New MacBook Pro outsold every competing laptop in just five days – Slice Intelligence

[captain_to_fire]

Article from 9to5 Mac: https://9to5mac.com/2016/11/09/2016-macbook-pro-sales/

CNET: Apple MacBook Pro sales already set to surpass 2015 MacBook

Slice Intelligence: https://intelligence.slice.com/apples-macbook-pro-launch/

 

 

Quote

Apple already told us that the 2016 MacBook Pro had set a new online sales record, backed by supply-chain reports of increased component orders, but Slice Intelligence has provided our first look at the scale of those orders. The company reports that the new models took just five days to outsell every high-profile laptop on the U.S. market.

 

It has already outsold combined sales of the Dell XPS 13 and 15 – probably the closest equivalents in the Windows world – which have been on sale for more than ten months. It has also sold almost four times as many units as Microsoft’s flagship laptop, the new Surface Book.

The company additionally compared sales to Apple’s own 12-inch MacBook, to see how its pro laptops were faring against its ultraportable model …

 

Just five days in, the MacBook Pro models had already hit almost 80% of combined 2015 and 2016 MacBook sales – and look set to exceed 18 months of sales in the first week.

Slice gets its data by analysing email receipts among its panel of 4.4M online shoppers. The methodology isn’t perfect, counting only online sales in the USA, but the size of the panel should mean it provides a reasonably reliable steer.

It wasn’t all good news for Apple: the data also showed that not everyone could wait for the company to finally update its pro models. Of those who bought an Apple laptop in 2014, some 40% had since bought another brand. This number will, however, include those who bought a second machine, or a Windows laptop as a gift for family or friends.

 

The sales of course need to be viewed in perspective. Just as iPhone 6 sales reflected pent-up demand for larger-screen phones, 2016 MacBook Pro sales will be in large part driven by similar pent-up demand for a long-awaited update to the range. Even so, this data indicates a successful launch by any standards.

My thoughts on the new MacBook Pro hasn't changed. It's an overpriced laptop with underwhelming specifications for its target audience but it kept the money flowing for Apple because their laptops have something no other Windows laptops can come close. 

 

1. Great Battery Life

With the few exceptions like the new Dell XPS 13 and the new Surface Book i7, Windows laptops can't match MacBook battery life. More often than not, you have to pay more for a extra premium Windows laptop just to get close to what Apple had for years.

 

2. Great Industrial Build

Again with a few exceptions, Apple is good when it comes to build quality. If you put a MacBook Pro beside a Dell XPS 15 and test which one can be opened with a single finger, it will be the MacBook. MacBooks are known for their rigidity whereas a lot of Windows laptops are known for their flimsiness because of cheap materials like polycarbonate plastic.

 

3. Multi touch trackpad 

I gotta say I was spoiled by Apple's multi touch trackpad. I haven't seen a Windows PC just yet to match Apple's multi touch trackpad and users like it. 

 

4. Customer Care Service 

Do other OEMs provide extended warranty coverage like AppleCare Protection Plan that provides global repair coverage and extended warranty up to three years?

 

5. Free from crapware

With a few exceptions, most OEMs will bundle trial software that will make the PC slow at startup and will pop annoying messages upon boot saying "your Mcafee anti virus will expire in 30 days". No trial software is bundled with a Mac.

 

6. Great First party software 

With a Windows PC, you have to buy Office 365 separately and it doesn't come with with video editor out of the box. With every Mac, it comes with iWork for free. GarageBand can teach you how to play instruments and iMovie is a great stepping stone for the more advanced Final Cut Pro X.

 

So that is probably why despite the lack of proper I/O and not so pro specifications, the MacBook Pro outsold all laptops.

[captain_to_fire]

Just now, Nicholatian said:

? Was not expecting this. This is great news in spite of all of the launch issues for Apple.

I guess many people bought the new MacBook Pros even though their usage case isn't Pro like AutoCAD, video editing, etc.

[GDRRiley]

I hate this BS branding and I don't get why anyone would by a 4000$ laptop with graphics worse than a 1050. 

[SCHISCHKA]

2 minutes ago, GDRRiley said:

I hate this BS branding and I don't get why anyone would by a 4000$ laptop with graphics worse than a 1050. 

thats ok I won't try to teach you something you won't understand.

[Mark77]

3 minutes ago, GDRRiley said:

I hate this BS branding and I don't get why anyone would by a 4000$ laptop with graphics worse than a 1050. 

Very few people actually buy laptops for their graphics processing prowess. 

 

And the Apple notebooks should be compared to Dell's business class machines, not the XPS. 

[GDRRiley]

8 hours ago, SCHISCHKA said:

thats ok I won't try to teach you something you won't understand.

what about how great OS X? I use it every day at school.

how good of a worksation it is? no it gets beat by a 500$ laptop.

A good batery life? I know but there are some windows laptops with longer batter life.

Gets beat by the razer blade stealth?

 

8 hours ago, Mark77 said:

Very few people actually buy laptops for their graphics processing prowess. 

 

And the Apple notebooks should be compared to Dell's business class machines, not the XPS. 

if it is a workstaion it should have good  power 

[AkiraDaarkst]

16 minutes ago, GDRRiley said:

I hate this BS branding and I don't get why anyone would by a 4000$ laptop with graphics worse than a 1050. 

The Radeon Pro GPU inside is a workstation GPU, and will support 10-bit color for professional applications.  The GTX 1050 from nVidia will never support 10-bit color for OpenGL.

 

10 minutes ago, GDRRiley said:

what about how great OS X? I use it every day at school.

how good of a worksation it is? no it gets beat by a 500$ laptop.

A good batery life? I know but there are some windows laptops with longer batter life.

Gets beat by the razer blade stealth?

 

Define workstation and how people use it.  The 13 inch MBP isn't a mobile workstation, it's a mobile productivity computer.  The 15 inch MBP can be considered a mobile workstation.  To me a workstation is a computer that can do some heavier tasks than a productivity computer.  (e.g. video editing vs office work)

 

Many of those Windows laptops with a longer battery life either suffer when using them for more than just web browsing and emails or you pay a big premium for that battery life.

 

Gets beat by a razer blade?  For what purpose?  The razer is a gaming machine, the MBP is not targeted at gamers.

 

10 minutes ago, GDRRiley said:

if it is a workstaion it should have good  power 

It's a mobile workstation (the 15 inch with the dGPU).  A mobile workstation doesn't need to have the power of a desktop, it's meant for people who are more often away from their home/office desktop or because they are more on the road cannot afford to have a powerful desktop.

[Dabombinable]

9 minutes ago, GDRRiley said:

if it is a workstaion it should have good  power 

And the Dell XPS cost less while being better overall.

[GDRRiley]

1 minute ago, AkiraDaarkst said:

Gets beat by a razer blade?  For what purpose?  The razer is a gaming machine, the MBP is not targeted at gamers.

It is a good example of a workstaion with good power a good cpu and but is thin light and has a good batery life. -

[SCHISCHKA]

8 hours ago, GDRRiley said:

what about how great OS X? I use it every day at school.

how good of a worksation it is? no it gets beat by a 500$ laptop.

A good batery life? I know but there are some windows laptops with longer batter life.

Gets beat by the razer blade stealth?

Like I said I'm not interested in explaining something you wouldn't understand. You really are talking childish shit here. One thing; very simple to do; compare prices of i5 and i7 laptops across OEMs. Not the entry level toy models for children, the quality business models. Every manufacturer sells crappy entry level, mid level and high end; Its called Goldilocks sales. Apple gets away with what they charge for entry level because of the three tiered pricing formula.

 

8 hours ago, AkiraDaarkst said:

Define workstation and how people use it.

he can't but lets just troll him coz its raining outside

[MrDynamicMan]

18 minutes ago, Mark77 said:

Very few people actually buy laptops for their graphics processing prowess. 

 

And the Apple notebooks should be compared to Dell's business class machines, not the XPS. 

No, they should compare to an xps, that's their closest competition. 

[AkiraDaarkst]

4 minutes ago, GDRRiley said:

It is a good example of a workstaion with good power a good cpu and but is thin light and has a good batery life. -

The Razer Blade stealth is a 12.5 inch machine with a dual core processor and a consumer gaming GPU.

http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems/razer-blade-stealth

[Mark77]

2 minutes ago, MrDynamicMan said:

No, they should compare to an xps, that's their closest competition. 

The XPS definitely isn't the highest build quality Dell in the lineup.  So why would you compare Apple's top of the line, expensive laptop, to some cheap Dell? 

[GDRRiley]

1 minute ago, Mark77 said:

The XPS definitely isn't the highest build quality Dell in the lineup.  So why would you compare Apple's top of the line, expensive laptop, to some cheap Dell? 

there are fairly nice. Most people who use them for work should care at all what they look like.

[AkiraDaarkst]

16 minutes ago, SCHISCHKA said:

he can't but lets just troll him coz its raining outside

Frankly, I don't care what kind of laptop or computer people buy whether they like to buy an Apple machine or non-Apple.  I only hope they make a good decision in buying a machine that suits their requirements and can do it's job properly.   For example, not do something unreasonable like buying a cheap ultrabook intending it to use it to run multiple VMs at the same time.  Right tool that meets their needs (this is not always related to spec, it's also about ease and familiarity of use, comfort) for the job is what I'm talking about.

 

And for some people (like me) the MBP is the machine that meets many of their requirements and can get the job done.

 

Edit:

Right now, if I go out to buy a non-Apple laptop that I can use for the type of applications I run on it, I'll probably end up spending at least as much as a fully configured 15 inch MBP (i.e. at least $3500-4000) and I'm 99% sure that it will come pre-installed with annoying adware that will be easier to remove by just formatting the drive and doing a clean Windows install which will take me a couple of hours.  Why would I want that kind of time wasting headache?

 

I just find it stupid that people rant and rave about Apple products.  Either they're stupid, prejudiced or just can't handle the fact that despite all they say or think Apple somehow still manages to be pretty successful and popular.

Edited November 12, 2016 by AkiraDaarkst

[SCHISCHKA]

2 minutes ago, AkiraDaarkst said:

Frankly, I don't care what kind of laptop or computer people buy whether they like to buy an Apple machine or non-Apple.  I only hope they make a good decision in buying a machine that suits their requirements and can do it's job properly.   For example, not do something unreasonable like buying a cheap ultrabook intending it to use it to run multiple VMs at the same time.  Right tool that meets their needs (this is not always related to spec, it's also about ease and familiarity of use, comfort) for the job is what I'm talking about.

 

And for some people (like me) the MBP is the machine that meets many of their requirements and can get the job done.

I went for the MacBook air with i7 upgrade coz it was the only 11" that had an i7. Anything else that sized is bloody toy. It was cheaper than the Dell XPS 13 that comes with Ubuntu, Dell doesn't even give Ubuntu as an option in NZ. Plus I can make iOS software. Good laptops in NZ start at NZD$2000, anything less than that is full of compromises like the entry level mac mini. Im still waiting for apple to upgrade the mac mini, I want someone to kick the CEO in the arse for not upgrading the whole product line

[Monkey Dust]

Probably just pent up demand, if you're an Apple user you could have been waiting for an upgrade for quite some time now. Where as there is always something new in the Windows laptop market if you fancy upgrading, so there will never be a big sales spike when a new one is released.

[JettaGetUpandGo]

 

I don't get it.  As the new MacBook Pros were launched with 6th generation Intel processors, Windows based laptops were released with 7th generation processors.  While there is very little difference between them, the MacBook Pros are already a generation behind.  The only thing that makes sense is there are so many different Windows based laptops out there that comparing sales is difficult.  Notice the XPS isn't on that chart, it's the Inspiron 2-1's. No Thinkpad either.  I would bet both of those are more popular than any of the other Windows based laptops on that chart.

 

I just replaced my 2011 MacBook Pro with a Lenovo Yoga 910.  I looked closely at the XPS 13 as well.  The specs were better than the best 13" Macbook Pro (16 GB of RAM, 512 GB PCIe), the price was cheaper, and from a usability standpoint, Windows is more compatible for business use.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the MacBook for day to day tasks, but Office for Mac sucks, AutoCAD is incompatible, and I needed Windows installed through Boot Camp for a few things that just weren't possible with OS X.

 

Build quality on the Yoga 910 and XPS 13 is right up there with the MacBook Pro.  All aluminum construction (some carbon fiber on the XPS), available touchscreen (sounds unnecessary, but it'd be hard to go back), and most importantly, ports.  My battery life is phenomenal (10+ hours) and there was really no crapware aside from a Lenovo Support app.  Apple still gets the gold medal for their trackpad.  Windows trackpads have come a looooong way in the last few years, but they aren't quite there yet.

[AkiraDaarkst]

6 minutes ago, SCHISCHKA said:

I went for the MacBook air with i7 upgrade coz it was the only 11" that had an i7. Anything else that sized is bloody toy. It was cheaper than the Dell XPS 13 that comes with Ubuntu, Dell doesn't even give Ubuntu as an option in NZ. Plus I can make iOS software. Good laptops in NZ start at NZD$2000, anything less than that is full of compromises like the entry level mac mini. Im still waiting for apple to upgrade the mac mini, I want someone to kick the CEO in the arse for not upgrading the whole product line

I used to be a long time Windows user.  My last Windows laptop was a big and heavy 17 inch Asus.  At the time I was still using computers for my job then which was software engineering and web development.  I got tired of lugging around a heavy brick like that and decided to try out a MacBook Air (I think 2nd generation, in mid 2012).  It didn't have a dGPU like my Asus, but the less powerful MBA managed to handle all the applications I was running on the Asus without a hitch and it was much easier to carry around.  A year or so later, I got tired of sitting in front of a computer from 9-5 every day and decided I wanted to follow my passion as a photographer and cinematographer instead.  Gave the MBA to my brother and got the first generation retina MBP a few months after it's initial release.

 

OSX has been smooth sailing, at least in my experience.  That doesn't mean I have stopped using Windows, I use it on my home desktop editing station because I also wanted to use it as a machine to play games from time to time which makes buying a Mac Pro out of the question.

[AlTech]

The level of stupidity is too high for me to able to comprehend.......

 

Seriously, who in their right mind would buy one?

[SCHISCHKA]

26 minutes ago, AkiraDaarkst said:

I used to be a long time Windows user.

there are support groups for this. Linux user groups; they're usually called LUGS - prepended with the initial of your local city.

28 minutes ago, AkiraDaarkst said:

buying a Mac Pro out of the question

I just think it sucks that they only offer AIO, the underpowered mac mini, or the over the top mac pro. As soon as they bring out a mac mini that competes with Intel Skull canyon NUC I'm buying one. It would be killer if they put a 10 series mobile GPU in them

[Atmos]

1 hour ago, hey_yo_ said:

I guess many people bought the new MacBook Pros even though their usage case isn't Pro like AutoCAD, video editing, etc.

Exactly what I've said a dozen times now.

Apple has been step by step removing the enthusiast identity from their Pro series'. Because for them, alienating the 10% of their sales that are actual pros and need it, so that they can have further reach into the 90% that buy it simply because its apple, is far more profitable.

 

They can include cheaper hardware, far less IO, and still sell 3x as many for a slightly reduced price. 

 

Its great business, but as with a lot of great business strategies, it only hurts consumers.

[captain_to_fire]

52 minutes ago, AkiraDaarkst said:

And for some people (like me) the MBP is the machine that meets many of their requirements and can get the job done.

And I approve this message. While I'm still bummed that the new MBP dropped type A USB, MagSafe, and SD card slot, a Mac "just works" for most of my daily tasks. 

[SCHISCHKA]

31 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

The level of stupidity is too high for me to able to comprehend.......

 

Seriously, who in their right mind would buy one?

people who bought apple shares in the 90's would buy a maxed out mac pro every year from their profit. If you bought apple shares back then people would question your mental health too. I don't think they're unreasonable when you look at the high end and battery life. The stock entry level models are for suckers. If you look around you will find that class has real competition from Dell and lenovo and they're around the same price when you add on all the things you need. I got to give credit to Dell for providing OEM linux options (but not in NZ). IBM use to give linux options but I dont know if lenovo has carried that. Anyway Macs suck if you got sucked into paying for a crappy stock model; its like buying a red Ferrari.

[jaggysnake57]

the problem is people trying to compare mac workstations to high end enthusiast rigs.....its not all about morw powa!!!!!..... i personally wouldnt by a mac book pro but that dosnt mean its stupid.

 

the biggest problem with this forum is the elitist pricks who feel the need to condescend to everything they deem to be inferior.  seriously get over it