4 ms·

Oddly M1 macs have also been having pretty deep price cuts lately. I get the feeling sales have greatly slowed down past the initial burst.

dangus 6y ago
I think there are two dynamics at play: the weak economy for much of the middle class and the jobless rate being higher than normal, along with work from home and pandemic aspects of life increasing demand for home electronics. People want computers perhaps more than normal, but do they have the money to spend? I think this is why Apple was advertising Education pricing on the M1 Macs the day they came out. They don’t care that you qualify, it’s basically a “buy from Apple directly instead of a third party retailer” discount. This is all just my amateur theory - I think Apple wants to keep volumes up and sell something to meet demand.
- Firehawke 6y ago
  Yeah, I think it's more that people can't justify what I'd call luxury pricing for hardware right now. I'm not aware of any significant failures in the M1 design to suggest that Apple screwed up hard at least. When things turn around, I'd expect Apple to pick back up pretty well. I'm not an Apple owner nor a fan, but I definitely have an interest in watching the evolution of these since they're the first real rival to x86 in a long time. There's a real possibility I'll end up going to a future Apple, Microsoft (since they're looking into doing their own ARM chips now as well), or some other ARM architecture in the next 10 years if Intel and AMD can't keep x86 ahead. It looks like Intel already lost with almost no hope of getting back into a competitive position, so AMD's what I'm watching closest on that side. Also, look, before anyone downvotes me for being Anti-Intel(tm), I just want to say that I'm going to remain skeptical until Intel can do 2-3 generations of good chips in succession without dropping the ball hard. Zen has two or three generations of good improvement showing up, and Intel might have ONE generation with the newest chips coming out but that doesn't mean they'll keep it up. If Intel does that, I'll keep them in consideration. Until that point.. well, I'm just going to remain skeptical and cautious.
- chrisseaton 6y ago
  The middle class who still have jobs currently have more money than they know what to do with! Markets are soaring and personal current accounts are full to bursting, according to central banks, as nobody has anything to spend money on. This gives me hope for a quick economic bounce-back. It's the working class and people who have lost their jobs who are seriously struggling. The middle class are fine.

dangus 6y ago

I think there are two dynamics at play: the weak economy for much of the middle class and the jobless rate being higher than normal, along with work from home and pandemic aspects of life increasing demand for home electronics. People want computers perhaps more than normal, but do they have the money to spend? I think this is why Apple was advertising Education pricing on the M1 Macs the day they came out. They don’t care that you qualify, it’s basically a “buy from Apple directly instead of a third party retailer” discount. This is all just my amateur theory - I think Apple wants to keep volumes up and sell something to meet demand.

Firehawke 6y ago
Yeah, I think it's more that people can't justify what I'd call luxury pricing for hardware right now. I'm not aware of any significant failures in the M1 design to suggest that Apple screwed up hard at least. When things turn around, I'd expect Apple to pick back up pretty well. I'm not an Apple owner nor a fan, but I definitely have an interest in watching the evolution of these since they're the first real rival to x86 in a long time. There's a real possibility I'll end up going to a future Apple, Microsoft (since they're looking into doing their own ARM chips now as well), or some other ARM architecture in the next 10 years if Intel and AMD can't keep x86 ahead. It looks like Intel already lost with almost no hope of getting back into a competitive position, so AMD's what I'm watching closest on that side. Also, look, before anyone downvotes me for being Anti-Intel(tm), I just want to say that I'm going to remain skeptical until Intel can do 2-3 generations of good chips in succession without dropping the ball hard. Zen has two or three generations of good improvement showing up, and Intel might have ONE generation with the newest chips coming out but that doesn't mean they'll keep it up. If Intel does that, I'll keep them in consideration. Until that point.. well, I'm just going to remain skeptical and cautious.
chrisseaton 6y ago
The middle class who still have jobs currently have more money than they know what to do with! Markets are soaring and personal current accounts are full to bursting, according to central banks, as nobody has anything to spend money on. This gives me hope for a quick economic bounce-back. It's the working class and people who have lost their jobs who are seriously struggling. The middle class are fine.