New MacBook Air and Mac Mini Models Driving Record Mac Sales for 3Q 2011

Business Insider reports on new sales data from market research firm NPD, as shared by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. According to NPD, Apple's U.S. Mac sales are up 22% year-over-year for the the first two months of the third calendar quarter of 2011, setting the company up to set a new record for quarterly Mac sales. The strong performance has unsurprisingly been driven by new MacBook Air and Mac mini models released on July 20th.

macbook air 2011 side
Wall Street analysts have been predicting Mac growth of 16% for the full quarter, and while Mac sales may slow slightly in September as Apple's product lines begin to age a bit and the back to school period winds down, the company is reportedly still on track to ship approximately 4.5 million Macs this quarter. Apple's current quarterly record for Mac sales was set in the holiday quarter last year with 4.13 million Macs sold.

NPD has also reported iPod sales down 16% year-over-year for the first two months of the quarter, which actually puts Apple at a slightly better pace than analysts had been expecting. Despite continued strong sales of the iPod touch, Apple's overall iPod sales have been declining for the past year or two as customers have turned more toward smartphones such as the iPhone as single-device options for their phone, music, and other portable media needs.

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Leak Reveals All-New Design

Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app. Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
iPhone 17 Air Size Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With Rear Camera Bar Allegedly Shown in Leaked Photo

Tuesday January 21, 2025 12:46 pm PST by
A leaker known as "Majin Bu" today shared an alleged image of a component for the rumored, ultra-thin "iPhone 17 Air" model. The blurry, pixelated image shows a pair of rear iPhone shells with a pill-shaped, raised camera bar along the top. On the left side of the bar, there is a circular cutout that appears to be for a single rear camera. On the right side of the bar, there appears to be an ...
2024 App Store Awards

Apple Explains Why It Removed TikTok From the App Store in the U.S.

Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action. Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
iPhone SE Dynamic Island Majin Bu

iPhone SE 4 Leak Shows Dynamic Island, Casts Doubt on Rumored 'iPhone 16E' Name

Monday January 20, 2025 9:01 am PST by
A new iPhone SE is widely rumored to launch this year, and the device has potentially been confirmed today by known leaker Evan Blass. In a private social media post, Blass shared an image of what appears to be source code mentioning an iPhone SE (4th Gen), which casts doubt on the alternative "iPhone 16E" name rumored for the device. However, the name in the source code could be a...
airtag 4 pack blue

AirTag 2 Launching This Year With These 3 New Features

Sunday January 19, 2025 8:11 am PST by
After a four-year wait, a new AirTag is finally expected to launch in 2025. Below, we recap rumored upgrades for the accessory. A few months ago, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple was aiming to release the AirTag 2 around the middle of 2025. While he did not offer a more specific timeframe, that means the AirTag 2 could be announced by the end of June. The original AirTag was announced...
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Rumored to Be Compatible With These iPhones

Saturday January 18, 2025 10:28 am PST by
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr. The report cited a source who said iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 18, which would mean the following models: iPhone 16 iPhone 16 Plus iPhone 16 Pro iPhone 16 Pro Max iPhone 15 iPhone 15 Plus iPhone 15 Pro iPhone 15 Pro Max iPhone 14 iPhon...
iOS 18

Here Are Apple's Full Release Notes for iOS 18.3

Tuesday January 21, 2025 4:31 pm PST by
Apple provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 18.3 today, and with it comes release notes confirming what's new. While we knew about several of the features that are in the update, there are some lesser known tweaks and bug fixes. The update adds new Visual Intelligence features for iPhone 16 models, it tweaks Notification summaries on all...
ipad pro 2024

New iPad Pro Reportedly Launching This Year

Tuesday January 21, 2025 6:40 am PST by
Apple plans to release at least one new iPad Pro model this year, according to a supplier-focused report today from Korean website The Elec. It is likely that the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro models would be updated simultaneously. After receiving an OLED display last year, the report said the iPad Pro will receive only "minor" changes this year. Overall, the next iPad Pro is expected to...
apple power beats pro 2

Powerbeats Pro 2 Coming Soon: Apple to Announce Them 'Imminently'

Sunday January 19, 2025 8:25 am PST by
In September, Apple said that it would be launching Powerbeats Pro 2 in 2025, and it appears the wireless earbuds are coming very soon. Powerbeats Pro 2 images found in iOS 18 code In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the Powerbeats Pro 2 are "due imminently." In addition to Apple filing the Powerbeats Pro 2 in regulatory databases last month, Gurman said Apple is...

Top Rated Comments

applefan289 Avatar
174 months ago
A reasonably priced, headless desktop Mac with decent specs is selling well. Gee, who woulda thunk it*? :rolleyes:

* Just everyone on MacRumors who has been screaming for such a thing for years and being told it was impossible for Apple to produce.

Anyone else want Apple to make something like this again?

Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Photics Avatar
174 months ago
No... you fools... think of the optical discs! :p
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
applefan289 Avatar
174 months ago
I'm glad to see Mac sales on the rise, because I feel it is the best part of Apple's lineup of products.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
yadmonkey Avatar
174 months ago
Love that the Mini is selling well. My dream Mac remains something headless between the Mini and the Pro, but I won't hold my breath for it.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DESNOS Avatar
174 months ago
Yeah, I will be hitting a road block in the future when my Mac dies and I have to buy a new one without a disc drive...burning CDs is very important to me for iTunes music, etc. I hope they still have the SuperDrive available in the future for the minority that wants to be able to use/burn discs.
I don't see any reason for them to discontinue the external drive, since you are very correct in that some people still have a use for optical media. Personally, my old computer + remote disk is enough for me as I rarely use it, and I think that tends to be true for most people nowadays, but it may never be true for everyone. Interesting fact: This old external floppy drive I had since 2001 still works just fine when plugged into my 2011 MBA. If Mac OS still has driver support for floppy drives, it'll probably always have driver support for CDs/DVDs too.

EDIT: Who the heck voted this down? This is why I don't like the new voting system. It adds a layer of anonymity to something already very anonymous (the internet). Plus, people are more likely to vote down than vote up, it's just how our brain works. If you agree with the post, then all is well. If you don't agree, then you must make your point. :p
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mentholiptus Avatar
174 months ago
Anyone else want Apple to make something like this again?

Image (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ee/Power_mac_g4_cube.png)

I still have mine!
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)