Half of recent Mac buyers are switchers from rival platforms

AppleInsider

About half of recent Mac purchases are not made by long-time Apple loyalists, but are instead switchers from PCs and Chromebooks.

The Mac is seeing a shift in new users

The Apple product line has long competed in a market dominated by various operating systems and manufacturers. Notably, the rivalry between macOS and Windows has been a staple of tech discourse for decades.

However, recent analyses reveal a surprising trend -- many Windows PC and Chromebook users are now opting for Mac computers.

A recent study conducted by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) dives into the backgrounds of Mac laptop and desktop customers, particularly those who have recently made the switch to Mac. About one-third of Mac buyers in the past year were previously Windows-based PC users.

Additionally, prior Google Chromebook owners represented 16% of new Mac customers. All told, the data suggests that nearly 60% of Mac buyers in the last year were new to the platform.

Past computer ownership (year ending in December)

The iPhone remains a crucial factor for the platform shifters.

"It feels like we are back in 2001 at the first Apple store, with newly minted Geniuses actively trying to convert PC owners into Mac buyers, CIRP speculates. "In fact, we think iPhone, which arrived six years later, is continuing the job that the Apple Store started."

The iPhone revolutionized the smartphone market and now serves gateway for users to explore other Apple products, including Mac computers. This effect is reflected in the data presented by CIRP on Wednesday.

While the Mac was historically been a foundational product for Apple, the roles reversed a few years after the iPhone released. Originally, Mac users spurred iPhone adoption because the then pre-iCloud device needed a Mac to serve as a "hub" for organizing content.

Now though, the iPhone is Apple's primary product that drives growth and sales. Consumers are still switching to the iPhone, many of whom may be PC or Chromebook users.



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apple4thewin

Yup sounds about right it’s the whole ecosystem of it. The only reason I won’t switch to mac is because I can find a great gaming laptop for the same price as a m3 16gb 512 MacBook Air. And my Epic Games and Steam library are packed with great games from over the years (many of those games still can’t run on a Mac)

jimh2

I discount these "studies", but anecdotally I am seeing for Macs in the wild. For @apple4thewin I don't think any of the people who are converting are using games as a reason not to do so. While not a gaming rig, consoles are good enough for most and definitely better than a lot of what gamers play on (unless they have a dedicated gaming rig that always has the best of everything).

Xed

apple4thewin said:

Yup sounds about right it’s the whole ecosystem of it. The only reason I won’t switch to mac is because I can find a great gaming laptop for the same price as a m3 16gb 512 MacBook Air. And my Epic Games and Steam library are packed with great games from over the years (many of those games still can’t run on a Mac)

I'm curious about the PC gamer that also wants to game on a laptop. That intersection on a Venn diagram seems rather small to me, when compared to getting a lot more machine or a much cheaper tower PC to keep at home for gaming.

Xed

I can't speak for the study, but I do know people in the last year that have bought Macs because of how they already use other iDevices and AppleWatch in their lives. It also helps when they see just how seamless it is to add a Mac to that mix and all the benefits you get from what I think is the de facto "killer app" on macOS... Preview.

I doubt this will move the needle for Apple and against MS but it's a nice, slow bonus for Apple in the long run.

apple4thewin

jimh2 said:

I discount these "studies", but anecdotally I am seeing for Macs in the wild. For @apple4thewin I don't think any of the people who are converting are using games as a reason not to do so. While not a gaming rig, consoles are good enough for most and definitely better than a lot of what gamers play on (unless they have a dedicated gaming rig that always has the best of everything).

Yeah you are correct about seeing them in the wild especially in colleges. Unfortunately I am a part of the percent of users that has gaming as a top feature. that’s why I personally like gaming laptops since you can easily bring that around everywhere unlike consoles and rigs. As of now I would use Macs as a desktop for editing, etc. but I have high hopes for m5 and beyond.

gatorguy

I keep looking at the Mac Studio for my photo-editing and light video work. What keeps me on the fence is the need to anticipate my needs/wants well into the future. I understand Apple makes more profit by getting customers to overbuy hardware and resources they may never need "just in case," but the horrible post-purchase upgrade options are what hold me back from buying at the moment. 

danox

gatorguy said:

I keep looking at the Mac Studio for my photo-editing and light video work. What keeps me on the fence is the need to anticipate my needs/wants well into the future. I understand Apple makes more profit by getting customers to overbuy hardware and resources they may never need "just in case," but the horrible post-purchase upgrade options are what hold me back from buying at the moment. 

Macs ease of use, fit finish very good performance and great resale value 2-3 years down the road, however the value of a any PC in contrast drops like a rock the moment you buy it unless you had the foresight to get high end graphics card?

One added benefit family members/close friends will gladly buy or take a used Mac or iPad Pro that is reasonably equipped off your hands with a smile. 

gatorguy

danox said:

gatorguy said:

I keep looking at the Mac Studio for my photo-editing and light video work. What keeps me on the fence is the need to anticipate my needs/wants well into the future. I understand Apple makes more profit by getting customers to overbuy hardware and resources they may never need "just in case," but the horrible post-purchase upgrade options are what hold me back from buying at the moment. 

Macs ease of use, fit finish very good performance and great resale value 2-3 years down the road, however the value of a any PC in contrast drops like a rock the moment you buy it unless you had the foresight to get high end graphics card?

One added benefit family members/close friends will gladly buy or take a used Mac or iPad Pro that is reasonably equipped off your hands with a smile. 

I'm sure some folks do resell their computers, but in the 50 years plus I've bought them I've yet to sell one once it was past its prime. In the past year, I've added another 32GB memory to my current home-office machine and replaced one of the two SSD's with a larger capacity one (both are relatively inexpensive upgrades today), and could upgrade the processor without changing out the main board if I was convinced it would be worth the expense (approx. $450), but I still keep looking at the Mac Studio, compact and fast dn well-reviewed. I just wish Apple didn't force the upgrading trade-off.

...and yes, to the graphics card mention which I've long used as good advice. 

MisterKit

Reminds me of switching from Windows to Mac. It's hard to imagine ever going back.

Xed

gatorguy said:

danox said:

gatorguy said:

I keep looking at the Mac Studio for my photo-editing and light video work. What keeps me on the fence is the need to anticipate my needs/wants well into the future. I understand Apple makes more profit by getting customers to overbuy hardware and resources they may never need "just in case," but the horrible post-purchase upgrade options are what hold me back from buying at the moment. 

Macs ease of use, fit finish very good performance and great resale value 2-3 years down the road, however the value of a any PC in contrast drops like a rock the moment you buy it unless you had the foresight to get high end graphics card?

One added benefit family members/close friends will gladly buy or take a used Mac or iPad Pro that is reasonably equipped off your hands with a smile. 

I'm sure some folks do resell their computers, but in the 50 years plus I've bought them I've yet to sell one once it was past its prime. In the past year, I've added another 32GB memory to my current home-office machine and replaced one of the two SSD's with a larger capacity one (both are relatively inexpensive upgrades today), and could upgrade the processor without changing out the main board if I was convinced it would be worth the expense (approx. $450), but I still keep looking at the Mac Studio, compact and fast dn well-reviewed. I just wish Apple didn't force the upgrading trade-off.

...and yes, to the graphics card mention which I've long used as good advice. 

You think hoarders are the majority? While I'm at the opposite end of you since I always consider the purpose of an object, and if I deem it something I won't reasonably need again I'll give it away or sell it, I don't  for a moment think that the average person is like me, but rather somewhere in the middle.

gatorguy

Xed said:

gatorguy said:

danox said:

gatorguy said:

I keep looking at the Mac Studio for my photo-editing and light video work. What keeps me on the fence is the need to anticipate my needs/wants well into the future. I understand Apple makes more profit by getting customers to overbuy hardware and resources they may never need "just in case," but the horrible post-purchase upgrade options are what hold me back from buying at the moment. 

Macs ease of use, fit finish very good performance and great resale value 2-3 years down the road, however the value of a any PC in contrast drops like a rock the moment you buy it unless you had the foresight to get high end graphics card?

One added benefit family members/close friends will gladly buy or take a used Mac or iPad Pro that is reasonably equipped off your hands with a smile. 

I'm sure some folks do resell their computers, but in the 50 years plus I've bought them I've yet to sell one once it was past its prime. In the past year, I've added another 32GB memory to my current home-office machine and replaced one of the two SSD's with a larger capacity one (both are relatively inexpensive upgrades today), and could upgrade the processor without changing out the main board if I was convinced it would be worth the expense (approx. $450), but I still keep looking at the Mac Studio, compact and fast dn well-reviewed. I just wish Apple didn't force the upgrading trade-off.

...and yes, to the graphics card mention which I've long used as good advice. 

You think hoarders are the majority? While I'm at the opposite end of you since I always consider the purpose of an object, and if I deem it something I won't reasonably need again I'll give it away or sell it, I don't  for a moment think that the average person is like me, but rather somewhere in the middle.

I've absolutely donated old computers, most often to teachers to gift to a worthy student. Danox was telling me to factor in the resale value of a Mac Studio, and reselling is something I've never done. 

Xed

gatorguy said:

Xed said:

gatorguy said:

danox said:

gatorguy said:

I keep looking at the Mac Studio for my photo-editing and light video work. What keeps me on the fence is the need to anticipate my needs/wants well into the future. I understand Apple makes more profit by getting customers to overbuy hardware and resources they may never need "just in case," but the horrible post-purchase upgrade options are what hold me back from buying at the moment. 

Macs ease of use, fit finish very good performance and great resale value 2-3 years down the road, however the value of a any PC in contrast drops like a rock the moment you buy it unless you had the foresight to get high end graphics card?

One added benefit family members/close friends will gladly buy or take a used Mac or iPad Pro that is reasonably equipped off your hands with a smile. 

I'm sure some folks do resell their computers, but in the 50 years plus I've bought them I've yet to sell one once it was past its prime. In the past year, I've added another 32GB memory to my current home-office machine and replaced one of the two SSD's with a larger capacity one (both are relatively inexpensive upgrades today), and could upgrade the processor without changing out the main board if I was convinced it would be worth the expense (approx. $450), but I still keep looking at the Mac Studio, compact and fast dn well-reviewed. I just wish Apple didn't force the upgrading trade-off.

...and yes, to the graphics card mention which I've long used as good advice. 

You think hoarders are the majority? While I'm at the opposite end of you since I always consider the purpose of an object, and if I deem it something I won't reasonably need again I'll give it away or sell it, I don't  for a moment think that the average person is like me, but rather somewhere in the middle.

I've absolutely donated old computers, most often to teachers to gift to a worthy student. Danox was telling me to factor in the resale value of a Mac Studio, and reselling is something I've never done. 

If you choose to only donate v selling, that's absolutely great, but most people seem to like to get money for older equipment when possible, which is why Danox's comment about the TCO is an important one when generally discussing the value of a Mac v WinPC. If you don't resell then that's a variable you obviously can't use to lower the overall cost.

Another way of looking at the equation is how much profit you can generate from a Mac v WinPC if you use it for work. Processing time, boot/load times, new setup times, and time and cost of having to install 3rd-party SW all play a part in figuring out if a Mac an overall cheaper option even thought the price of entry could be higher, but I'm sure you know this. Of course, if you are coming from Windows then one would also need to factor in the time in which it takes to become proficient in macOS, which is why I'm glad that macOS has continued to get more in-line with iOS/iPadOS in many regards.

StrangeDays

gatorguy said:

danox said:

gatorguy said:

I keep looking at the Mac Studio for my photo-editing and light video work. What keeps me on the fence is the need to anticipate my needs/wants well into the future. I understand Apple makes more profit by getting customers to overbuy hardware and resources they may never need "just in case," but the horrible post-purchase upgrade options are what hold me back from buying at the moment. 

Macs ease of use, fit finish very good performance and great resale value 2-3 years down the road, however the value of a any PC in contrast drops like a rock the moment you buy it unless you had the foresight to get high end graphics card?

One added benefit family members/close friends will gladly buy or take a used Mac or iPad Pro that is reasonably equipped off your hands with a smile. 

I'm sure some folks do resell their computers, but in the 50 years plus I've bought them I've yet to sell one once it was past its prime. In the past year, I've added another 32GB memory to my current home-office machine and replaced one of the two SSD's with a larger capacity one (both are relatively inexpensive upgrades today), and could upgrade the processor without changing out the main board if I was convinced it would be worth the expense (approx. $450), but I still keep looking at the Mac Studio, compact and fast dn well-reviewed. I just wish Apple didn't force the upgrading trade-off.

...and yes, to the graphics card mention which I've long used as good advice. 

Are you talking about Macs? Selling second-hand Macs is not unusual at all, because they hold higher resale value than Wintel junk. Same with iPhones vs the knockoffs. Used iPhones sell, junky knockoffs go in the drawer. 

gatorguy

StrangeDays said:

gatorguy said:

danox said:

gatorguy said:

I keep looking at the Mac Studio for my photo-editing and light video work. What keeps me on the fence is the need to anticipate my needs/wants well into the future. I understand Apple makes more profit by getting customers to overbuy hardware and resources they may never need "just in case," but the horrible post-purchase upgrade options are what hold me back from buying at the moment. 

Macs ease of use, fit finish very good performance and great resale value 2-3 years down the road, however the value of a any PC in contrast drops like a rock the moment you buy it unless you had the foresight to get high end graphics card?

One added benefit family members/close friends will gladly buy or take a used Mac or iPad Pro that is reasonably equipped off your hands with a smile. 

I'm sure some folks do resell their computers, but in the 50 years plus I've bought them I've yet to sell one once it was past its prime. In the past year, I've added another 32GB memory to my current home-office machine and replaced one of the two SSD's with a larger capacity one (both are relatively inexpensive upgrades today), and could upgrade the processor without changing out the main board if I was convinced it would be worth the expense (approx. $450), but I still keep looking at the Mac Studio, compact and fast dn well-reviewed. I just wish Apple didn't force the upgrading trade-off.

...and yes, to the graphics card mention which I've long used as good advice. 

Are you talking about Macs? Selling second-hand Macs is not unusual at all, because they hold higher resale value than Wintel junk. Same with iPhones vs the knockoffs. Used iPhones sell, junky knockoffs go in the drawer. 

I've been here for years and understand perfectly that some people resell their Macs. I would not be one of them, nor am I the only one.

ozzieny

i dont think integration is the catalyst. more like how m processors are so efficent. i tried to make do with a few windows laptops as of late but abysmal battery life and fan noise sent me back to macs. people are now discovering how efficent and comfortable to use m processor macs. no fan noise, no concern for battery life is pretty good to have despite some compatibility issues.

blastdoor

apple4thewin said:

Yup sounds about right it’s the whole ecosystem of it. The only reason I won’t switch to mac is because I can find a great gaming laptop for the same price as a m3 16gb 512 MacBook Air. And my Epic Games and Steam library are packed with great games from over the years (many of those games still can’t run on a Mac)

Ugh, Apple needs to do a better job with games on the Mac. It’s just so annoying that management has dropped the ball on this for so long 

michelb76

That may sound great, but Mac marketshare increased but 0.3% compared to 2022, and that is after 8 years of decline.