Apple's Notebook Shipments Grew an Estimated 94% in Q1 2021

Apple shipped an estimated 5.7 million notebook computers in the first calendar quarter of 2021, according to new notebook PC shipping estimates shared today by Strategy Analytics.

macbook air m1 unboxing feature
Mac notebooks include the MacBook Pro models and the MacBook Air models, excluding the Mac mini, Mac Pro, and iMac.

pc notebook strategy analytics shipments
Apple was the number four worldwide notebook vendor, trailing behind Dell, HP, and Lenovo, with all three companies shipping between 10 and 16 million notebooks during the quarter.

Apple's 5.7 million notebooks shipped is up 94 percent from the 2.9 million that it shipped in the year-ago quarter, with the strong growth coming from continued Mac demand as people work from home and begin the transition to hybrid home working models.

Apple's market share for the quarter was at 8.4 percent, up from 7.8 percent last year. Lenovo and HP continue to be market leaders, shipping a variety of PC notebooks running Windows alongside Chromebooks, which saw strong growth in the education sector.

pc notebook market share strategy analytics
Total notebook PC shipments were up 81 percent year over year among all major vendors, but Apple in particular may have seen major growth thanks to the November launch of the M1 13-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ and ‌MacBook Air‌, both of which vastly outperform prior Intel models without price increases.

Apple will likely sustain its Mac growth as it prepares to introduce even more powerful Apple silicon machines later in the year. Rumors suggest there are upgraded 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ models in the works, plus we're still waiting on a higher-end larger version of the ‌iMac‌. Apple is also expected to introduce a new ‌MacBook Air‌ and a new ‌MacBook Pro‌, but those might not come until 2022.

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Top Rated Comments

deputy_doofy Avatar
51 months ago
My M1 MBA is just fu@<ing awesome! Funny (and sad) thing is, I bought an i7 MBA in 2020 also, so I was able to directly compare them and can easily conclude that the i7 in the same "class" doesn't hold a candle.

I will say that running iOS apps is mostly gimmicky, but a couple games work ok on it.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GuruZac Avatar
51 months ago
No surprise. Apple delivered $999-$1299 laptops that have, practically speaking for most users, 16” MacBook Pro level performance, better battery life. I never thought I would buy a MacBook Air, but I order one because at the cost, it’s a heck of a laptop.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rwalle Avatar
51 months ago
At first glance I thought think was great achievement. Then I realized that Lenovo, HP, Acer and "other" all achieved comparable growth. So, nothing to see here.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Okasian Avatar
51 months ago
A superior tactile keyboard with clicky function keys.

A new paradigm in CISC-based processing.

Who’d have thought huh?

A lot of us have been waiting for viable MacBooks since 2015.

(Also Covid)
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jazz1 Avatar
51 months ago
Ha! We've come a long way Apple lovers. Some years ago, one of my duties in higher education was administering exams. The exam software we used was not yet available on Macs. As I was checking a packed exam room I noticed a glowing Apple among the "dull" Dells ;)

I immediately checked out the student who was running a Windows machine cabled to a Mac. He was cheating by overriding the exam software's Wifi block, and using his Mac to access the Internet. That was a big NO, NO! Our tech. department even confirmed this student was accessing the Internet during the exam.

Years later, I was happy to see a sea of glowing Apple logos in the classroom!
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DaveP Avatar
51 months ago
Or stated differently: Apple's quarterly laptop growth was less than the Other manufacturers category.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)