What if Apple has ALREADY decided to drop the Mac ?

[ginkobiloba]

Anyone remember when Jobs killed the Xserve ? Apple stopped completely updating the Xserve for a few years while maintaining high prices for outdated internals, then out of the blue Jobs declares " They're not selling very well, so we're dropping them".

It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. The Xserve didn't sell very well because it wasn't updated anymore. Steve Jobs has probably already decided that spending resources on Xserves was a waste of time and wanted to reroute those resources into making the rest of the Mac line. So he let the Xserves get completely outdated, then after a while : "Well it seems they not selling anymore, so we'll stop making them"

Today, the whole Mac line is less than 13% of Apple's business. And yet it's probably very resource consuming since you have to maintain an OS plus more than a dozen various Mac designs and configurations.
Meanwhile, with far fewer configurations, iOS devices make up 80% of Apple's business.

What if Apple had ALREADY taken the decision a few years ago to completely stop making Macs and the macOS ? And divert all those resources into iDevices only.

What we're seeing here is similar to what they did to the Xserve, except extended to the whole Mac+MacOS division. We are in the middle of their execution plan. It's not something that you do overnight.
They stopped updating many Macs, then only updated a few ones at extravagant prices. When the Mac share dwindles enough, then (in two or three years from now) , they"ll say "Our latest sales numbers show that our clients LOVE our iDevices, and are not interested anymore in the Mac and are not buying them anymore. So, to make our clients happy, we've decided to stop making Macs and completely concentrate on making new amaaaaazing iDevices "

I think Apple will be completely fine with the idea of leaving 100% of the whole desktop computer business to Microsoft. Especially since they're not a threat anymore in the smartphone business.

So, maybe the decision has ALREADY been taken years ago. Moaning about the state of the Mac won't change anything.
Is it time to stop worrying and learn to love the bomb ( Windows ) ?

 

[Floris]

They can do whatever they want. It's their company and their products.
I just wouldn't mind if they don't leave us hanging and share their decisions.

 

[Pakaku]

That's not happening until they release Xcode for iOS. Which, to be honest, should already be possible.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Since they just overhauled the MBP extensively, I don't think they are there just yet, even though it may appear so.

 

[0388631]

XServe WASN'T selling well in the first place. Later on, OSX server was dropped because no one was buying it either. The problem with your theory is that Apple have a very generous B2B side for business and educational facilities. Their lower operating costs are attractive and are lower priced compared to PC OEMs makes them very popular with districts, city colleges and four year universities who are looking at upgrading their hardware.

 

[maflynn]

Since they just overhauled the MBP extensively, I don't think they are there just yet, even though it may appear so.

Agreed, they just rolled out new MBPs, they have the MacBook that was updated recently. The 5k iMac is current with the Skylake chipset.

That leaves us with a 2 year old Mini and a 3 year old Mac Pro. I have no idea why Apple has not updated those, and they do have a history of just letting products whither on the vine before killing them off.

I think its more likely to see the Mac Pro killed off, before we see Apple drop Macs completely. Don't forget the Mac line represents around 12% of their income and that 12% is billions of dollars, no company will kill off a bill dollar business

 

[ginkobiloba]

Fair enough, but

Don't forget the Mac line represents around 12% of their income and that 12% is billions of dollars, no company will kill off a bill dollar business

Except if killing that 12% of Mac income and moving those resources elsewhere results in doubling up the income of iDevices...
Kill 12% in one place, gain 100% in another place

I REALLY hope i'm mistaken, but it just doesn't seem impossible at all.

 

[maflynn]

Except if killing that 12% of Mac income and moving those resources elsewhere results in doubling up the income of iDevices...
Kill 12% in one place, gain 100% in another place

But thats not going to happen because people who buy Macs won't buy iPads, in fact we're seeing a faster erosion in iPad sales then Mac sales. Last year (and prior years), we saw Mac sales increase but iPad sales decrease.

Apple hasn't figured out how to turn the iPad sales and killing a billion dollar business in the hopes of increasing sales of another division doesn't sound like a good move to me

 

[0388631]

Actually, I can see the Mac Mini evolve and be called the next gen Apple TV 4K or whatever. Assuming they're waiting for higher TDP kabylake, it makes sense because those would be far more efficient at displaying and transcoding video. Plus, I'll refer to historical releases and not just the last release.

 

[pat500000]

Anyone remember when Jobs killed the Xserve ? Apple stopped completely updating the Xserve for a few years while maintaining high prices for outdated internals, then out of the blue Jobs declares " They're not selling very well, so we're dropping them".

It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. The Xserve didn't sell very well because it wasn't updated anymore. Steve Jobs has probably already decided that spending resources on Xserves was a waste of time and wanted to reroute those resources into making the rest of the Mac line. So he let the Xserves get completely outdated, then after a while : "Well it seems they not selling anymore, so we'll stop making them"

Today, the whole Mac line is less than 13% of Apple's business. And yet it's probably very resource consuming since you have to maintain an OS plus more than a dozen various Mac designs and configurations.
Meanwhile, with far fewer configurations, iOS devices make up 80% of Apple's business.

What if Apple had ALREADY taken the decision a few years ago to completely stop making Macs and the macOS ? And divert all those resources into iDevices only.

What we're seeing here is similar to what they did to the Xserve, except extended to the whole Mac+MacOS division. We are in the middle of their execution plan. It's not something that you do overnight.
They stopped updating many Macs, then only updated a few ones at extravagant prices. When the Mac share dwindles enough, then (in two or three years from now) , they"ll say "Our latest sales numbers show that our clients LOVE our iDevices, and are not interested anymore in the Mac and are not buying them anymore. So, to make our clients happy, we've decided to stop making Macs and completely concentrate on making new amaaaaazing iDevices "

I think Apple will be completely fine with the idea of leaving 100% of the whole desktop computer business to Microsoft. Especially since they're not a threat anymore in the smartphone business.

So, maybe the decision has ALREADY been taken years ago. Moaning about the state of the Mac won't change anything.
Is it time to stop worrying and learn to love the bomb ( Windows ) ?

Apple really needs to go on press conference and tell those pro users that they are done with computers, especially with Mac Pro. Tim's secrecy is becoming more of a cancer than being positive.

I'm glad that MS can innovate still. With the studio that was announced recently, Apple can't compete in computer sector.

 

[Savor]

Then goodbye Apple forever. Hello again, Microsoft. I don't like iOS.

My preferences
For mobile - Android
For desktop/notebook - OSX

I will continue to use older MacBooks if Apple decides to drop Macs for good. No more updates but I will still use it until one of us dies.

 

[WolfSnap]

Totally disagree. One of the reasons I buy Apple is that my iPhone, Mac, iPad, Watch, etc.. all work together. There's no way they could get the type of deep integration they have between the iPhone and Mac with Windows.

Photos, iMessages, handoff, etc.. It's just way too difficult to shoehorn it onto Windows -- plus, Windows is frustrating and crappy.. Viruses, the UI is a mess, it kills battery life, etc..

No way Apple kills the Mac. It's their, "Do you want fries with that?" upsell. Sell the iPhones, sell the iPads, sell the expensive macs. Each customer now keeps three or four devices updated vs. the one or two they'd have otherwise. It's way stickier, and from a business perspective makes a lot of sense.

Apple would sell LESS iPhone's if they had no Mac upsell. Heck, my first Apple computer was the Apple //c, but, I left Apple and until I bought my first iPhone 3G -- then, I bought a 17" MacBook Pro, then another, then a 15" rMBP, and now my newest 15" MBP with Touch Bar -- it goes nicely with my iPhone 7 Plus and iPad Air 2 and Apple Watch....

 

[Eric5h5]

Today, the whole Mac line is less than 13% of Apple's business. And yet it's probably very resource consuming since you have to maintain an OS plus more than a dozen various Mac designs and configurations.
Meanwhile, with far fewer configurations, iOS devices make up 80% of Apple's business.

It can't be more resource-consuming than it was 10 years ago, but they sell more than they did back then, so what's the problem? Somehow I don't think the reasoning "Now we have other products that make even more money, so let's drop something that makes more money than it did in the past, just because relatively speaking it's a smaller percentage of total profits...because apparently we hate money!" would fly with the board.

Also you can't argue that there are "far fewer" configurations of iOS devices since that's objectively not true. Actually it's probably the other way around. All the variants of currently-available iPhones alone (generation, size, storage, color) adds up to a lot.

--Eric

 

[AL2TEACH]

When Apple was on the brink, Jobs came back and introduced the iMac and never looked back. Apple, I don't think ever had more than 20% of the computer market. There was a time when a couple of other companies made Apple machines but that was roped in.

 

[border terrier]

I believe Apple under Cook is 100% focussed on revenue/profit period. I doubt Cook will run a loss leader anywhere and suspect he will drop any product that either doesn't make sufficient revenue/profit or that he feels negatively impacts other revenue streams.

The current obsession with thinness and weight clearly impacts how the laptops and iPhones function yet form over function still prevails. Pure innovation is lacking. All rather disappointing. As an owner/user of pretty much everything Apple has made/makes (bar the watch) I have enjoyed for the main part using the ecosystem and for some years now have used only mac and iPhone.

So yes I expect the Mac Pro to wither and die and I suspect the iMac and Mac mini will too though I sincerely hope I am wrong. I predict the laptops will continue. It will be a very sad day for me if I am correct.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

Conspiracy theories. Gotta love 'em.

Companies don't care as much about "x%" of their business as they care about the profitability of those business lines. If that 13% of Apple turns a similar profit margin to the other 87%, then there's no reason to give it up. "It's hardly worth the bother" is a lazy man's argument, and Apple hasn't gotten to where it is by being lazy.

You seriously think that Apple (or any company), would just walk away from 13% of its business? That would be a 13% drop in the value of the company. It means finding a 13% increase in other lines of business just to break even. If you can generate that additional 13% anyway, than 13% growth beats break-even.

No, you drop a line of business when the company would be better off without it - a money-losing product. There's absolutely no hint that Apple loses money on Mac.

XServe was never, ever, close to 13% of Apple's business. It was a single, niche product line. It didn't succeed in large part because the privately-owned server was being displaced by hosting services. The qualities end-users cherish in a Mac are meaningless in a server farm. An Apple-loving IT department may have liked to look at its rack(s) filled with Apple gear, but as soon as those servers moved off-site...

 

[Tech198]

I wouldn't love "the bomb" I hear they explode..

or a good movie,, take your pick..

If Apple drops the Mac or has dropped it, perhaps evidence of release cycles slowing for example, they've done this already with the Mac Pro, so the rest just need to go down hill as well..

Apple would probably hold on to them for as long as possible, but Apple's running out of stream... What else can you do to a Mac that already there... ? You have Touch ID on new Mac's now... But if i ever needed a new Mac and i couldn't get one because Apple dropped them, i'd move to PC...

 

[pat500000]

I wouldn't love "the bomb" I hear they explode..

or a good movie,, take your pick..

If Apple drops the Mac or has dropped it, perhaps evidence of release cycles slowing for example, they've done this already with the Mac Pro, so the rest just need to go down hill as well..

Apple would probably hold on to them for as long as possible, but Apple's running out of stream... What else can you do to a Mac that already there... ? You have Touch ID on new Mac's now... But if i ever needed a new Mac and i couldn't get one because Apple dropped them, i'd move to PC...

I heard Apple loves to mutilate Macs' body parts like satanic cult. When you turn on the power, you don't hear the traditional chime...you hear,"ouch."