Apple had its second-quarter earnings call today, and while it was mostly good news for stockholders, it wasn’t as good for Mac customers. For the second time in a row, the entire Mac lineup got the cold shoulder from Tim Cook and company when discussing revenue and plans for the future.
It’s worth mentioning these earnings calls are typically just updates for stockholders — the CEO walks everyone through quarterly earnings, profit margins, market share and all that. We usually get a few small glimpses at what’s coming up in the next quarter, when the CEO — in this case Tim Cook — mentions upcoming plans, or answers a particularly pointed question from a well-heeled stockholder.
However, with WWDC just around the corner and rumors that we might see a new MacBook Air, we expected we might hear a little something about Mac revenue, plans for the future, that kind of thing. Instead, there were only a few offhand comments about the Mac.
“The market for us is more than iPhone,” Tim Cook began, in response to a question about Apple’s plans for expanding in China. “Mac gained share there as well. Watch is getting some traction there. Services is doing extremely well. Several catalysts. I’m very pleased with the results that we were able to show during the quarter.”
It’s disappointing for Mac and MacBook users but it’s not much of a surprise. Despite making efforts to connect with its professional audience, with the upcoming Mac Pro and the new iMac Pro, Apple continues to pull away from its computer division. Hardware updates are infrequent, woefully outdated products like the MacBook Air continue to be sold at full-price, despite featuring outdated and under-powered hardware for the price.
Even the MacBook Air’s product page remains unchanged, still featuring language that describes components that have long-since become the standard in essentially every major laptop.
“MacBook Air is powered by fifth-generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processors. This ultra-efficient architecture was designed to use less power and still deliver high performance,” the MacBook Air’s product page reads and will continue to read since the rumored MacBook Air refresh got pushed back again.
Nobody expected Tim Cook to get on the Q2 earnings call and announce a slate of new MacBooks, but even a small amount of recognition would’ve gone a long way toward assuaging the fears of Mac users who might be looking at upgrading or switching platforms entirely. Instead, Mac users were neglected again, and it’s starting to seem like that’s not going to change. But hey, Apple sold a lot of AirPods.
