During 2017, Apple increased the market share of the MacBook laptop family to 9.6 percent, sneaking it ahead of Asus and into fourth place in the laptop share table, according to Trendforce’s latest data. But has Apple traded away the distinctive elements of the MacBook that gathered it a loyal fan base to chase market share?
Ahead of Apple remains Dell, Lenovo, and market leader HP. Current estimates for 2018 shows Apple closing the gap to the podium places, but not overhauling any of the competition within twelve months. Given there are not expected to be any fundamental changes to the MacBook family as presented to the public - although Apple will take the opportunity to work on custom silicon inside the hardware.
That custom silicon will help improve the speed of the laptops, increase the security on offer to consumers. It also makes clear that the MacBook family is now focused on a simpler battleground as it moves towards increasing the market share by reaching out to the general consumers. Apple has decided that speed and specifications is the way forward for its desk-bound accessories to the iPhone.
There was a time when Apple put all of the user experience in the driving seat, but recent changes to the line-up have tended away from the personal touch towards features with more mass-market appeal, as I talked about last week. The loss of the breakaway mag-safe charger, the handicapping of one of the best portable keyboards of the last decade, and the removal of the branding power from the moth-like glowing Apple have all weakened the MacBook’s individuality over the last few years.
As the market share rises and more people arrive on the macOS platform, the little touches that once made the MacBook stand out have been traded away and Apple’s laptop becomes the ‘default look’ of a portable computer. The new user base will never know what they are missing, but Apple’s rush to appease the mass market and squeeze more profit out of its laptops mean that the elements that made the MacBook family special are no longer on show to the new audience.
Now read the missing features my readers loved in their older MacBook Pro machines…
