Mac sales have collapsed, it’s official. There is only one simple way to save them

Tonight, Apple reported financial results for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2023 (ended September 30). There is nothing special there for the average person, except for two facts.

First: profit from services amounted to $22.3 billion. That’s only slightly less than the profits from the Mac, iPad, all accessories, and Apple Watch combined.

Second: Mac sales not only fell, but collapsed – by as much as 33.8% in just one year. As usual, this is bad. The line goes upotherwise – failure.

From the second one can immediately draw several conclusions. For example, the reason why Apple reacted so quickly to the M3 processor and the top-end MacBook Pros, but bypassed the “budget” models, is now obvious. She needs deaths with maximum margin so that the next quarter will cover the falling dynamics.

And now it is clear that if the top-end MacBook Pro on the M3 does not convince people to upgrade en masse, and immediately to the M3 Max, then, alas, only one product can help out this whole area, and not earlier than the spring-summer of 2024. He is not there, although they have been waiting and asking for him for 7 years.

It sounds crazy, but it’s true: Apple is needed MacBook. There are either Air or Pro in different flavors. But exactly MacBook No. And he is very necessary. About the same as the 12-inch MacBook in 2017, but in the reality of Apple Silicon.

You can have a 12-inch screen again, or 13. The main thing is that the weight should be around 900 grams. Inside, it is enough to put an M1 or even an M2, limiting the performance a little. Add a battery for at least 7 hours of operation. Do without a cooler. And that’s it, the hit is ready.

Apple’s new laptop, priced at $700 or even $800, fills a niche in which the company has had nothing to offer for a very long time. It will appeal to those in the United States who choose Chromebooks for school or generally bypass the issued student or school computers. It will touch and interest those who choose Windows laptops, because, by the way, Apple does not have new laptop computers under $1000.

Such a MacBook will also be in demand among those who have already bought and taken any other Mac, even if it is the very top-end M3 Max. Super portability is always in fashion. It won’t be difficult for me or for you right now, find a reason to buy yourself a small and light, but at the same time productive laptop.

Apple has everything necessary to release such a device. The motherboard of both M1 and M2 is already small. The chip is definitely cooler than the Intel Core m3 used to be in the past MacBook. The performance of even the stripped-down M1 from Air 2020 still covers the accessory for 90% of users, which I regularly mention everywhere, even in our comments. And since the thin iPad Pro can cope with its heat dissipation, then everything will be fine with the MacBook.

I can’t believe Apple can make such cool processors but can’t make a 12″ MacBook based on them. The second task looks comically simple compared to the first.

I’ll be honest, I’ve been wanting to see a new generation of 12-inch MacBook for 6 years now. I believe that this was an ideal computer for mobile tasks, which many set as a secondary one, and with some ease it could even become the main one. So glad that Apple is now at least a little bit, but thinks it is putting pressure on the market. Where there is pressure and competition, there is innovation.

Although why deceive yourself, what kind of innovation is there? The recipe is already on the floor, all that remains is to make it. Place the board from Air into a 12-inch case. We cut the battery and performance by 20%. Insert the lamp at least at the level of the same Air. One USB-C port and MagSafe. That’s all. I’ll take two, write down the address.

So in 2024, my most anticipated Apple device will not be a new iPhone, certainly not a new iPad, and definitely not a new Apple Watch. Give me, and I’m sure a million others, the same new 12-inch MacBook. That’s the one then line finally will rise.