The reality of the "post-PC era" predicted by Steve Jobs at the launch of the iPad 2 in 2011 can clearly be seen in a single graphic created by market intelligence company IDC in a report on what the firm refers to as the Smart Connected Device Market.
(Legend omits smartphones shown in yellow)
The chart shows the market share decline of both desktop PCs (from 23% in 2010 to just 12% in 2012) and laptops (from 29% to 17%), while tablets grew from 3% to 11% and smartphones from 45% to 60%. Overall, PCs have seen their share of the total smart connected device market fall from roughly 50% to just 30% in only two years.
The figures do not, of course, necessarily indicate device preference, as some may choose a cheaper device for financial reasons, especially in developing markets.
Across the four markets, Apple increased its market share from 16.3% in 2011 to 18.2% in 2012, but dropped from first to second place as it was outpaced by Samsung, whose market share grew from 12.3% to 20.8%.
Thursday January 23, 2025 6:41 am PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 18.3 should be released to the public next week, following beta testing since mid-December. While the software update is a relatively minor one, it still includes a handful of new features, changes, and bug fixes for iPhones.
Below, we recap everything new in iOS 18.3.
Notification Summary Changes
Examples of inaccurate Apple Intelligence notification summaries
Apple Intelligence...
Friday January 24, 2025 1:55 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is set to release iOS 18.3 next week, bringing further refinements to Apple Intelligence features, a couple of neat new capabilities to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 devices, and bug fixes.
While not quite as packed with new features as Apple's preceding iOS 18 point releases, iOS 18.3 still introduces capabilities that aim to make your iPhone smarter and more intuitive. Below, we've...
Friday January 24, 2025 8:16 am PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 18.3 is expected to be widely released next week, and that means the first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner.
Apple has previously implied that iOS 18.4 will be released in April, as that is when it promised to make Apple Intelligence available in even more languages.
Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far.
Apple Intelligence for Siri
Siri ...
Thursday January 23, 2025 7:32 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Walmart still does not accept Apple Pay or other NFC payments at its more than 4,600 stores across the U.S., and it stood firm on its reasoning for that today.
A spokesperson for Walmart today informed MacRumors that its position on contactless payments has not changed since we last reached out about the matter in 2022. The big-box retailer said it remains focused on its own convenient...
Wednesday January 22, 2025 6:01 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
A new Apple TV is expected to be released later this year. In this article, we recap rumored features and changes for the device.
The next Apple TV will be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. He said the chip supports Wi-Fi 6E, which would be an upgrade over the current Apple TV's standard Wi-Fi 6 support. Wi-Fi 6E extends the...
Tuesday January 21, 2025 4:31 pm PST by Juli Clover
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...
Friday January 24, 2025 9:09 am PST by Juli Clover
The upcoming iPhone 17 models that Apple plans to release this year will not feature a smaller Dynamic Island, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today.
On social media, he said that he is expecting the size of the Dynamic Island to remain "largely unchanged" across the iPhone 17 lineup. His statement is contrary to prior rumors that we've heard about planned changes for the iPhone 17 models.
...
Saturday January 25, 2025 5:07 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple's retail stores will be rolling out "merchandise/floor marketing updates" next week, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Gurman did not explicitly say if the store updates are related to any upcoming product announcements, but he did mention that next week is around the time that Apple rolls out its annual Black Unity watch band for the Apple Watch.
In each of the past four years, ...
Thursday January 23, 2025 2:48 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
It's also time for Apple's first product announcement of the year.
Last year, Apple said it would be launching Powerbeats Pro 2 in 2025, and the wireless earbuds are expected to launch very soon.
Powerbeats Pro 2 images found in iOS 18 code
In his Power On newsletter last weekend, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the Powerbeats Pro 2 are "due imminently." In addition to Apple filing the...
I still hate the idea of "post PC". None of these portable devices replaces a laptop or a desktop computer. Its simply Post PC because Apple said so, and people like to do what they are told.
I still hate the idea of "post PC". None of these portable devices replaces a laptop or a desktop computer. Its simply Post PC because Apple said so, and people like to do what they are told.
When you start seeing tat most people you knew carrying laptops in the past are now carrying Tablets instead, then you know it's a "Post-PC Era". There are many situations in which an iPad can do most of your required tasks without the need for a laptop or desktop.
In my case, since I got my iPad 1, my MBP has stayed home.
Well, they are selling tons of cheap phones mainly to be used to Twit, post to Facebook or send Text Messages. That's what most kids do anyway; no need for a higher end device.
And they have multiple carrier options, not like iPhone stuck primarily to AT&T with a bleeding plan.