A lot of people are working from home this year due to the COVID pandemic, so they're buying whatever hardware is available. There's no evidence it has anything to do with the upcoming Apple Silicon Macs.
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Question : wait or buy
- Thread starter Eric Janssens
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A lot of people are working from home this year due to the COVID pandemic, so they're buying whatever hardware is available. There's no evidence it has anything to do with the upcoming Apple Silicon Macs.
Record Intel Mac sales just as the platform is about to be abandoned. If that doesn't overcome your "no evidence" opinion then nothing ever will.
That's not quite true. If you had at least one market research study that presented evidence Mac users are buying the Intel so that they can stick with the platform for just a few years more, then that might do the trick.
All we have is the data presented and that tells us exactly what's going on. You're entitled to your opinion but you can't avoid the facts.
Indeed, it tells us that people are buying a lot of tablets and laptops. Coming to the silly conclusion that people are rushing out to buy Intel Macs in fear of ASi Macs from that is not a fact at all.
I’ll take 4-6 years with an intel. Apple silicon probably won’t be usable for that long anyways if ever. I’m still not sure who’s going to want to develop for this vs millions of intel macs and windows. Personally if I was a dev I wouldn’t bother with it til we see if it’s worthwhile.
It might be an easier jump for developers who already have popular iOS/iPadOS software. If porting to macOS Big Sur (and later) to Apple Silicon is simplified with Catalyst, it might spur more developers to redirect their focus to Apple Silicon architecture.
The existence of the resolutely-successful iOS/iPadOS/iPhone/iPad universe makes this a vastly different scenario than the PowerPC-Intel migration.
Much of it will be dependent on Apple's ability to provide acceptable levels of software QA in both iOS/iPadOS and macOS.
There are record sales of intel Macs. But it is because of Covid and work from home? Or because people want Intel Macs?
Fact is that there are record sales. Why? It is not evidenced by research. And I think that it is because of covid and people need new computers so take what is possible to have now, makes much more sense.
Another data point in favour of this interpretation is that prices of used (x86) Macs are dropping, in a way that is uncharacteristic of Macs in general, and at odds with the private/domestic market being in a buying mode right now.
In reality outside forum wars there are several mechanisms at play, sometimes running counter to each other. Some need a new computer and buy something nice among what is currently out there, some see x86 Macs as walking dinosaurs and dump them while they still hold any value, some need Macs with x86 functionality and buy something robust that will hold them a while, some need x86 functionality and jump ship to a Windows/Linux box, some...
What we observe is the local sum of these.
Personally, I (and a ton of industry analysts) feel that the Covid situation has led to an extraordinary amount of sales to people who feel the need of more robust home computing capabilities. But that doesn’t invalidate all those other mechanisms.
Covid was the issue at the end of the last quarter. We’re now approaching Apple switching off the supply of Intel Macs. ECON 101.
Many people I know buying Macbooks Pros are buying them for their kids to use because schools are virtual. The family across the street bought 3 13" MBPs, one for each of their kids. Family 6 houses or so down did something similar for their kids.
Another driver of sales is corporations buying Intel Macs because of the software they run and support for their existing base. Corporations hold onto systems for years. So they need to have replacement systems available. And they run software that may not transition to the new hardware/OS version. I have a client that still runs apps tied to Windows 2000 to control their robotics systems on their manufacturing lines. The company that wrote the software has long gone out of business and an upgrade is too expensive and disruptive. So they have a large stack of new in box Dell system from 2003 or so.
I have a similar concern. I sold my 2015 MacBook Pro recently and got a 13" Refurbished 2020 MacBoo Pro that is working great so far. The last day of my return window is the day of the One More Thing Event. I really don't need Bootcamp or Virtualization and this is not my work machine so I could stand with being an early adopter. Watched the WWDC Apple Silicon material again last night and am really thinking that it would be better to be bleeding edge for as often as I change Computers.
When the intel transition happened it took less than 2 years for Apple stop producing PowerPCs. And at that time the intel Macs were superior replacing every older PPC Mac in the product line. This time Apple knows every detail about their own processors so I expect to be a bolder adoption of the new processors and the end of the intel line sooner
I just successfully canceled my MBP order.
I cannot wait for Nov 10. I don't remember the last time I've been this hyped for any Apple launch. The wait is excruciating so hopefully Big Sur releases soon. The fans on my current 2017 13" MBP are louder than a jet engine and the bottom gets almost as hot as stove. Thermals is the biggest reason I am ready to go Silicon because cooling on my current MBP is atrocious and borderline unacceptable. Also, I am hoping for better battery life because the atrocious thermals and battery on ARM cannot be worse than on Intel. It will also be nice to run iOS apps on Mac, looking forward to that as well.
I am also secretly/desperately hoping they add a 6 or 8TB storage option for the AS 13" like on the 16" so I can move all my pics over from my external HD to the SSD. I only have a 1.5TB photo library right now but I want to future proof it and 4TB is a bit low if I want to keep this machine for a long time to come unlike the 2017 MBP I have now.
Silicon Macs, here I come!
I cannot wait for Nov 10. I don't remember the last time I've been this hyped for any Apple launch. The wait is excruciating so hopefully Big Sur releases soon. The fans on my current 2017 13" MBP are louder than a jet engine and the bottom gets almost as hot as stove. Thermals is the biggest reason I am ready to go Silicon because cooling on my current MBP is atrocious and borderline unacceptable. Also, I am hoping for better battery life because the atrocious thermals and battery on ARM cannot be worse than on Intel. It will also be nice to run iOS apps on Mac, looking forward to that as well.
I am also secretly/desperately hoping they add a 6 or 8TB storage option for the AS 13" like on the 16" so I can move all my pics over from my external HD to the SSD. I only have a 1.5TB photo library right now but I want to future proof it and 4TB is a bit low if I want to keep this machine for a long time to come unlike the 2017 MBP I have now.
Silicon Macs, here I come!
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I was in this position a few months back, and knowing that it would likely be the last Intel Mac, I took the plunge.
I couldn't be happier with the machine – it's beautiful and blisteringly fast (though I went with 8GB RAM and then upgraded with another 32GB of non-Apple memory which is highly recommended, please don't pay Apple for the RAM upgrade).
I'm due a laptop upgrade too so I do plan to get a new Apple Silicon laptop for travelling, but honestly, I'd be really happy to use the iMac for the next few years.
I did just that, boy a 2020 Intel Mac. I don't think it paints a dubious picture though. Plenty of people will want to wait before moving to ARM, the rewards for being first do not outweigh the risks for many.
OTOH My wife could switch to a Silicon Mac and not even notice.
My only concern is that the first gen products will not have a design change as they dont want to juggle to many things and they want the power of the silicon vs Intel to be front and centre. Then they release a new 14in sometime next year.
My 2015 Air is still working. Can notice the slowdown, trackpad is stiff and the battery lasts a couple of hours so will need to upgrade soon
My 2015 Air is still working. Can notice the slowdown, trackpad is stiff and the battery lasts a couple of hours so will need to upgrade soon
This is true. I also think it's important that anyone buying an Intel Mac now understand that they will in all likelihood see a day where their computer is no longer getting major OS updates from Apple, regardless of how capable the machine may be at that time. They will be able to use it on whatever the last Intel-compatible macOS is (like folks running 10.5 on their PPC Macs), but the platform will start to leave them behind. We don't know when that will be. However, I think it's reasonable to suggest that the first round of Apple Silicon Macs will see OS upgrades longer than the last round of Intel Macs.
Damn that was a huge letdown. They downgraded from max 4TB SSD to 2TB?
I was legit ready to pull the trigger but not if max is 2TB SSD. I've already used up 2TB so I needed at least 4TB option. Also, only 2 ports? I have 4 on my current 17 MBP.
Guess I'll be waiting for 16" refresh.
I was legit ready to pull the trigger but not if max is 2TB SSD. I've already used up 2TB so I needed at least 4TB option. Also, only 2 ports? I have 4 on my current 17 MBP.
Guess I'll be waiting for 16" refresh.
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