Mac laptops responsible for growing Apple's computing business

Apple's Mac laptops have taken over as the company's growth driver for its personal computer business, with the MacBook Pro in the lead.

Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) revealed the numbers on January 4 through the firm's Substack channel. It paints a good picture of the Mac as Apple competes with PC makers.

As of the September 2022 quarter, the MacBook Pro leads the way at 54% of sales, with the MacBook Air close behind at 46%. Overall, laptops accounted for 74% of Mac units sold in 2022, compared to the 26% figure from the desktop business, which includes iMac, Mac Pro, Mac mini, and Mac Studio.

In the desktop segment, the iMac and Mac Pro lead at 50% and 43%, respectively, while Mac mini and Mac Studio only account for 4%.

Although Google's Chromebook leads in the education sector, educational or student use accounts for roughly one-third of Mac purchases. It's also popular in the enterprise, with almost 50% of Mac buyers reporting that they will use their new computer for business.

The Mac's model mix as of the September 2022 quarter. Source: CIRP

According to data from CIRP, personal use has slightly declined over the past five years but is still primary, while education remains important but has trended downward. Business usage grew and is significantly more prevalent than education.

Apple hasn't broken down Mac model breakdown in about a decade. It's not clear precisely where CIRP is getting its data from.

Apple's fourth quarter financial results it posted in in October 2022, showed that revenue from the Mac reached $11.5 billion, and the company earned a total of $90.15 billion during that quarter overall.

9 Comments

red oak 1104 comments · 13 Years

About 1 year ago

There is no way the Mac Pro is selling 10x the number of units of the Mac mini or the Studio. This is flawed data. Comically wrong

chasm 3592 comments · 10 Years

About 1 year ago

It should be noted that CIRP — like the other prognosticators — is guessing, and does not have access to any Apple sales data. They do try to substantiate their estimates by doing surveys of Apple owners, contacting third-party Apple sellers, compiling shipment data from sources in China and elsewhere, and so forth.

But, as we’ve seen with Gartner and IDC and others, even the companies that make these efforts generally fail to match sell-through reality. Bearing in mind that whatever actual “data” CIRP has obtained is probably focused around current shipments to resellers, it’s easier to understand the low figures for the machine models that are most likely to be ordered directly from Apple. Not many consumers are going to go into a third-party reseller and buy an off-the-shelf Mac Pro or Mac Studio: they’re likely to get a custom model directly from Apple.

As someone who keeps their ear close to the ground regarding third-party resellers myself, consumers do often buy iMacs and laptops in the stock configurations in exchange for the instant gratification of having it now, particularly in areas where there is no nearby Apple Store. While CIRP’s exact figures are almost certainly wrong, the overall trend (and thrust of the article) remains correct: notebooks way outsell desktops.

baconstang 1154 comments · 10 Years

About 1 year ago

Don't know about the validity of those number, however, since they haven't refreshed the 27" iMac with ASi, I'm not surprised those numbers are seemingly low.

tht 5594 comments · 23 Years

About 1 year ago

I frankly don't believe these numbers. It's saying that Apple sells more MBP than MBA models. That's crazy imo. Then Mac Pro has a 43% share of desktops sold, starting at $6k? If so, they would have updated Mac Pros every 12 to 18 months like they do with the iMac.

bestkeptsecret 4285 comments · 13 Years

About 1 year ago

chasm said:

It should be noted that CIRP — like the other prognosticators — is guessing, and does not have access to any Apple sales data. They do try to substantiate their estimates by doing surveys of Apple owners, contacting third-party Apple sellers, compiling shipment data from sources in China and elsewhere, and so forth.
But, as we’ve seen with Gartner and IDC and others, even the companies that make these efforts generally fail to match sell-through reality. Bearing in mind that whatever actual “data” CIRP has obtained is probably focused around current shipments to resellers, it’s easier to understand the low figures for the machine models that are most likely to be ordered directly from Apple. Not many consumers are going to go into a third-party reseller and buy an off-the-shelf Mac Pro or Mac Studio: they’re likely to get a custom model directly from Apple.

As someone who keeps their ear close to the ground regarding third-party resellers myself, consumers do often buy iMacs and laptops in the stock configurations in exchange for the instant gratification of having it now, particularly in areas where there is no nearby Apple Store. While CIRP’s exact figures are almost certainly wrong, the overall trend (and thrust of the article) remains correct: notebooks way outsell desktops.

So what you're saying is that there is a chasm between the CIRP data and the actual numbers?

I'll see myself out now.