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Here’s why Apple doesn’t really care about the Mac or iPad

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If you’re an Apple user that lives and works outside of the iPhone ecosystem, you might have noticed that Apple doesn’t prioritize Mac and iPad upgrades like it does iPhone upgrades. Earlier this month the company refreshed the iPad Pro line, which was last updated over a year ago.

Also updated was the MacBook Air, which was last updated back in June 2017, but was based on a March 2015 product, and the Mac mini, which last saw an update back in October 2014.

Must read: Peak iPad Pro: The end of major advances?

So why is it that Apple doesn’t seem to care about the Mac or the iPad?

Just follow the money.

Dissecting yesterday’s financial data for Q4 18, we can get a breakdown of where Apple’s revenue comes from. And it’s a real eye-opener.

Here’s the revenue breakdown:

iPhone: 59.1 percent iPad: 6.5 percent Mac: 11.8 percent Services: 15.9 percent Other products: 6.7 percent

Take a moment to absorb the fact that Apple’s services business — which comprises of digital content and services, AppleCare, Apple Pay, licensing and other services — is a bigger business than the Mac, and that “other products” — which covers AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, HomePod, iPod touch and other Apple-branded and third-party accessories — is bigger than the iPad.

Now it could be argued that some of the revenue for services and “other products” comes as a result of iPad and Mac, but given the size of the iPhone install base compared to that of the iPad or Mac, it will only be a modest amount.

Apple’s priority is keeping the iPhone business afloat. Everything else is secondary.

This is why Apple doesn’t really care about the Macs and iPads, and is happy to let them languish and fossilize through neglect. Apple is a company that primarily sells iPhones.

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