The latest data from research firm TrendForce shows that MacBook sales continue to gain momentum in an otherwise declining notebook market. Apple passed Asus and Acer to become the fourth-largest notebook maker in 2015, reaching 10.34 percent market share compared to 9.3 percent market share in 2014. Overall notebook shipments in 2015 were 164.4 million, down 6.3 percent from 175.5 million in 2014.
HP and Lenovo continued to lead the notebook industry in 2015 with around 20% market share each, but Apple is now within striking distance of Dell for third place. The comparison is unbalanced, however, as Apple only sells three different MacBook models, with the cheapest being the entry-level 11-inch MacBook Air for $899, while most PC makers have a wide selection of models and price points.
“HP and Lenovo will still be rivaling for the top spot in the notebook market during 2016,” said TrendForce notebook analyst Anita Wang. “HP has a good chance of holding the most market share this year and maintaining its leadership position because of the relatively stronger U.S. market. Dell will likely retain third place in the notebook shipment ranking for this year. As for ASUS, Apple and Acer, their struggle for the fourth, fifth and sixth positions in the 2016 ranking will be fierce since they have similar market shares of just around 10%.”
These numbers mirror overall PC market data shared by Gartner last month. Apple made it back into Gartner's list of top 5 worldwide PC vendors in the fourth quarter of 2015, although the company remains behind Asus with a lower 7.5% market share when factoring in desktop and other non-notebook PC sales. Worldwide PC shipments totaled 75.7 million units in Q4 2015, an 8.3 percent decline.
Opportunities for major product introductions could come at WWDC, likely scheduled for mid-June, although smaller updates could come at any time via press release. New Macs could also debut at Apple's rumored March 15 media event if there is enough stage time alongside the iPhone 5se, iPad Air 3, and Apple Watch updates.
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices.
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025:
Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
Apple is expected to release iOS 18.4 to the general public as soon as next week, following more than a month of beta testing.
Apple's website says some iOS 18.4 features will be released in "early April," so the update should be out as early as Tuesday, April 1.
Apple this week seeded the iOS 18.4 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, barring the discovery of any...
Tuesday March 25, 2025 11:52 am PDT by Juli Clover
Leaker Jon Prosser today shared a mockup of what he says the Messages app will look like in iOS 19, demoing an interface with rounded, translucent bubble-shaped navigation buttons at the top and softer, rounder corners for the keyboard and word suggestions.
Jon Prosser's Messages app mockup
The return button, a button for going back to the Messages list, and the FaceTime button have a deeper...
Thursday March 20, 2025 12:01 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
If you pay for iCloud storage on your iPhone, Apple has a new perk for you, at no additional cost.
The new perk is the ability to create invitations in the Apple Invites app for the iPhone, which launched in the App Store last month.
In the Apple Invites app, iCloud+ subscribers can create invitations for any occasion, such as birthday parties, graduations, baby showers, and more. Anyone ...
Apple today announced that AirPods Max with a USB-C port will be gaining support for lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio with a firmware update next month, alongside the release of iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS 15.4.
For context, audio files are typically compressed to keep file sizes smaller. There are lossy compression standards like MP3 and AAC (Advanced Audio Codec), which...
The iOS 19 mockup images that leaker Jon Prosser shared today are not representative of the actual iOS 19 design, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said on social media.
According to Gurman, the images that are "floating around" are based on "very old builds" or "vague descriptions," and are lacking key features. Gurman says that we can "expect more from Apple in June."
Gurman made the same comment ...
Wednesday March 26, 2025 12:19 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple is going all out with promotions for the popular Severance Apple TV+ show today, and as of right now, you'll find a new "Lumon Terminal Pro" listed on Apple's Mac site.
The Lumon Terminal Pro is designed to look similar to the machines that Severance employees like Mark S. and Helly R. use for macrodata refinement. The Terminal features a blue keyboard, a small display with wide...
Leaker Jon Prosser today shared a "first look" at Apple's upcoming iOS 19 update, providing mockups of what different apps and features will supposedly look like. Prosser claims the mockups are based on "the real deal" version of iOS 19 that he has seen, but says he is sharing replica images in order to prevent his sources from getting into trouble.
Confusingly, Prosser's video features some ...
A generation raised with iPods, Macbooks and iPhones is only starting to reach decisional power in businesses; these people know very well how cheap is a Mac vs. a PC in the long run.
A paradigm shift is well underway, mostly undetected by incumbents.
