5 ms·

Why did Apple stop making new computers? Is there an underlying business rationale or is it component supply challenges?

rbritton 10y ago
I suspect it's more a problem of focus. Yes, Intel has slowed in the release of new processor architectures, but there are lines Apple has ignored and many other components (e.g., graphics cards) have continued advancing. I feel they're consciously choosing to allocate their hardware engineering resources to mobile instead.
derefr 10y ago
Apple would certainly pause the production of new computers (or at least the announcement of such) if doing otherwise meant triggering the Osborne effect. Maybe they're waiting until the USB-C/Thunderbolt 3.1 accessory market stabilizes, and then moving everything over to being more MacBook-like (where the rMB is the only thing they were confident enough in their continued support of to continue releasing it in the interim.)
karma_vaccum123 10y ago
They are simply exploiting the fact that their brand identity plus retail presence generates plenty of sales....plus most consumers don't care what is under the hood.
nxc18 10y ago
It doesn't make money. Even though they have a crap ton of cash because of their mobile business, they don't seem willing to invest in their desktop os or their PC business. Its surprising because the mac + ios system is such a powerful combination. With MS at least trying lately with their pen enabled devices, bash on windows, and general lack of complete disdain for customers, they may be getting ready to eat Apple's lunch. Compare that with 4 year old laptops, little real innovation in mac os (the latest I can recall is implementing Windows 8's window system for full screen and making dev's lives harder with all the security changes in el cap) and it starts to make you wonder. Not saying Windows is better than Mac, just wish Apple would stop pulling an MS and actually try with their OS.
- davesque 10y ago
  I had been waiting for a hardware update from Apple for months. Recently, I broke down and just built a custom PC for exactly the reasons you're saying.
- stupidcar 10y ago
  The Mac does make money though, about 13% of revenue in Q4 2015: http://www.macrumors.com/2015/10/27/q4-2015-earnings/ http://www.macrumors.com/2015/10/27/q4-2015-earnings/ Yes, the iPhone delivers the lion's share of revenue, but the Mac is still an important product category. To me, the problem seems to be one of focus. The extreme centralisation that Apple inherited from the Jobs era means that, when the leadership is focussed on a particular product or product category, be it the iPhone, the Apple Watch, or a new service like Apple Music, then progress in all other areas grinds to a halt. I can understand that Apple wants to avoid the Microsoft problem of having multiple, independent business units that end up distrusting and working against one another, but the complete opposite situation isn't healthy either. A company of Apple's size and means should be able to do more than one thing at once. A few years ago, Apple had a perfect opportunity to finally break the Mac out of its 5-10% niche of the PC market. Windows 8 was a dud, while Apple's brand and reputation were at their zenith, and their hardware had a huge edge in terms of quality and aesthetics over anything other PC vendors were putting out. The time was right for a huge push of the Mac. But they didn't do it. Perhaps it was absent mindedness. Perhaps it was a lingering fear of taking on Microsoft in their own territory. Perhaps they genuinely believed the PC/laptop market was going to be disappear and be replaced by tablet computers. But for whatever reason, they blew their chance. And if I was an Apple shareholder, I'd be pissed about it.
  - pmontra 10y ago
    Perhaps they already have most of the customers that want to spend the money a Mac costs AND want to buy from Apple. There is no way for Apple to swap market share with Windows unless they sell a Mac for $300 and I'm pretty sure Apple doesn't want to sell at such a low margin.
    - 10y ago
nxc18 10y ago
It doesn't make money. Even though they have a crap ton of cash because of their mobile business, they don't seem willing to invest in their desktop os or their PC business. Its surprising because the mac + ios system is such a powerful combination. With MS at least trying lately with their pen enabled devices, bash on windows, and general lack of complete disdain for customers, they may be getting ready to eat Apple's lunch. Compare that with 4 year old laptops, little real innovation in mac os (the latest I can recall is implementing Windows 8's window system for full screen and making dev's lives harder with all the security changes in el cap) and it starts to make you wonder. Not saying Windows is better than Mac, just wish Apple would stop pulling an MS and actually try with their OS.
tim333 10y ago
They have not stopped. The new Macbook came out last year. A leisurely schedule of new releases perhaps. They are not doing bad in terms of market share. 7.5% Q4 15 vs 6.7% a year earlier global share. I think that's probably their best ever? http://www.macrumors.com/2016/01/12/4q15-pc-sales/ http://www.macrumors.com/2016/01/12/4q15-pc-sales/
- jpalomaki 10y ago
  Just looking at the latest figures can be dangerous. Sales are certainly going well, but there seems be some annoyance groving among the users and competitors are improving (for example Dell XPS 15" and Windows 10 with Ubuntu).
Someone 10y ago
If they just updated the CPU, people would complain about such things such as the amount of on-board memory (which often cannot be upgraded in recent Apple hardware), the video card, external ports, etc. So, my guess would be that their replacement hardware isn't ready. Follow-up question is: why is the hardware not ready? Possible answers (with varying degrees of realism) include: - they don't think they need it yet. - they wanted to have it ready, but hit some snag designing or producing it. - they are designing their own ARM CPUs, and want some more room to ensure that they will be faster than the old hardware. - they are designing their own ARM CPUs, and hit snags doing so. I would think it is one of the first two, but it would be more interesting if it were one of the last two.
jaxondu 10y ago
Looking at just Macbook Pro retina, which they skip a generation of Intel processor, my speculations: * They have issue getting USB-C/Thunderbolt 3.1 right, power usage wise * They are trying to incorporate TouchID, which requires custom chip like in iPhone, such chip takes time * They want P3 extended sRGB for the retina screen but has issue with supplier. * They are building a new trackpad that can support Apple Pencil, and it takes time. * They have move majority of Mac hardware people to focus on ARM chip based Mac. * They have a brand new overhaul design, but Johnny Ive is too busy with flagship building * They are teaching customers that you only need to buy a new Mac every 5 years. But there is no excuse for Apple not to make an interim upgrade with whatever new generation of Intel CPU.
GrumpyYoungMan 10y ago
If I had to make a bet, I'd guess that they're trying to add touchscreen capabilities to OS X to match up with the MS Surface Pros.

rbritton 10y ago

I suspect it's more a problem of focus. Yes, Intel has slowed in the release of new processor architectures, but there are lines Apple has ignored and many other components (e.g., graphics cards) have continued advancing. I feel they're consciously choosing to allocate their hardware engineering resources to mobile instead.

derefr 10y ago

Apple would certainly pause the production of new computers (or at least the announcement of such) if doing otherwise meant triggering the Osborne effect. Maybe they're waiting until the USB-C/Thunderbolt 3.1 accessory market stabilizes, and then moving everything over to being more MacBook-like (where the rMB is the only thing they were confident enough in their continued support of to continue releasing it in the interim.)

karma_vaccum123 10y ago

They are simply exploiting the fact that their brand identity plus retail presence generates plenty of sales....plus most consumers don't care what is under the hood.

nxc18 10y ago

It doesn't make money. Even though they have a crap ton of cash because of their mobile business, they don't seem willing to invest in their desktop os or their PC business. Its surprising because the mac + ios system is such a powerful combination. With MS at least trying lately with their pen enabled devices, bash on windows, and general lack of complete disdain for customers, they may be getting ready to eat Apple's lunch. Compare that with 4 year old laptops, little real innovation in mac os (the latest I can recall is implementing Windows 8's window system for full screen and making dev's lives harder with all the security changes in el cap) and it starts to make you wonder. Not saying Windows is better than Mac, just wish Apple would stop pulling an MS and actually try with their OS.

davesque 10y ago
I had been waiting for a hardware update from Apple for months. Recently, I broke down and just built a custom PC for exactly the reasons you're saying.
stupidcar 10y ago
The Mac does make money though, about 13% of revenue in Q4 2015: http://www.macrumors.com/2015/10/27/q4-2015-earnings/ http://www.macrumors.com/2015/10/27/q4-2015-earnings/ Yes, the iPhone delivers the lion's share of revenue, but the Mac is still an important product category. To me, the problem seems to be one of focus. The extreme centralisation that Apple inherited from the Jobs era means that, when the leadership is focussed on a particular product or product category, be it the iPhone, the Apple Watch, or a new service like Apple Music, then progress in all other areas grinds to a halt. I can understand that Apple wants to avoid the Microsoft problem of having multiple, independent business units that end up distrusting and working against one another, but the complete opposite situation isn't healthy either. A company of Apple's size and means should be able to do more than one thing at once. A few years ago, Apple had a perfect opportunity to finally break the Mac out of its 5-10% niche of the PC market. Windows 8 was a dud, while Apple's brand and reputation were at their zenith, and their hardware had a huge edge in terms of quality and aesthetics over anything other PC vendors were putting out. The time was right for a huge push of the Mac. But they didn't do it. Perhaps it was absent mindedness. Perhaps it was a lingering fear of taking on Microsoft in their own territory. Perhaps they genuinely believed the PC/laptop market was going to be disappear and be replaced by tablet computers. But for whatever reason, they blew their chance. And if I was an Apple shareholder, I'd be pissed about it.
- pmontra 10y ago
  Perhaps they already have most of the customers that want to spend the money a Mac costs AND want to buy from Apple. There is no way for Apple to swap market share with Windows unless they sell a Mac for $300 and I'm pretty sure Apple doesn't want to sell at such a low margin.
  - 10y ago

nxc18 10y ago

tim333 10y ago

They have not stopped. The new Macbook came out last year. A leisurely schedule of new releases perhaps. They are not doing bad in terms of market share. 7.5% Q4 15 vs 6.7% a year earlier global share. I think that's probably their best ever? http://www.macrumors.com/2016/01/12/4q15-pc-sales/ http://www.macrumors.com/2016/01/12/4q15-pc-sales/

jpalomaki 10y ago
Just looking at the latest figures can be dangerous. Sales are certainly going well, but there seems be some annoyance groving among the users and competitors are improving (for example Dell XPS 15" and Windows 10 with Ubuntu).

Someone 10y ago

If they just updated the CPU, people would complain about such things such as the amount of on-board memory (which often cannot be upgraded in recent Apple hardware), the video card, external ports, etc. So, my guess would be that their replacement hardware isn't ready. Follow-up question is: why is the hardware not ready? Possible answers (with varying degrees of realism) include: - they don't think they need it yet. - they wanted to have it ready, but hit some snag designing or producing it. - they are designing their own ARM CPUs, and want some more room to ensure that they will be faster than the old hardware. - they are designing their own ARM CPUs, and hit snags doing so. I would think it is one of the first two, but it would be more interesting if it were one of the last two.

jaxondu 10y ago

Looking at just Macbook Pro retina, which they skip a generation of Intel processor, my speculations: * They have issue getting USB-C/Thunderbolt 3.1 right, power usage wise * They are trying to incorporate TouchID, which requires custom chip like in iPhone, such chip takes time * They want P3 extended sRGB for the retina screen but has issue with supplier. * They are building a new trackpad that can support Apple Pencil, and it takes time. * They have move majority of Mac hardware people to focus on ARM chip based Mac. * They have a brand new overhaul design, but Johnny Ive is too busy with flagship building * They are teaching customers that you only need to buy a new Mac every 5 years. But there is no excuse for Apple not to make an interim upgrade with whatever new generation of Intel CPU.

GrumpyYoungMan 10y ago

If I had to make a bet, I'd guess that they're trying to add touchscreen capabilities to OS X to match up with the MS Surface Pros.