Apple's Record Mac Quarter 'Almost Unbelievable' in Face of iPad Cannibalization - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple's Record Mac Quarter 'Almost Unbelievable' in Face of iPad Cannibalization

One of the high points of Apple's earnings for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2011 was Mac sales, which came in well above expectations at a record 4.89 million units. On the earnings conference call, Apple CEO Tim Cook noted that the strong sales were "almost unbelievable" considering continued growth in the iPad market.

mac lineup
Cook noted that some customers are undoubtedly electing to purchase iPads instead of Macs, eating somewhat into potential Mac sales. But as Apple has noted several times since the introduction of the iPad, Apple still holds only a small part of the PC market and that cannibalization of Windows PCs by the iPad opens up a tremendous opportunity for the company.

Apple's previous record for quarterly Mac sales came in the first fiscal quarter of this year with 4.13 million units shipped, making this quarter's performance 18% higher than that record. Given the Apple's Mac sales typically increase sequentially for the holiday quarter each year, Apple should also be well-positioned for another strong performance on the Mac side to close out the calendar year.

Popular Stories

iPhone 18 Pro Deep Red Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching in Two Months With These 12 New Features

Friday July 17, 2026 10:39 am PDT by
It is now mid-July, and that means the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are now just two months away. The devices are expected to look similar to the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, but there will still be many year-over-year changes, with rumored features including a smaller Dynamic Island, 5G via satellite, and more. Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, ...
Apple AppleCare One Feature

'AppleCare One' is Now Even More Valuable

Saturday July 18, 2026 6:25 am PDT by
While the monthly and annual prices of AppleCare+ plans for Macs and iPads received a slight increase this week, AppleCare One continues to start at $19.99 per month in the U.S., making the multi-device plan even more valuable. Launched in July 2025, AppleCare One allows you to cover up to three devices as part of a single subscription for $19.99 per month, and additional devices can be...
iCloud General Feature Redux

Apple Raises iCloud+ Prices in 8 Countries

Friday July 17, 2026 11:56 am PDT by
Apple has increased the price of iCloud+ in Nigeria, Türkiye, Vietnam, Japan, Egypt, New Zealand, the Philippines, and Indonesia, according to an updated version of its iCloud support document. Price increases range from 11 percent to 55 percent depending on the plan and the country. Nigeria saw the biggest hike, and a 50GB plan is now ₦1,300, up from ₦900. Türkiye saw the next largest...

Top Rated Comments

fox10078 Avatar
193 months ago
To think they are gonna drop macs anytime soon is foolish
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gugy Avatar
193 months ago
that's great news.
Now let's update the MacPro and bring that 30" ACD back!;)
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Naimfan Avatar
193 months ago
While you were doing that Microsoft was busy improving Windows, Office etc and now offers the best software that it ever has.

While that may well be true, it's still considerably behind Apple in terms of integration and making things as easy and seamless as a Mac does.

The biggest reason is that Apple controls both hardware and the OS, so a Mac is much more tightly integrated than any Windows machine. Not a newsflash, I know, but still worth remembering.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
anberlinairlift Avatar
193 months ago
All this iOS development and promotion by Apple has made me a little worried about the future of Mac OS X and the Mac over the past couple years... So this is definitely great news :)
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
193 months ago
I've switched after using iTunes on Windows XP in the days of the 3rd generation iPod, when I finally understood that managing files by myself was pointless when the software should be doing it for me.

It went:
- iTunes on Windows
- 10GB 3rd gen. iPod (still have it, HDD probably needs to be replaced otherwise works fine)
- Mac mini G4/1.42
- 12" PowerBook G4/1.5 - still using that one as my main laptop
- Mac mini Core 2 Duo
- Mac mini Core 2 Duo (unibody) - still using that one as my main desktop

So I'm guessing a lot of people who never used anything but Microsoft OS and software are sort of waking up about alternatives and buy an iPhone/iPad and then drop their PC to get a Mac soon after that.

I definitely think iOS devices lure customers to Macs.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
193 months ago
I've switched after using iTunes on Windows XP in the days of the 3rd generation iPod, when I finally understood that managing files by myself was pointless when the software should be doing it for me.

It went:
- iTunes on Windows
- 10GB 3rd gen. iPod (still have it, HDD probably needs to be replaced otherwise works fine)
- Mac mini G4/1.42
- 12" PowerBook G4/1.5 - still using that one as my main laptop
- Mac mini Core 2 Duo
- Mac mini Core 2 Duo (unibody) - still using that one as my main desktop

So I'm guessing a lot of people who never used anything but Microsoft OS and software are sort of waking up about alternatives and buy an iPhone/iPad and then drop their PC to get a Mac soon after that.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)