Apple shipped an estimated 5.7 million notebook computers in the first calendar quarter of 2021, according to new notebook PC shipping estimates shared today by Strategy Analytics.
Apple was the number four worldwide notebook vendor, trailing behind Dell, HP, and Lenovo, with all three companies shipping between 10 and 16 million notebooks during the quarter.
Apple's 5.7 million notebooks shipped is up 94 percent from the 2.9 million that it shipped in the year-ago quarter, with the strong growth coming from continued Mac demand as people work from home and begin the transition to hybrid home working models.
Apple's market share for the quarter was at 8.4 percent, up from 7.8 percent last year. Lenovo and HP continue to be market leaders, shipping a variety of PC notebooks running Windows alongside Chromebooks, which saw strong growth in the education sector.
Total notebook PC shipments were up 81 percent year over year among all major vendors, but Apple in particular may have seen major growth thanks to the November launch of the M1 13-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air, both of which vastly outperform prior Intel models without price increases.
Apple will likely sustain its Mac growth as it prepares to introduce even more powerful Apple silicon machines later in the year. Rumors suggest there are upgraded 16-inch MacBook Pro models in the works, plus we're still waiting on a higher-end larger version of the iMac. Apple is also expected to introduce a new MacBook Air and a new MacBook Pro, but those might not come until 2022.
Sunday February 1, 2026 10:08 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. Nearly nine months later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change fairly soon.
In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis.
In his Powe...
Thursday January 29, 2026 10:07 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today confirmed to Reuters that it has acquired Q.ai, an Israeli startup that is working on artificial intelligence technology for audio.
Apple paid close to $2 billion for Q.ai, according to sources cited by the Financial Times. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone and audio brand Beats in 2014.
Q.ai has...
Sunday February 1, 2026 12:31 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
The calendar has turned to February, and a new report indicates that Apple's next product launch is "imminent," in the form of new MacBook Pro models.
"All signs point to an imminent launch of next-generation MacBook Pros that retain the current form factor but deliver faster chips," Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said on Sunday. "I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated...
Saturday January 31, 2026 10:51 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple recently updated its online store with a new ordering process for Macs, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro.
There used to be a handful of standard configurations available for each Mac, but now you must configure a Mac entirely from scratch on a feature-by-feature basis. In other words, ordering a new Mac now works much like ordering an...
Sunday February 1, 2026 5:42 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips alongside macOS 26.3, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
"Apple's faster MacBook Pros are planned for the macOS 26.3 release cycle," wrote Gurman, in his Power On newsletter today.
"I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated for the macOS 26.3 software cycle, which runs from...
My M1 MBA is just fu@<ing awesome! Funny (and sad) thing is, I bought an i7 MBA in 2020 also, so I was able to directly compare them and can easily conclude that the i7 in the same "class" doesn't hold a candle.
I will say that running iOS apps is mostly gimmicky, but a couple games work ok on it.
No surprise. Apple delivered $999-$1299 laptops that have, practically speaking for most users, 16” MacBook Pro level performance, better battery life. I never thought I would buy a MacBook Air, but I order one because at the cost, it’s a heck of a laptop.
At first glance I thought think was great achievement. Then I realized that Lenovo, HP, Acer and "other" all achieved comparable growth. So, nothing to see here.
Ha! We've come a long way Apple lovers. Some years ago, one of my duties in higher education was administering exams. The exam software we used was not yet available on Macs. As I was checking a packed exam room I noticed a glowing Apple among the "dull" Dells ;)
I immediately checked out the student who was running a Windows machine cabled to a Mac. He was cheating by overriding the exam software's Wifi block, and using his Mac to access the Internet. That was a big NO, NO! Our tech. department even confirmed this student was accessing the Internet during the exam.
Years later, I was happy to see a sea of glowing Apple logos in the classroom!
