Apple to launch new MacBook Air, maybe smart glasses, as Aussies set spending records on Macs
Apple is tipped to launch new a new hot item — and maybe show off smart glasses — after record computer sales in Australia.
Australians are still buying Apple laptops and tablets in record numbers despite a widespread return to office life two years after the Covid pandemic began.
But Windows machines are falling in popularity, according to the latest research from Telsyte, while demand for rival computers rises.
The latest research comes days before Apple is expected to unveil colourful computers and new software at its Worldwide Developers Conference on Tuesday.
And analysts say there’s a small chance the tech giant could finally talk about its highly anticipated smart glasses at the event.
Telsyte’s Australian Tablet Computer Study, released on Monday, shows sales of both Apple Mac and Google Chromebook computers climbed by 17 and 15 per cent respectively in Australia during 2021 as demand for computers remained high.
But Microsoft computer sales fell by six per cent, bringing overall computer sales down compared to 2020.
Telyste managing director Foad Fadaghi said Apple’s move to make its own chips was paying off as the company was seriously challenging “Windows dominance of the PC market” in Australia, thanks to machines with more power and greater battery life.
“The figures show there’s a huge amount of interest in buying an M1 Mac which indicates Apple silicon is posing a fairly serious threat to Windows,” he said.
Apple iPads also continued to dominate Australia’s 3.4 million tablet sales during 2021, the study found, claiming more than 50 per cent of the market, with Windows tablets from Microsoft and Samsung in second place with over a quarter of all sales.
Mr Fadaghi said hardware launched by Apple at WWDC could widen the company’s lead further, as one in three consumers intending to purchase a computer said they were considering an Apple Mac.
“We know that second generation Apple products tend to sell better than the first generation, after they prove themselves. If the rumours are right and Apple produces colourful new devices, they should be successful products,” he said.
Apple is widely tipped to reveal a redesigned, brightly coloured, and more powerful MacBook Air laptop at WWDC, which will kick off at 3am AEST on Tuesday.
Apple is known for launching computer software and hardware at the annual event, and Bloomberg tipster Mark Gurman said “the next MacBook Air with M2 chips” was likely to be unwrapped.
In Australia, retailers including Harvey Norman have already begun discounting Apple’s existing MacBook Air, and leaks of the slim laptop in a range of new colours have appeared online.
Apple will also launch new software for its iPhone and iPad, and pundits say there is an outside chance the company could show off plans for its long-rumoured smart glasses.
Code for “realityOS,” thought to be the software behind a pair of augmented reality glasses for the tech maker, was spotted in source code earlier this year and Apple is expected to file for its trademark on June 8.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the much-anticipated augmented reality glasses would not enter production “for some time,” however, with a 2023 release forecast, and Apple would not want to give away too much about them early.
“Apple’s competitors worldwide can’t wait to see the hardware spec and OS design for Apple’s augmented/mixed reality headset,” Mr Kuo said.
Originally published as Apple to launch new MacBook Air, maybe smart glasses, as Aussies set spending records on Macs
