Apple MacBook Sales Drop 30% in 2023 Despite 15-inch Air Launch: Report

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Even the 15-inch MacBook Air can't reverse Apple's MacBook sales decline.

15-inch MacBook Air
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

According to supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple's Mac shipments hit a speed bump during 2023, despite the launch of a larger MacBook Air earlier this year. The 15-inch MacBook Air was seen as a much-needed entry into the popular 15-inch class of notebooks. However, shipments reportedly sputtered after a sales burst during the back-to-school period (shipment estimates have been revised downward by 20 percent for the year).

According to Kuo in a post on Medium, total MacBook sales for 2023 are expected to drop by 30 percent compared to 2022 to 17 million units. Even though we are fast approaching the holiday shopping season, Kuo doesn't expect a significant uptick in shipments for the remainder of 2023 since Apple won't deliver any MacBook hardware refreshes until early 2024, in a best-case scenario.

So, what's causing the shipment decline for MacBooks? Kuo says several factors are coming into play, including a steady decline in work-from-home (WFH) demand. PC demand was artificially inflated due to WFH during the COVID-19 crisis, and now shipments are settling back into a more normalized pattern. It's also surmised that Mini-LED, as seen in the MacBook Pro family, is no longer a big draw for customers. In addition, the luster of Apple Silicon has worn off for customers who've already upgraded from Intel-based MacBooks, as we've seen minor speed bumps going from the initial M1 to M2 generation of CPUs.

Apple could see upward momentum in 2024 when its next MacBook refresh is expected. Apple will launch new 13- and 15-inch MacBook Airs with next-generation M3 CPUs built on TSMC's 3nm N3 process. New 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro laptops with M3 Pro and M3 Max CPUs are also on deck.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says that the new MacBook Pros will launch "early next year" but hasn't described what new features Apple plans to add other than faster RAM. We could also imagine brighter Mini-LED displays and perhaps we could see faster SSDs, though Gen5 models aren't like to appear in laptops any time soon given their current power requirements.

Brandon Hill
Brandon Hill

Brandon Hill is a senior editor at Tom's Hardware. He has written about PC and Mac tech since the late 1990s with bylines at AnandTech, DailyTech, and Hot Hardware. When he is not consuming copious amounts of tech news, he can be found enjoying the NC mountains or the beach with his wife and two sons.

10 Comments Comment from the forums
  • vertuallinsanity
    Really like their design. Really dislike their pricing. Surely the cost of living explosion has something to do with it..
    Reply
  • ezst036
    vertuallinsanity said:
    Really like their design. Really dislike their pricing. Surely the cost of living explosion has something to do with it..

    I had similar thoughts when I saw the story. Apple's high prices work for many elites, but that's going to limit Apple's ability to fully saturate the market as a sole-provider. Some months ago it was big news that Linux hit 3% marketshare, but in reality the bigger (or at least equally big) information was that Apple has 20% and the two together are both keeping Microsoft below 75% of the market, pushing below 70.

    https://www.tomshardware.com/news/linux-hits-3-percent-client-pc-market-share
    The continually worsening economy hits Apple the hardest, but its also going to keep people seeking out solutions that are more and more inexpensive and longer-lasting to increase people's bang-for-buck.
    Reply
  • Giroro
    I've considered their new macs at points because the base prices seem ok even though the specs are laughably bad at the base price... But then I eventually finish scrolling to the awful powerpoint slideshow they call a website, and I remember they charge a flat $200 per 8GB of RAM, and $400 per 1 TB of storage.

    I simply can't force myself to overpay to such an extreme degree. The survival instinct kicks in; It's like walking into traffic.
    Reply
  • bigdragon
    I could buy a whole ton of Apple devices if Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Disney World, Delta, United, Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, and all grocery stores charged less money! Don't worry though. I'm going to get a CoLA on January 1st. It'll help me buy Apple devic--wait, insurance companies and service providers just raised rates to claim all that CoLA money. Uh...sorry Apple, nothing left over for you. Maybe 2025....iff inflation calms down. (I honestly would like a new iPad)

    Also, does anyone else dislike mini-LED screens like I do? They're splotchy, uneven, and not good for apps focused on productivity or creating.
    Reply
  • Heat_Fan89
    Giroro said:
    I've considered their new macs at points because the base prices seem ok even though the specs are laughably bad at the base price... But then I eventually finish scrolling to the awful powerpoint slideshow they call a website, and I remember they charge a flat $200 per 8GB of RAM, and $400 per 1 TB of storage.

    I simply can't force myself to overpay to such an extreme degree. The survival instinct kicks in; It's like walking into traffic.
    I'm a Mac user as well as a PC gamer. I quit playing Apple's up-sell program many years ago. I now buy the base model and move on until it's time to upgrade then go the base model all over again. Every time I considered playing the Apple up-sell game, I got a headache and just decided not to buy anything. That's when I decided not to take part in their price markups.

    I bought a base model M2 Mac mini when Apple released it for under $500 and it's plenty fast for my needs as i'm now a "retired" casual user.
    Reply
  • newtechldtech
    Apple asks alot for upgrading the memory while their base model starts at 8 GB RAM ONLY , this is the main reason .. in 2023 the minimum should be 16GB of RAM , keep in mind that MACS use shared memory for the GPU , meaning with 8GB if you use 4GB only for VRAM you are left only with 4GB fr everything else. this is stupidity Apple .
    Reply
  • ekio
    I was going to buy one because the base price seemed fair ish.
    Then I discovered that the base model was sold with insulting specs, specs from literately over 10 years ago.
    Then I discovered that putting decent specs to make it somehow futureproof was so stupidly overpriced that the configuration was becoming just a big scam.
    Then I said screw them and their shareholders.

    There is how the 30 percent sales decrease happened.
    Reply
  • Alvar "Miles" Udell
    I think the biggest reason sales dropped are that as Macbook users migrated through the M1 and now M2 there's just that many fewer people to buy one until the M5 or M6, since even Apple knows Apple people are on long refresh cycles.

    Also Windows laptops in the same price range as Macbook Airs are no longer as dismal as they used to be. Graphics wise you'll be lucky to get a 3050 or 4050 as you approach $1000, but for education and office tasks $600-$700 will get you a 6-10 core processor, 16GB RAM, 256-512GB SSD, and 15-17" screen, especially if they're Lenovo, like the Lenovo 16" IdeaPad Slim 5i. The cheapest Macbook Air is the 2020 13.3" M1 based Macbook Air at $850 on sale. Unless you were a dedicated Apple person or required Apple hardware, it'd be tough to justify that.
    Reply
  • palladin9479
    Yes you can only push so many Gucci and Louis Vuitton's before you run out of customers who really want another one.
    Reply
  • Heat_Fan89
    ekio said:
    I was going to buy one because the base price seemed fair ish.
    Then I discovered that the base model was sold with insulting specs, specs from literately over 10 years ago.
    Then I discovered that putting decent specs to make it somehow futureproof was so stupidly overpriced that the configuration was becoming just a big scam.
    Then I said screw them and their shareholders.

    There is how the 30 percent sales decrease happened.
    I have been an Apple/Mac user since 2003 and you don't future proof with Apple. In recent years Apple has on average cutoff devices on within 5-7 years of software support. Up until recently I was running Windows 10 on a 2009 ThinkPad.

    I will disagree with the laughable specs. The base specs of 8GB and a 256GB SSD is on par with what is sold today in the Windows world. Most PC or Mac users are in the casual user group. They do banking online, watch YT videos, and do online shopping. You don't need a high spec computer for that.

    I have a 2018 i5 Mac Mini that I upgraded the RAM from 8 to 32GB and that SSD was considered faster than the 256GB SSD's Apple uses today. I recently purchased an M2 base model Mini and the M2 Mini does everything faster vs the 2018 i5 Intel Mini in half the time. It boots in 8 secs to the desktop. Programs also launch in half the time and that's with 8GB of RAM and a slower SSD. I am now retired and I consider myself a casual user. The base model Mac's are fine for people like me and the vast majority of casual users.
    Reply