- PC shipments rose 8% in Q3 2025, helped by Windows 10 end-of-life
- Apple Macs have carried out particularly effectively with a 15% year-over-year improve
- Windows PC makers have additionally seen some strong will increase, with one notable exception.
It will all the time be the case that Windows 10 reaching its official finish of assist would take folks in numerous instructions than what Microsoft desires them to go, particularly Windows 11, and meaning not simply Linux (which is commonly introduced as a substitute), but in addition macOS.
MacRumors famous that Apple’s Macs have elevated many gross sales because of the finish of lifetime of Windows 10, as proven The newest figures from Counterpoint.
The analytics agency’s statistics for world PC shipments present a pointy improve of 8.1% within the third quarter of 2025 in comparison with the identical quarter final 12 months, which has been pushed partly by the tip of Windows 10 (in addition to “strategic stock changes” resulting from US tariffs).
Apple has been a serious beneficiary of this, with Mac shipments up 14.9%, helped by some new Smart MacE book fashions launched this 12 months and firms shopping for new laptops as Windows 10 PCs grew to become out of date.
analysis: Windows 11 gross sales will not be far behind both, with one necessary exception
Lest you suppose everyone seems to be abandoning ship to hitch Apple’s Macs, different PC distributors have carried out effectively right here too. In truth, Lenovo fared higher, with a 17% third-quarter achieve 12 months over 12 months, outpacing the 15% achieve for Apple, which was simply forward of Asus at 14%. HP additionally gained 10%, so all the massive PC makers pushing Windows 11 machines have additionally carried out effectively this previous quarter, with one notable exception.
Dell struggled mightily, with its PC shipments dropping almost a proportion level 12 months over 12 months, in stark distinction to all the opposite large gamers.
This is an unusually sturdy rise for Apple, and one Tim Cook will little question be happy to see, particularly on condition that Mac gross sales hit tough waters final 12 months, and certainly within the third quarter of 2024 we noticed Apple lose as a lot because it gained right here. However, Apple has put all that within the rearview mirror, as Mac gross sales have solely gone from power to power this 12 months, culminating on this most up-to-date rebound.
It’s Linux advocates who’ve actually tried to capitalize on persuading Windows 10 deserters (these with older PCs that may’t run Windows 11 because of the stricter system necessities), so it is fascinating to see how a lot migration there was to Macs. There are additionally strategies that Linux, or sure distributions, are gaining floor as the tip of lifetime of Windows 10, however up to now, these are restricted indications.
However, the massive image the analyst agency is driving right here is the shift to AI-enabled PCs, which is not anticipated to completely start till 2027, Counterpoint believes, however what we’re seeing listed here are the early phases of firms buying laptops able to accelerating native (on-device) AI duties through an NPU, together with MacBooks and Copilot+ PCs. Apple’s latest with Windows 11.
Counterpoint highlights incoming Intel Panther Lake processors, and likewise Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Elite, as highly effective cell CPUs that may assist energy Windows 11 Copilot+ PCs in these comparatively early days of the AI ’revolution’.
However, it is value noting that we have already noticed a leak exhibiting how Apple’s new M5 chip can outperform even the ‘Extreme’ model of the Snapdragon X2 Elite, a minimum of in sure situations, which is promising for future MacBooks. Apple is doing effectively in relation to making every new technology of M-series silicon extra performant.