Macs, iPads, price hikes and the alternative company



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Apple last week refreshed its MacBook Pro Air and iPad Pro lines, adding a high-resolution display to the trainer for the first time and on the latter stretching the screen nearer the device's edges.

The Cupertino, Calif. boosted the lowest-cost MacBook Air by 20% and the 11-in. iPad Pro by 23% over its 10.5-in. predecessor.

ipad pro front Michael Simon / IDG

The new iPad Pro is basically all screen.

Apple hiked MacBook Mac and iPad sales. During the September quarter, Mac unit sales were down 2% year-over-year, while iPad sales were down 6% from the same period in 2017.

Even so, Apple CEO Tim Cook touted the Mac's popularity. "We're adding millions, bringing our total active installed base to a new major milestone of 100 million Macs," Cook told Brooklyn event where the company unveiled new hardware.

But in the context of the global, PC, PC, PC, and PC. Cook's 100 million, for example, represents less than 7% of the 1.5 trillion Windows running machines. During the September quarter, Macs accounted for a slightly better than average value.

Apple itself, or in place of the firm, its defenders, will argue that the Mac business was never intended to compete in the broader market. Pricing of Apple's desktops and laptops

More importantly than Apple's aims for the Mac is where the platform is small share – now and apparently in the future, too – leaves enterprises. Although Mac and its accompanying macOS have long been cited as tea alternative to Microsoft's Windows ecosystem, or at least the most viable alternative, it's unrealistic to think that's realistic.

"Macs, they're playing in," said Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research. "But if you do not have a product in the $ 500 to $ 600 range, [enterprises] can not standardize on it. "

In other words, the idea that commercial customers have an alternative to Windows is a chimera.

Historically, thoughts that there Was A workable substitute for Windows has been moved to the front of mind when users have been dissatisfied with the latest upgrade. After 2007's Windows Vista had been pegged as a buggy flop, Analysts noted a rise in enterprise-based Macs, even as they claimed IT departments have been "slowly warming" to the maligned Vista.

Windows 10 – Windows 7 – Windows 7 – Windows 7 – Windows 7 – Windows 7 – Windows 7 – Windows 7 – Windows 7 But even if complaints about Windows 10 have gotten into some quarters, there's no evidence that Microsoft's monopoly is at risk. Macs have not surged into workplaces.

Gottheil gives partial credit to Microsoft. "Windows machines do not suck as much as they used to," he pointed out. "And frankly, Microsoft has been the most innovative company over the last six years," he added, "ticking off corporate product lines, cloud services and OS enhancements to make his point."

On the other hand, Apple has not helped itself, Gottheil said. "They're not offering anything that's new or that's compelling. [Apple’s] come up with [in the last few years] is the touch bar, "he said, referring to the mutable keyboard section on MacBook Pro notebooks.

Apple's best shot at the enterprise market, Gottheil thought, is not the Mac or even an iPad Pro. "[Apple is] "Gottheil said of the new AR engine in iOS 12.

He dismissed virtual reality as "sticking your head in a bucket," something that would never gain traction in the enterprise. AR goal, where real-world and digital views are combined, will be a boon to business.

"Gottheil continued." "With AR you do not mistake the part [as you pull it from a shelf]. "Other applications, ranging from field service and inventory control to real estate, construction, remodeling and decorating, would benefit, too, from a tablet-rendered AR view.

"The iPad space has potential, not a general-purpose device, but connected to specific applications, just the iPad," Gottheil contended.

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