Customers are buying Macs in such high numbers that even Apple’s vaunted manufacturing expertise can’t keep up — and current Mac supply constraints could extend for months.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said Thursday that a couple of factors mean the Mac mini, the Mac Studio and the new MacBook Neo laptop might not be easy to find.
Popularity, lack of chips make Macs hard to find
Thanks to Apple silicon, the Mac is having a moment. Apple began the two-and-a-half-year transition from Intel chips to its own incredibly powerful and efficient processors in 2020, and Mac sales have been on the upswing ever since.
Unfortunately, certain Mac models are now in short supply. In fact, Apple stopped sales of some high-end Mac mini and Mac Studio models earlier this month. And the MacBook Neo, which Apple introduced in March, remains back-ordered on the Apple website, although you can still find the laptop at other retailers.
It sounds like that won’t change anytime soon.
“You look forward to the June quarter, the majority of our supply constraints will be on several Mac models, given the continued high levels of demand that we’re seeing,” Tim Cook said during Thursday’s Apple earnings call, during which he and other Apple executives discussed yet another record-breaking quarter.
Mac supply constraints: Too popular for their own good?
Part of the reason for the Mac supply constraints is the popularity of the computers themselves. The other part of the equation is the high demand for chipmakers’ advanced nodes on which Apple’s processors are produced. All the AI companies competing for ever more computing power puts stress on the chipmaking industry.
As a result, Apple has “less flexibility in the supply chain than we normally would,” Cook said.
The Apple CEO, who will hand over the reins to incoming CEO John Ternus in September, said the chip shortage, coupled with the white-hot success of the Mac, means the upcoming quarter will see continued supply constraints.
During Thursday’s earnings call, where Apple reported $111.2 billion in quarterly revenues, Cook cited two specific reasons for the high demand for Macs.
“One is that on the Mac mini and the Mac Studio, both of these are amazing platforms for AI and agentic tools,” Cook said. “And the customer recognition of that is happening faster than what we had predicted. And so we saw higher-than-expected demand.”
Cook said that “the Mac mini and the Mac Studio may take several months to reach supply-demand balance.”
MacBook Neo: The little laptop that could
And then there’s the MacBook Neo — the budget laptop powered by an iPhone chip that helped Apple set a quarterly record for new Mac customers.
“The customer response to Mac Neo had just been off the charts,” Cook said, “with higher than expected demand.”
Cook said the overwhelming popularity of the new laptop surprised Apple execs.
“We were very bullish on the product before announcing it, but we undercalled the level of enthusiasm,” he said.
Supply constraints can’t keep MacBook Neo down
Earlier in the call, Apple CFO Kevan Parekh gushed about the Mac’s current level of success.
“Across the Mac lineup, customers are finding the right device for their needs,” Parekh said, “from MacBook Pro and MacBook Air to our newest addition, MacBook Neo, which delivers an unprecedented combination of quality, value and industry-leading security that is resonating strongly in enterprise and education.”
Parekh cited the Kansas City Public Schools, which he said “is switching their high-school students from Windows laptops and Chromebooks to MacBook Neo, completing their transition to an all-Apple district.”
That stands out as a big win for Apple, which lost much of its early traction in the education market as cheaper alternatives flooded the market. The MacBook Neo, which starts at just $599 ($499 with an educational discount), offers premium hardware and all the benefits of the Apple ecosystem at a price point calculated to woo switchers.
“We’re very focused on customers new to the Mac and customers that have been holding on to their Mac a very long period of time,” Cook said. “We’re doing well with both of those.”
Aside from the supply constraints, everything is going to plan.
“We could not be happier with how things are going at the moment,” Cook said.
Lewis Wallace is the managing editor of Cult of Mac and author of our weekly newsletter, The Weekender.
He’s a San Francisco-based writer and editor specializing in technology and culture. He loves his iPhone, hates Siri, and appreciates any hardware that combines form and function.
Prior to Cult of Mac, he juggled words and ideas as culture editor at Wired.com, homepage editor at TechTV, news product manager at NBCi, copy editor at PC World, reporter at The (Hayward) Daily Review and editor in chief of EveryBody’s News in Cincinnati.
He earned a bachelor of general studies degree with a journalism certificate from the University of Cincinnati. While in school, he worked as the entertainment editor of The News Record and as editor in chief of Clifton Magazine.
He’s also a bass player, who’s recorded and performed around the United States with Those Darn Accordions, The Electric Boogie Dawgz and The Mad Maggies. When not writing, editing or laying down bass lines, he plays darts and serves on the board of the San Francisco Darts League.
