The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) today released its latest results on U.S. consumer satisfaction in the personal computer industry, including tablets, with Apple narrowly topping the charts for the thirteenth consecutive year.
Apple maintained its year-ago score of 84 out of 100 in the survey, consisting of interviews with 3,500 customers chosen at random and contacted via email in June to share their experiences with recently purchased products like Macs and iPads.
Samsung, in its second year of ACSI tracking, trailed just one point behind Apple with a score of 83 out of 100, a 6.4% rise compared to its 2015 score.
Much like the smartphone category, the personal computer industry has become a race between Apple and Samsung for both market share and customer satisfaction. Apple and Samsung dominate market share in the tablet category, but the two companies take divergent views on the future of tablets. Apple continues to add laptop-like functionality to iPads, while Samsung sees tablets as additional devices for entertainment and browsing that complement—but not replace—laptops.
Amazon, which manufactures affordable Kindle tablets but not traditional PCs, finished third in customer satisfaction with an 80 out of 100 score, while PC makers Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Toshiba rounded off the list with scores between 73 and 78. ACSI's scores are calculated using its so-called cause-and-effect econometric model, which it says is based upon survey-measured inputs of customer expectations, perceptions of quality, and perceptions of value.
While Apple's customer satisfaction remains characteristically strong, many customers are getting impatient with the current state of the Mac lineup. Beyond the 12-inch MacBook, our own Buyer's Guide lists all Mac models as Don't Buy due to the lack of updates in several hundreds of days. iMac: 350 days. MacBook Pro: 497 days. MacBook Air: 568 days. Mac mini: 712 days. Mac Pro: 1,013 days. The latest word is that new MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models with USB-C could launch as soon as October.
Wednesday February 5, 2025 7:15 am PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 18.3 was released last month, so the first iOS 18.4 beta should be coming soon. iOS 18.4 is expected to be a more substantial update for the iPhone, with several new features and changes related to Apple Intelligence and beyond.
Apple's website suggests that iOS 18.4 will be released in April, following beta testing. Below, we outline what to expect from the update so far.
Apple...
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Apple does not approve of the "Hot Tub" pornography app that was released for the iPhone in the EU using alternative app distribution, Apple said in a statement to MacRumors. Further, Apple is concerned about the potential user safety risks with a pornography app, and says that it undermines consumer trust in the Apple ecosystem.
We are deeply concerned about the safety risks that hardcore...
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Apple hasn't refreshed the Apple TV since 2022, but rumors suggest that we're finally going to get an update in 2025. We don't have a full picture of what to expect yet, but we have some hints on what's coming.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
Updated A-Series Chip
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Apple this week increased the prices for its monthly AppleCare+ subscription prices for the iPhone, raising the cost by 50 cents for all models in the United States.
Standard AppleCare+ for the iPhone 16 models is now priced at $10.49 per month, for example, up from the prior $9.99 per month price. The 50 cent price increase applies to all available AppleCare+ plans for Apple's current...
Thursday February 6, 2025 7:31 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple is internally testing iOS 18.3.1 for iPhones, according to our website's analytics logs, which have been a consistently reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. The software update should be released within the next few weeks.
iOS 18.3.1 should be a minor update that addresses software bugs and/or security vulnerabilities. Apple Intelligence notification summaries for news and...
Thursday February 6, 2025 3:30 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple's next-generation iPhone SE could debut as soon as next week with a launch to follow later in February, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple isn't expected to hold an event for the iPhone SE 4, and will instead unveil the device through a press release.
The iPhone SE 4 is expected to have an iPhone 14-style design, with Apple eliminating the thick bezels and Touch ID Home button of...
Wednesday February 5, 2025 3:34 pm PST by Juli Clover
Disney+ lost 700,000 subscribers worldwide in recent months, according to Disney's earnings results for the first quarter of 2025.
Disney said it now has 124.6 million Disney+ subscribers, a decrease of 0.7 million compared to its subscriber numbers in the fourth quarter of 2024. The drop in subscribers comes after Disney+ prices increased in the fall. Disney+ with Ads went from $7.99 to...
Not surprising at all. iMac is by far the best desktop computer on the market, the MacBook is great, and hopefully new MacBook Pros will continue that trend.
I would add a personal anecdote. I will never forget when Apple replaced a two year old notebook because it broke down for the 4th time. They literally called to say "We're sorry. This isn't the kind of experience we want for our customers."
Then they asked if it would be okay to replace this machine with a brand new one - two generations ahead - and I said... Ah, yeah? Yeah, that would be fine. LOL
Pretty impressive how Apple stayed on top even with old hardware. Nevertheless, it really is time to refresh the Mac line. Apple cannot become complacent.
I really hope that means a wake-up call for Apple. If Samsung has reached this high in user satisfaction, Apple should definitely start focusing more on their Mac lineup if THEY want a high level of user satisfaction.