pivotal year for Apple to offset the lackluster performance of 2023. The company is expected to launch several new MacBooks next year, including new 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air models, as well as new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros. While the former pair is anticipated to be powered by the M3 chip, the latter two are rumored to offer a choice between the more potent M3 Pro and M3 Max CPUs.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/100549-macbook-shipments-down-30-2023-but-apple-betting.html

 

[Theinsanegamer]

I like the macbooks, the M chips are super energy efficient, and in theory they are great machines.

But apple refuses to support vulkan, and my machines do have games played on them. So long as that is true, I have no reason to spend any money on mac machines.

 

[VitalyT]

Reminds me a quote from Hitch movie:

Hitch: Do you know the definition of perseverance, Miss Melas? Sara: An excuse to be obnoxious? Hitch: Continuing a course of action without regard to discouragement, opposition or previous failure.

Apple will sooner pull every mutant rabbit out of their back than do one thing that's needed - drop prices.

 

[GoldenGoat]

30% down sounds bad, but I bet other PC makers are doing worse than that this year. A lot of people bought a new laptop during the pandemic and won't need a new one for several years at least. By then, hopefully they will have a touchscreen and not seem like computers from 10 years ago that don't want to modernize because they are too worried people would stop buying ipads that can't do much other than watch Netflix and do social media.

 

[Mr Majestyk]

Reminds me a quote from Hitch movie:



Apple will sooner pull every mutant rabbit out of their back than do one thing that's needed - drop prices.

Indeed. The M2 based Macbooks have been a miserable sales disaster for Apple for the simple reason they offer minimal performance gains for much higher prices and have ZERO new features. You could get an equivalently specced M1 based Macbook for 40% less than the M2 version and it's about 5% slower. M3 will be a much better performance uplift but Apple will continue to raise prices and offer poor feature set especially the lack of usb/tb ports, no touch screen, no foldable versions etc.

 

[toooooot]

Huge respect to Apple for what they achieved with their iGPUs. And all that with amazing battery life.

 

[DZillaXx]

I don't care how much of a performance improvement the M3 chips are over m1 or m2, the M1 chip was more than good enough and that really was the biggest issue with m2. The M1 Macbook Air was by far one of the best laptops for the $$. The M2 version had a Price Bump that hardly added any worth.

The M1 is not slow, battery life was great. That will still be true 2 years from now. As a owner of a M1 Macbook Air, from nearly day one it has been an awesome device. Most people really don't care about what is faster, they really just want good performance. There is a point where performance gains are really hard to notice for day to day usage. We've hit that milestone years ago. Battery Life is one of the biggest notable features of a laptop, and the M1 units did a damn good job in that department.