Apple's MacBook is one of the best laptop PCs, but many people are now hesitant to "buy" it; according to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, sales of these laptops are expected to decline about 30% this year compared to 2022

This is a significant drop from the previous year.

This follows Kuo's report that Apple will not release a new MacBook with the M3 chip this year, which means nothing new from the company until 2024. Will this negatively affect sales? Let's see.

In his post, Kuo emphasized that demand for the 15-inch MacBook Air has dropped significantly due to the end of the school reopening season. As a result, sales have fallen below the 17 million unit mark.

So why have MacBooks slumped so much? Kuo attributes it to three factors: declining demand from the work-from-home (WFH) demographic, the declining attractiveness of Apple silicone, and the general consumer shrug over the mini-LEDs. Simply put, the current generation of MacBooks is starting to show its age, and rumors about the next laptop to emerge from Cupertino are heating up.

According to reports, the OLED MacBook is a long way off. However, the current stance on mini-LEDs may already be having a negative impact as we await new display technologies that improve brightness and color while reducing the impact on battery life.

And most importantly, M2 chips will be around from June 2022. This is a long time in the CPU and GPU world, and the ever-increasing number of leaks and rumors about the M3 chipset will likely keep people from purchasing one.

So how is Apple doing against the Windows notebook makers? According to IDC, MacBook sales fell a whopping 23.1% in the third quarter, compared to Lenovo's -5% and Dell's -14.3%. HP was up 6.4%.

However, Apple's market share increased to 12.7% from 10.6% in the same period last year. The reason for Apple's relatively weak performance apparently stems from the company's recovery from a COVID-related production shutdown in 3Q22

. Unless we can find significant savings from the array of Black Friday MacBook deals, we should definitely wait and see what Apple has up its sleeve.

Its new 3nm chipset in the A17 Pro gave the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max a big turbo boost - especially in graphics and unlocking ray tracing. Now imagine what such a feature would look like on a chip with more power.

With possibilities as attractive as these, and with the new MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro estimated to be available in early 2024, we should at least have the idea to be patient.