New 15-inch MacBook Air sales are half the figure Apple expected
The new 15-inch MacBook Air has been widely praised, but one new report claims that sales of it are so low that manufacturing is being cut.
15-inch MacBook Air
It was rumored and awaited, then the 15-inch MacBook Air was launched, and got universally good reviews. AppleInsider even called it the "sweet spot for portability and power."
However, according to Digitimes -- and only Digitimes -- sources in the supply chain claim that sales have been as much as 50% below predictions.
Digitimes further claims that as a consequence of this production is to be scaled back, but it's not clear whether this has begun or is still being considered. The publication says that unspecified resellers, and possibly Apple itself, are calling for production of the 15-inch MacBook Air to cease.
Note that Digitimes has a strong track record for its supply chain sources, but a significantly poorer one for the conclusions it draws about Apple's plans.
The chief selling point of the 15-inch MacBook Air is its screen, which is larger than in previous models. Prior to this device, users would have to buy a much more costly MacBook Pro in order to get a larger screen.
If Digitimes is correct, then there's a curious parallel between the MacBook Air and the iPhone 14 range. Both featured a new standard model that featured a larger screen, for instance.
Then while it remains far from certain that Digitimes is right, a flop 15-inch MacBook Air would mirror the reportedly unpopular iPhone 14 Plus.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
The next issue is the M2 chip, basically it's just an over clocked M1 with the addition of a media engine, (most buyers of this machine aren't creators), so most buyers like me are waiting for the M3 chip. Consumers these days are too smart to fall for the usual hype.
The final issue is; once you get past the bigger screen, it's compromised at every level compared to the Pro's, Screen, speakers, Pro Motion, Camera, IO's.
Like I said, I'm just a normal user not a pro and the only upgrade I'm considering is the M3 14" or 16" pro.
Once you you get to 16gb & 512gb the 15" is just not value for money.
I said from day one, it was not as good as the hype and these sales figures don't surprise me.
$159 gets one 2TB @ Newegg - currently offering a Samsung 990 Pro...
$800 gets one 2TB above the base cost of 256GB for the Apple option, and it is not (easily) user serviceable...
"PCIe Gen4 performance limits showing up to 7,450/6,900MB/s for Sequential Read/Write:
www.newegg.com/samsung-2tb-990-pro/p/N82E16820147861
www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook-air/15-inch-midnight-apple-m2-chip-with-8-core-cpu-and-10-core-gpu-256gb#
32G of RAM might be helpful too, yet is even 24GB @ $400 at sufficient multiples of what is currently available elsewhere for PC under $100 to give pause?
www.newegg.com/crucial-32gb/p/20-156-328?Item=20-156-328&Description=&cm_re=-_-20-156-328-_-Product
I have an M1 Pro MacBook Pro 14 that almost always operates as a desktop in clamshell mode and the iPad Pro (M2) 12.9 is my primary mobile device. Essentially the iPad Pro is my laptop and with Face ID is very much preferred over the fingerprint reader used on the Macs.
I am sitting out the M2 cycle and will be updating the laptop with either a Mac mini or MBP when the M3 generation becomes available. Unless there is a profound difference the iPad Pro will hang around until the generation beyond that.
The technology for laptops and tablets is in its mature phase and evolution rather than revolution will be the norm.
Also, Apple needs to look very hard at the base model specs for RAM and storage as has been mentioned by others. 16 GB and 512 GB should be the new minimum - not 8 and 256.
Just because you want it doesn't mean the rest of the buyers did. We don't even know how true this story is and yet people like you are shitting all over the product that for all we know could be selling very well. Great first post!
My guess, based on a sample size of one (my sister), is that most of the target market doesn't want a machine that weighs 0.6 lb. more and won't fit their existing sleeves, packs, &c., and simply don't need the larger display. Most of the market that needs a larger display needs it for serious photo or video editing, and are willing to spend the extra $ for a MacBook Pro. Net result, if true: Apple produced a very nice product for too small a slice of the potential market.
Any resemblance to the chaotic state of Apple products and markets immediately prior to the return of Mr. Jobs to the firm is purely coincidental (*cough*).
How many people have already bought the 13” that came out in July of last year?
They should have either released this at the same time or waited for the M3 refresh.
Second: AppleInsider, as has become typical of it these days, headlines conjecture from what it later acknowledges is a poor source AS ESTABLISHED FACT. Read the headline--there's no attempt to truthfully hedge with words like "rumored" or "reported" --- NOPE, it's simply states "Sales ARE half" -- my caps for emphasis.
Third: Those, like yourself, who compare MBA to MBP for value are missing the point completely. The main priorities for an MBA buyer are minimal size and weight for a computer that will do everything that the vast majority of people will ever need it to do. Yes, when you spec up an MBA you can quickly find yourself in MBP price territory--and, if minimal size and weight aren't priorities for you, the MBP may well offer more computer for about the same money--including more size and weight, which are at odds with the MBA buyer's main priorities. And a "better value" doesn't make sense if you've compromised your main buying priorities to get it.
Fourth: you claim you're a normal user, not a pro, but you're considering the MBP 16", the biggest, heaviest and most expensive laptop Apple makes. To state the obvious, that makes you NOT a normal user.
MBP 16 inch M1 Pro 10C/16C 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD =AUD$2897;
MBP 14 inch M1 Pro 8C/14C 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD =AUD$2347;
MBA 15 M2 8C/10C 16GB RAM, 512 GB SSD=AUD$2799.