Apple’s October 30 ‘Scary Fast’ event might have been a small one compared to the company’s earlier keynotes, such as WWDC and the iPhone 15 launch, but the announcement of new products definitely caught everyone by surprise. However, the company’s intention might have been to unveil the new M3 and MacBook Pro this year right from the start, and that too because, according to earlier data, Apple’s Mac sales witnessed a nosedive in the third quarter this year, forcing a series of rushed announcements.

Apple’s PC market share for the Q3 2023 period dipped down to single digits as demand continues to fade

Previous data from Gartner shows that Apple’s Mac shipments for the Q3 2023 period saw a 24.2 percent decline compared to the same period a year ago. During this time, Apple’s market share in the PC segment declined from 11.7 percent to a single-digit 9.7 percent. It is evident that consumers are not upgrading to these machines as regularly as they used to, as global inflation has eaten into people’s livelihoods, preventing them from purchasing new Macs.

Additionally, the massive selling point present in M2 Macs just was not there because the chipset itself did not deliver a whole lot in terms of performance and power efficiency compared to the M1. Yesterday, Apple changed up its lineup slightly with the newest 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro, with even the M3 found in the 14-inch model instead of the MacBook Air or 13-inch MacBook Pro with the Touch Bar, which has now been discontinued.

The company might believe that by providing consumers with the new Space Black finish, a decent assortment of ports, a 120Hz ProMotion mini-LED panel, and more, consumers might finally have encouragement to pick up one of these, improving Apple’s overall sales tally for the year. However, keep in mind that with the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max, only the M3 Max offers the biggest performance gains this year compared to the M2 Max, and regardless if you choose to outfit this SoC on the 14-inch or 16-inch MacBook Pro, it is still a $500 upgradefor those who want it.