Let’s start with the headline data point for me. macOS adoption has steadily risen and now moved into the second spot for the most used operating system. Windows remains the dominant player with a 68.15% share, and macOS has secured the second position with an adoption rate of 21.38%. ChromeOS is at 4.15%, and Linux is at 3.08%. macOS has been on a steady upward climb since December 2022.
Canalys says PC shipments were down 11.5% year on year in Q2, compared to declines of more than 30% for the prior two quarters. Inventory levels say the channel is holding four weeks of stock, which is lower than at the start of the year, giving analysts some good news.
Why do we care?
I was struck by the fact that a 21% adoption level is much higher than my internal metric. One in five. That’s a significant number, and more so than I had internalized. I guessed I’m not alone in that. That said, the platform also matters far less than it once did. Microsoft 365 is the same platform across macOS and Windows; ultimately, supporting that is more important. Still, I don’t want to miss the shift happening beneath – and credit to Apple for building computers buyers want.