Apple cutting back?

[Arpangel]

Looks like Apple are "streamlining" cutting back on sales jobs, reason being third party outlets can do the heavy lifting.
There must be a reason, one I read was because Apple products aren’t flexible enough when it comes to software compatibility, also being tied in to the whole Apple ecosystem.
But what’s the impact? Why are they making redundancies? Are sales falling? Are people now not prepared to pay Apple prices for stuff that can do the job from elsewhere?

[BigRedX]

I suspect it's most likely due to the general political situation in the US and the fact that all Apple products are manufactured elsewhere; and even though it shouldn't affect us in the rest of the world, the US market makes up a significant portion of Apple's sales.

And Apple's ecosystem is its strength not a weakness. The software such as Logic and Final Cut is what drives sales of the hardware to creative people. And sales of hardware is where the money is to be made. The fact that with a known hardware base the OS and the software don't have to support an infinite number of unknown combinations in order to work reliably. Just look at how quiet the Mac OS section of this forum is compared with the Windows one...

[Wonks]

First quarter (ending Dec 27 2025) profits up by 16% from the same period last year.

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/01/ ... r-results/

So it's unlikely to be down to a major drop in overall revenue, though there could always be a recent drop in US sales due to tariffs. Or even a drop in UK/EU sales after the Trump Greenland debacle.

And whilst I acknowledge the strength of the Apple ecosystem, and that it generally (but not always) is a problem-free system, there is also the fact that Apple has currently about 10% of the whole computer market in the UK, so there are an awful lot more PCs out there than Macs. And whilst the music production PC market will certainly have a higher percentage of Macs than that, for the general level of forum hobby music makers, the more affordable PC will normally be the frustration of choice. Hence the greater traffic in the Windows forum.

[Folderol]

Waves (an admittedly small) flag for Linux.

[Drew Stephenson]

So it's unlikely to be down to a major drop in overall revenue, though there could always be a recent drop in US sales due to tariffs. Or even a drop in UK/EU sales after the Trump Greenland debacle.

There has been some push-back over Tim Cook's courting of the current regime so there may be people delaying purchases because of that as well.

[garrettendi]

Waves (an admittedly small) flag for Linux.

I'll join in!

(Can I borrow a flag?)

[Arpangel]

Waves (an admittedly small) flag for Linux.

I'll join in!

(Can I borrow a flag?)

"Can I borrow a flag" I don’t know.

[OneWorld]

A wave for LINUX from me too, but do I need a separate flag for Ubuntu, Debian etc etc ??

[OneWorld]

So it's unlikely to be down to a major drop in overall revenue, though there could always be a recent drop in US sales due to tariffs. Or even a drop in UK/EU sales after the Trump Greenland debacle.

There has been some push-back over Tim Cook's courting of the current regime so there may be people delaying purchases because of that as well.

No loss of interest in Microsoft despite Gatesy allegedly having cosied up to Epstein!

[garrettendi]

A wave for LINUX from me too, but do I need a separate flag for Ubuntu, Debian etc etc ??

Depends. Folderol is in charge of the flags, and for all I know he may have generic ones with just Tux on it!

[OneWorld]

Actually, when I used LINUX more frequently, it was LinuxMINT - an operating system with all I needed for general day to day stuff, on a 128megoram USB!

[garrettendi]

I used Mint ages ago, it was ok but I preferred Ubuntu. I've also used Fedora, OpenSUSE and once had a pass at Debian.

I now use elementary OS.

[Folderol]

Let nobody say there's too little choice
P.S.
The flag is a property of the user, not the OS version.

[Drew Stephenson]

No loss of interest in Microsoft despite Gatesy allegedly having cosied up to Epstein!

I guess Gates is no longer part of Microsoft so it would be a bit pointless, whereas Cook is the boss at Apple.

[Luke W]

Waves (an admittedly small) flag for Linux.

I'll join in!

(Can I borrow a flag?)

No need to borrow. They're open-source, so you can just take one.

You will need to code your own flagpole if you want to actually wave it, though.

[Forum Admin]

There has been some push-back over Tim Cook's courting of the current regime so there may be people delaying purchases because of that as well.

People are waiting for the M5 MBPros and Air that have been heavily trailed/leaked all over YouTube. Steve Jobs would never have allowed it; back in his day, you knew about a new model the day they announced it and it was on sale that day in the Apple Stores globally. [Well, mostly...]

I upgraded my iPhone 13 to the 15 (mainly for the higher res Camera lens), and the 17 is out now/soon? That'll sell Apple boatloads and they can sell them into China now too.

The Mac mini M4 is terrific value as a 512GB version and buy an external enclosure. The Mac Studio M5 is rumoured but likely late September?

[Forum Admin]

...whereas Cook is the boss at Apple.

Not for long; he's retiring some time soon (hopefully not to the Cook Islands... I'll get my coat).

[BigRedX]

One possible reason for the slowdown in Mac sales is how long they remain viable working machines.

I upgraded my desktop and laptop Macs just over a year ago. The models they replaced dated from 2010 and 2012. I expect my current Macs to last well beyond 2030 and still be effective.

[Drew Stephenson]

Yeah, I think that's applying to most electronic kit these days. Most of us never really stretch out devices in casual use.
Either way, I'd be very surprised if there's ever a significant move of customers out of the Apple ecosystem. Delayed purchase, probably, but boycott or actual transfer? Wouldn't have thought so.

[Wonks]

I upgraded my iPhone 13 to the 15 (mainly for the higher res Camera lens), and the 17 is out now/soon? That'll sell Apple boatloads and they can sell them into China now too.

Out now for the 17. I’ve had mine since October.

Not too long until the 18 arrives!

[OneWorld]

No loss of interest in Microsoft despite Gatesy allegedly having cosied up to Epstein!

I guess Gates is no longer part of Microsoft so it would be a bit pointless, whereas Cook is the boss at Apple.

Some say climbing Mount Everest is pointless, but people still do it.

[Forum Admin]

I'd be very surprised if there's ever a significant move of customers out of the Apple ecosystem. Delayed purchase, probably, but boycott or actual transfer? Wouldn't have thought so.

I agree. I'm a longterm Apple fanboy, as the Mac allowed our business to do things no other platform could back in the DTP days, and Quark Xpress was Mac-only. And as a Publisher, that was the hot app of the decade until Adobe bought a smaller company's app and rebranded it InDesign.

SOS used Apple Xserve racks for many years to run graphics, intranet, and a mail server.

I have been a faithful family iCloud 2TB user and still use my @me.com and @mac.com email addresses... I have all Photos and most apps sync'd via iCloud across all my devices. It works nicely. Same for Time Machine backups. No fuss, just getting on with the job.

Moving to a new Mac is always a doddle with Apple's migration assistant.

Music-wise, I use PreSonus Studio One Pro (now Fender Studio Pro) as my main DAW since v2, but also keep an up-to-date version of Logic Pro on my MacBook Pro, out of curiosity.

Whilst I have ogled some Android Galaxy phones over the years, with their much better camera pixel resolutions, Apple's camera on the iPhone 15 is darned good, and the 17 and 18 are even better. I shoot 4K video on my iPhone too... and I AirPlay static photos and videos to my big TV most evenings, rather than stay glued in front of my 49" curved LG monitor (Apple Studio Display was simply too small for my needs). I still am in awe of Apple's AirDrop functionality -- it's magic, truly, when you put one iPhone full of photos next to another and it wirelessly transfers them in an instant.

And then I link all apps via my Apple Watch and watch YouTube in bed using my Gen1 iPad Pro (still working, though a 2016 model). When it can no longer be OS updated, I'll use it for Studio One/Studio Pro as a Universal Control remote mixing/record start/stop device etc.

So, yes, like many I am locked into the Apple ecosystem, for sure, and it would take a big shift for me to look elsewhere.

[pax-eterna]

It's just a shame Apple has not really developed it's systems for gaming. If it were a better gaming platform I'd be onto it like a shot!

[S.Crow]

Even Apple aren't immune to the increased pricing of PC related components and manufacturing.
They are in a better position than most but there is still pressure to maintain their staggering margins.
RAM at retail has increased by a factor of 3 to 4 over the last 4 months or so.
SSDs have also maybe doubled in the last two months.

Bad timing for Apple as they finally increased the base level of RAM in most computing products in the last year and a bit to 16GB.
The next bump due was in storage as they still sell computers with 256GB.
I figured that Apple made the move with RAM due to AI probably requiring more.
Apple have been stuck in neutral with their own AI, but they needed to have their hardware ready for when they find forward momentum.
The irony is that the massive increases in the cost of components is due to the AI build out.

The mega cloud AI tech bros are reserving so much capacity that there are shortages for the mainstream.
It's going to really hit the smaller PC suppliers who don't buy direct and are impacted by the fluctuating prices at the wholesale level.
So small specialist shops that supply audio and video professionals will see prices of particularly highly specced PCs rise dramatically.
In some cases that can be an extra £1,500 - £2,000 or more.

Whatever Apple is doing here may have nothing to do with this situation.
But they are under pressure to manage the supply chain for sure.

[garrettendi]

I've gone back and forth on different computers, starting with Windows in 1996 (although I had a BBC Micro in the early 90s), and then taking up Linux in 2008. I went back to Windows in 2015, before switching to an iMac during the pandemic. I loved the iMac, and still do, but I went back to Windows 11 as I needed a cheap laptop in 2024.

I guess Mac OS broke me, because after a year I got sick and tired of Microsoft shafting their users at every turn, but the Mac had not broken me enough to go back to them, and I rejoined the Linux fray.

The way I see it, Windows is the best for games, Mac is the best for creatives, but Linux is the best "all rounder" and provides the best performance. My Intel Pentium Silver N5030 with 8GB RAM boots to the desktop in less than 20 seconds and is immediately useful. In Windows 11 I dreaded any time I might have to reboot, as it would be several minutes to get it usable. The iMac was quick to reboot, but for some reason it is slow and sluggish now. Mrs Endi has blamed my studio software for this...