Apple’s November 2020 Event by the Numbers ⇥ macstories.net

John Voorhees, MacStories:

Apple sprinkled facts, figures, and statistics throughout its presentation today about the new Macs it announced. Here are highlights of some of those stats from the event, which was held online from the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California.

Apple’s executives threw a lot of numbers at viewers of its November event, but I think the one figure that surprised me most is one that Voorhees — and, indeed, most wrap-up articles — did not cite. But Kyt Dotson of Silicon Angle caught it:

Following up recently introduced new iPhones and iPads, the company turned its attention to its computer line. “We love the Mac. It’s in our DNA,” said Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook. “The Mac business grew over 30% last quarter, and the Mac is having its best year ever, and the Mac continues to attract new users. Today, over 50% of buyers are new to the Mac.”

Cook might as well have tossed the word “still” into that last sentence; Apple has been saying that about half of buyers are new to the Mac for years. At its 2018 Mac-related event, Cook said the same, and it was the case in spring 2016, too. Fourteen years ago, shortly after Apple released its first Intel Macs, half of Mac buyers were new to the platform. I am sure it has not been a perfectly steady chart for fourteen years, but it is noteworthy that Apple still keeps finding millions of new buyers every quarter, even as its business seems increasingly dominated by iPhone, iPad, and services sales.