6 ms·

US Mac market share grew 22% in Q1, likely helped by new MacBook Air models

36 points by alwillis 2y ago

Glant 2y ago
Likely helped by Microsoft adding even more spyware and anti patterns to Windows.
- alwillis 2y ago
  The average consumer doesn’t consider any of that. I’d guess lots of people upgrading from Intel Macs and to some extent PCs now that Apple Silicon Macs are hitting their stride.
  - lukev 2y ago
    I think the average consumer does notice the amount of crap that pops up when they boot their brand new computer, and gets frustrated when they can't remove it easily.
    - alwillis 2y ago
      Sure, but if you've been using Windows for the past 5, 10 or 15 years, it's always been like that.
      - wlesieutre 2y ago
        There was a nice period with devices like the Surface or "Signature Edition" hardware sold through Microsoft where you could get a minimally fucked up Windows install from the factory. But it turned out that was just the intermediate step between "quit gunking up our OS with so much awful garbage and spyware" and "because it should be gunked up with our awful garbage and spyware."
      - deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
      - drpossum 2y ago
        I think any given day here you can find at least one article getting attention that, no, it has not always been like that and has been getting worse. The most obvious being the Recall debacle. That is in my memory the first time outrage got big enough that Microsoft had to walk back an entire feature they were trying to opt everyone into by default.
  - burkaman 2y ago
    No, but the average consumer does Google "what laptop should I get" when they want a new one, and I think at least some of the people writing those lists do consider the downsides of Windows. When I Google that the first result is from the Verge, and they recommend a MacBook Air because "The Apple MacBook Air M3 is the best laptop for most people — Mac users, of course, but also the platform-agnostic or anyone who wants a no-fuss, straightforward machine that doesn’t bombard them with advertisements or bloatware."
  - blkhp19 2y ago
    > I’d guess lots of people upgrading from Intel Macs Why would you guess that? It's +22% Mac marketshare, not +22% Apple Silicon Mac marketshare.
    - throwanem 2y ago
      Apple hasn't manufactured Intel Macs since 2020.
      - cromulent 2y ago
        The last one to be discontinued was the Intel Mac Pro in June 2023, after the Intel iMacs and Mac Minis were discontinued in 2022 and early 2023.
        throwanem 2y ago
        Fair, it would have been more accurate to say Apple shipped no Intel Macs in Q1.
      - blkhp19 2y ago
        Someone upgrading from an Intel Mac to an Apple Silicon Mac doesn't increase Mac marketshare.
        throwanem 2y ago
        This is year-on-year for Q1. If I want whatever Macs I bought in Q1 '24 to net out neutral here, I need to have bought an equal number of Macs in Q1 '23. Per a sibling commenter, Apple did still sell Intel Macs throughout Q1 '23, so it's possible for the earlier set to have been Intel and the later to have been M-series, which we could count as the upgrades you describe. Intuitively it seems difficult to imagine very many people would have done this, but to set an upper bound we would need M-series vs. Intel share figures for Q1 '23.
    - pegasus 2y ago
      Obviously, because all macs now sold are Apple Silicon.
jmpman 2y ago
If Mac could simply play a greater percentage of my Steam library, I’d have no need for Windows.
- jonplackett 2y ago
  It’s funny I wonder if MS do start to properly support Arm, it might have the opposite effect they want by forcing games makers to make arm versions, which can then be easily ported to the Mac…
  - andrewmcwatters 2y ago
    We had the same phenomenon with x86-64 Mac OS X and macOS, but it didn't actually help. Their hardware was then, and still is chronically underpowered for current generation games. They build beautiful, but really slow hardware for their price point. They eventually deprecated OpenGL, and their then and now implementation is implemented as a wrapper around Metal. As a result, underlying OpenGL structures don't exist, and so you couldn't actually debug those games on Apple hardware. You had to resolve it on Windows PCs. Apple will never be serious about gaming, so it's just not ever worth the time.
  - RodgerTheGreat 2y ago
    The challenges of porting games from Windows to MacOS have very little to do with processor architecture, and everything to do with system APIs. Valve's work with Proton seems like a much more plausible path toward unseating the dominance of Windows gaming, with the ironic consequence of solidifying the Windows APIs as a de-facto portable standard.
    - gjsman-1000 2y ago
      As people on forums are already lamenting, the most stable API for building Linux games, is Windows. In my mind; that is completely true and a serious indictment of the immaturity of Linux userspace.
      - 2y ago
jncfhnb 2y ago
> Mac shipments are estimated to have grown from 1.7M in the first quarter of 2023 to 2.1M in the same quarter this year. That represents year-on-year growth of 22%, giving Apple a 14.2% share of the US PC market. Author does not understand what market share means
- choilive 2y ago
  2.1M/14.8M = 14.2% marketshare. Marketshare is the percentage of new shipments, which is the way its always been measured for this space and others (such as smartphones), the author got it right.
  - jncfhnb 2y ago
    And… where is 14.2M coming from and where is 22% market share growth coming from? Seems awfully likely they conflated 22% sales growth with market share growth
    - floundy 2y ago
      What do you propose to measure it more accurately? Should we add questions about computer OS usage to the US Census?
      - jncfhnb 2y ago
        I propose recognizing that 22% greater sales does not mean 22% greater market share
    - choilive 2y ago
      I typo'd the number - it was 14.8M. But per the article it came from a company called Canalys.
blackeyeblitzar 2y ago
I dislike Apple’s abuse and censorship with the App Store, but I trust them for privacy a lot more than Microsoft. That’s my reason to abandon Windows now - it’s apparent Microsoft cannot be trusted with my data.
exabrial 2y ago
Helped by having fricken ports.
- gnicholas 2y ago
  MBAs don’t have that many ports — just two USB ports and the MagSafe charging port. It’s better than before, but you still have to go with an MBP to get HDMI, SD, or ports on both sides.
  - denimnerd42 2y ago
    I wish they'd put a usb-c on both sides so you could route the charging cable either way.
    - gnicholas 2y ago
      For sure. I'm just glad there's a separate charge port. On previous generations, you would sometimes have to unplug from power in order to back up an iPhone to an external hard drive, for example. Given the lousy battery life on those (Intel) machines, it wasn't such a no brainer to unplug back then!
xnx 2y ago
The article has a bit of an angle to get clicks. Better to look at the source: https://canalys.com/newsroom/us-pc-market-q1-2024 https://canalys.com/newsroom/us-pc-market-q1-2024 Lenovo shipments increased 22.4% in the same period.
- floundy 2y ago
  Mac is synonymous with Apple's OS and ecosystem, whereas Lenovo is one contributor to Windows' market share. According to the data source HP and Dell lost market share YOY which takes a bite out of Windows' slice of the pie.
- Kon-Peki 2y ago
  > “However, the first quarter also saw an uptick in commercial sector performance. Shipment growth in small and medium businesses indicates that the anticipated refresh brought by the Windows 10 end-of-life is underway. With enterprise customers set to follow suit, the near-term outlook for the market remains highly positive.” Good move linking to the source. This analysis is odd. The total market grew by 703,000 computers. Apple and Lenovo combined to grow by 854,000 computers. So basically the rest of the market shrank. How can someone conclude that a Windows10-to-Windows11 upgrade cycle is in progress, unless Apple and Lenovo are the only Windows11 vendors (which is a preposterous idea)?
alsuren 2y ago
Eventually someone will make a Desktop Linux distro that targets macos exiles, using macos keybindings everywhere. When that day comes, I will be back on Linux like a shot.
- solardev 2y ago
  For the average person (or even average tech person), what advantage would desktop Linux have over macOS, especially now that Apple is on proprietary hardware again? Wasn't there already a desktop Linux for Apple Silicon (forget its name, Asahi maybe?), but last I checked, a bunch of things don't work right. It's nice having a POSIX shell on Mac combined with the ability to use common business apps like Adobe or Microsoft stuff. What would Linux offer?
- runjake 2y ago
  I tried to do this manually and it was partially successful, but a nightmare. Most people who want this seem to use and enjoy Kinto, which is supposedly very easy. https://kinto.sh/ https://kinto.sh/
tracker1 2y ago
I have to believe there's more than 15 million PCs in the US... with approaching 400m, and even a household of 5 (80m)... fewer than 1 in 5 homes having a PC/Laptop just seems, off.
- solardev 2y ago
  I think that's just 15 million shipped in a single quarter. That's measuring new sales across a few months, not preexisting ownership. > PC (excluding tablets) shipments to the United States grew 5% year-on-year to 14.8 million units in Q1 2024.
- graeme 2y ago
  That's new PC shipments, not total PCs on the market.
shrubble 2y ago
"Mac shipments are estimated to have grown from 1.7M in the first quarter of 2023 to 2.1M in the same quarter this year" note that it is an increase of 22% of Macs being sold, and not a total market share of 22%; instead Mac are about 14.2% of total units.

36 points by alwillis 2y ago

Glant 2y ago

Likely helped by Microsoft adding even more spyware and anti patterns to Windows.

alwillis 2y ago
The average consumer doesn’t consider any of that. I’d guess lots of people upgrading from Intel Macs and to some extent PCs now that Apple Silicon Macs are hitting their stride.
- lukev 2y ago
  I think the average consumer does notice the amount of crap that pops up when they boot their brand new computer, and gets frustrated when they can't remove it easily.
  - alwillis 2y ago
    Sure, but if you've been using Windows for the past 5, 10 or 15 years, it's always been like that.
    - wlesieutre 2y ago
      There was a nice period with devices like the Surface or "Signature Edition" hardware sold through Microsoft where you could get a minimally fucked up Windows install from the factory. But it turned out that was just the intermediate step between "quit gunking up our OS with so much awful garbage and spyware" and "because it should be gunked up with our awful garbage and spyware."
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
    - drpossum 2y ago
      I think any given day here you can find at least one article getting attention that, no, it has not always been like that and has been getting worse. The most obvious being the Recall debacle. That is in my memory the first time outrage got big enough that Microsoft had to walk back an entire feature they were trying to opt everyone into by default.
- burkaman 2y ago
  No, but the average consumer does Google "what laptop should I get" when they want a new one, and I think at least some of the people writing those lists do consider the downsides of Windows. When I Google that the first result is from the Verge, and they recommend a MacBook Air because "The Apple MacBook Air M3 is the best laptop for most people — Mac users, of course, but also the platform-agnostic or anyone who wants a no-fuss, straightforward machine that doesn’t bombard them with advertisements or bloatware."
- blkhp19 2y ago
  > I’d guess lots of people upgrading from Intel Macs Why would you guess that? It's +22% Mac marketshare, not +22% Apple Silicon Mac marketshare.
  - throwanem 2y ago
    Apple hasn't manufactured Intel Macs since 2020.
    - cromulent 2y ago
      The last one to be discontinued was the Intel Mac Pro in June 2023, after the Intel iMacs and Mac Minis were discontinued in 2022 and early 2023.
      - throwanem 2y ago
        Fair, it would have been more accurate to say Apple shipped no Intel Macs in Q1.
    - blkhp19 2y ago
      Someone upgrading from an Intel Mac to an Apple Silicon Mac doesn't increase Mac marketshare.
      - throwanem 2y ago
        This is year-on-year for Q1. If I want whatever Macs I bought in Q1 '24 to net out neutral here, I need to have bought an equal number of Macs in Q1 '23. Per a sibling commenter, Apple did still sell Intel Macs throughout Q1 '23, so it's possible for the earlier set to have been Intel and the later to have been M-series, which we could count as the upgrades you describe. Intuitively it seems difficult to imagine very many people would have done this, but to set an upper bound we would need M-series vs. Intel share figures for Q1 '23.
  - pegasus 2y ago
    Obviously, because all macs now sold are Apple Silicon.

jmpman 2y ago

If Mac could simply play a greater percentage of my Steam library, I’d have no need for Windows.

jonplackett 2y ago
It’s funny I wonder if MS do start to properly support Arm, it might have the opposite effect they want by forcing games makers to make arm versions, which can then be easily ported to the Mac…
- andrewmcwatters 2y ago
  We had the same phenomenon with x86-64 Mac OS X and macOS, but it didn't actually help. Their hardware was then, and still is chronically underpowered for current generation games. They build beautiful, but really slow hardware for their price point. They eventually deprecated OpenGL, and their then and now implementation is implemented as a wrapper around Metal. As a result, underlying OpenGL structures don't exist, and so you couldn't actually debug those games on Apple hardware. You had to resolve it on Windows PCs. Apple will never be serious about gaming, so it's just not ever worth the time.
- RodgerTheGreat 2y ago
  The challenges of porting games from Windows to MacOS have very little to do with processor architecture, and everything to do with system APIs. Valve's work with Proton seems like a much more plausible path toward unseating the dominance of Windows gaming, with the ironic consequence of solidifying the Windows APIs as a de-facto portable standard.
  - gjsman-1000 2y ago
    As people on forums are already lamenting, the most stable API for building Linux games, is Windows. In my mind; that is completely true and a serious indictment of the immaturity of Linux userspace.
    - 2y ago

jncfhnb 2y ago

> Mac shipments are estimated to have grown from 1.7M in the first quarter of 2023 to 2.1M in the same quarter this year. That represents year-on-year growth of 22%, giving Apple a 14.2% share of the US PC market. Author does not understand what market share means

choilive 2y ago
2.1M/14.8M = 14.2% marketshare. Marketshare is the percentage of new shipments, which is the way its always been measured for this space and others (such as smartphones), the author got it right.
- jncfhnb 2y ago
  And… where is 14.2M coming from and where is 22% market share growth coming from? Seems awfully likely they conflated 22% sales growth with market share growth
  - floundy 2y ago
    What do you propose to measure it more accurately? Should we add questions about computer OS usage to the US Census?
    - jncfhnb 2y ago
      I propose recognizing that 22% greater sales does not mean 22% greater market share
  - choilive 2y ago
    I typo'd the number - it was 14.8M. But per the article it came from a company called Canalys.

blackeyeblitzar 2y ago

I dislike Apple’s abuse and censorship with the App Store, but I trust them for privacy a lot more than Microsoft. That’s my reason to abandon Windows now - it’s apparent Microsoft cannot be trusted with my data.

exabrial 2y ago

Helped by having fricken ports.

gnicholas 2y ago
MBAs don’t have that many ports — just two USB ports and the MagSafe charging port. It’s better than before, but you still have to go with an MBP to get HDMI, SD, or ports on both sides.
- denimnerd42 2y ago
  I wish they'd put a usb-c on both sides so you could route the charging cable either way.
  - gnicholas 2y ago
    For sure. I'm just glad there's a separate charge port. On previous generations, you would sometimes have to unplug from power in order to back up an iPhone to an external hard drive, for example. Given the lousy battery life on those (Intel) machines, it wasn't such a no brainer to unplug back then!

xnx 2y ago

The article has a bit of an angle to get clicks. Better to look at the source: https://canalys.com/newsroom/us-pc-market-q1-2024 https://canalys.com/newsroom/us-pc-market-q1-2024 Lenovo shipments increased 22.4% in the same period.

floundy 2y ago
Mac is synonymous with Apple's OS and ecosystem, whereas Lenovo is one contributor to Windows' market share. According to the data source HP and Dell lost market share YOY which takes a bite out of Windows' slice of the pie.
Kon-Peki 2y ago
> “However, the first quarter also saw an uptick in commercial sector performance. Shipment growth in small and medium businesses indicates that the anticipated refresh brought by the Windows 10 end-of-life is underway. With enterprise customers set to follow suit, the near-term outlook for the market remains highly positive.” Good move linking to the source. This analysis is odd. The total market grew by 703,000 computers. Apple and Lenovo combined to grow by 854,000 computers. So basically the rest of the market shrank. How can someone conclude that a Windows10-to-Windows11 upgrade cycle is in progress, unless Apple and Lenovo are the only Windows11 vendors (which is a preposterous idea)?

alsuren 2y ago

Eventually someone will make a Desktop Linux distro that targets macos exiles, using macos keybindings everywhere. When that day comes, I will be back on Linux like a shot.

solardev 2y ago
For the average person (or even average tech person), what advantage would desktop Linux have over macOS, especially now that Apple is on proprietary hardware again? Wasn't there already a desktop Linux for Apple Silicon (forget its name, Asahi maybe?), but last I checked, a bunch of things don't work right. It's nice having a POSIX shell on Mac combined with the ability to use common business apps like Adobe or Microsoft stuff. What would Linux offer?
runjake 2y ago
I tried to do this manually and it was partially successful, but a nightmare. Most people who want this seem to use and enjoy Kinto, which is supposedly very easy. https://kinto.sh/ https://kinto.sh/

tracker1 2y ago

I have to believe there's more than 15 million PCs in the US... with approaching 400m, and even a household of 5 (80m)... fewer than 1 in 5 homes having a PC/Laptop just seems, off.

solardev 2y ago
I think that's just 15 million shipped in a single quarter. That's measuring new sales across a few months, not preexisting ownership. > PC (excluding tablets) shipments to the United States grew 5% year-on-year to 14.8 million units in Q1 2024.
graeme 2y ago
That's new PC shipments, not total PCs on the market.

shrubble 2y ago

"Mac shipments are estimated to have grown from 1.7M in the first quarter of 2023 to 2.1M in the same quarter this year" note that it is an increase of 22% of Macs being sold, and not a total market share of 22%; instead Mac are about 14.2% of total units.