Mac Revenue Down 34% Year-Over-Year, But Tim Cook Expects 'Significant' Improvement With M3 Macs

Apple today shared its earnings results for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2023 (third calendar quarter), and Mac revenue saw a major drop compared to last year.

m3 macbook pro blue
Mac sales came in at $7.6 billion in Q4 2023, down 34 percent from $11.5 billion in the year-ago quarter. Mac revenue for all of 2023 was $29.4 billion, down from $40.2 billion in 2022.

Apple CFO Luca Maestri attributed the drop to challenging market conditions and challenging compares to last year's Mac lineup. Because of supply chain issues during the June 2022 quarter, Mac sales spiked in the September 2022 quarter, which did not happen this year. Apple also updated the MacBook Air in June 2023 rather than September, which impacted September quarter sales compared to last year.

Apple did release new M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max Macs in late October, but sales of those devices will be reflected in the December quarter. Apple CEO Tim Cook told CNBC that he expects Mac performance to improve over the holidays.

"I think the Mac is going to have a significantly better quarter in the December quarter," said Cook. "We've got the M3, we've got the new products, and we don't have the compare phenomenon on a year-over-year basis," Cook said.

Apple began allowing customers to purchase the new M3 Macs on Monday, with shipments to begin arriving next week. Apple appears to have plenty of supply of the new models, so there should be no supply constraints during the upcoming holidays.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Dark Blue and Orange

iPhone 17 Release Date, Pre-Orders, and What to Expect

Thursday August 28, 2025 4:08 am PDT by
An iPhone 17 announcement is a dead cert for September 2025 – Apple has already sent out invites for an "Awe dropping" event on Tuesday, September 9 at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. The timing follows Apple's trend of introducing new iPhone models annually in the fall. At the event, Apple is expected to unveil its new-generation iPhone 17, an all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17...
iPhone 17 Pro Iridescent Feature 2

iPhone 17 Pro Clear Case Leak Reveals Three Key Changes

Sunday August 31, 2025 1:26 pm PDT by
Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 17 series on Tuesday, September 9, and last-minute rumors about the devices continue to surface. The latest info comes from a leaker known as Majin Bu, who has shared alleged images of Apple's Clear Case for the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, or at least replicas. Image Credit: @MajinBuOfficial The images show three alleged changes compared to Apple's iP...
iphone 16 pro ghost hand

iPhone 17 Pro: 5 Reasons Not to Upgrade This Year

Monday September 1, 2025 4:35 am PDT by
Apple will launch its new iPhone 17 series this month, and the iPhone 17 Pro models are expected to get a new design for the rear casing and the camera area. But more significant changes to the lineup are not expected until next year, when the iPhone 18 models arrive. If you're thinking of trading in your iPhone for this year's latest, consider the following features rumored to be coming to...
xiaomi apple ad india

Apple and Samsung Push Back Against Xiaomi's Bold India Ads

Friday August 29, 2025 4:54 am PDT by
Apple and Samsung have reportedly issued cease-and-desist notices to Xiaomi in India for an ad campaign that directly compares the rivals' devices to Xiaomi's products. The two companies have threatened the Chinese vendor with legal action, calling the ads "disparaging." Ads have appeared in local print media and on social media that take pot shots at the competitors' premium offerings. One...
iOS 18 on iPhone Arrow Down

Apple Preparing iOS 18.7 for iPhones as iOS 26 Release Date Nears

Sunday August 31, 2025 4:35 pm PDT by
Apple is preparing to release iOS 18.7 for compatible iPhone models, according to evidence of the update in the MacRumors visitor logs. We expect iOS 18.7 to be released in September, alongside iOS 26. The update will likely include fixes for security vulnerabilities, but little else. iOS 18.7 will be one of the final updates ever released for the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR,...

Top Rated Comments

daneoni Avatar
24 months ago
Its also the pricing. I know inflation exists but still, these things are becoming somewhat pricey...especially when you start upgrading RAM and storage.

Entry-level pricing is meaningless when you have Macs shipping with the same amount of RAM as an iPhone...in 2023.

Its kinda telling that after the M3 updates were announced, pretty much all the M2 MBPs in the refurb store that i'd seen earlier had disappeared. Buyers likely opted for those instead.

With Apple Silicon, Mac upgrades may become similar to iPad upgrades unlike the Intel era. You buy a new one if the old one dies or is no longer getting updates. And then sell a kidney to pay for it.
Score: 56 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ralph_sws Avatar
24 months ago
Not with these RAM and SSD prices.
Score: 48 Votes (Like | Disagree)
abatabia Avatar
24 months ago
The M1 series were just too good.
Score: 44 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Tuck_ Avatar
24 months ago
I'm skeptical. The prices are very high, the upsells are aggressive and I'm not sure the value proposition is strong enough because of that.

They'll do well, obviously. But enough to stop the downtrend? Not sure about that.
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mazda 3s Avatar
24 months ago
I have a 14-inch base MacBook Pro with M1 Pro/16GB/512GB.

I would be inclined to upgrade, but the storage and RAM upgrades are ridiculously priced. I get it, everything is integrated on-chip, but it’s still a tough pill to swallow.

I added a 1TB Crucial PCIe 4.0 SSD to my Intel NUC media server for around $50 shipped from Amazon. Apple’s pricing for upgrades just makes my head spin.
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)
andrewxgx Avatar
24 months ago
yea, i'm sure people are lining up to buy M3 Pro downgrade
Score: 38 Votes (Like | Disagree)