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Apple announces most profitable quarter ever: Q4 2009

By | October 19, 2009, 8:22pm PDT

Summary: Apple announced record Mac and iPhone sales and its most profitable quarter ever in its Q4 2009 earnings conference call today. The Company posted revenue of $9.87 billion and a net quarterly profit of $1.67 billion, or $1.82 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $7.9 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.14 billion, [...]

Q4 - 2009Apple announced record Mac and iPhone sales and its most profitable quarter ever in its Q4 2009 earnings conference call today.

The Company posted revenue of $9.87 billion and a net quarterly profit of $1.67 billion, or $1.82 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $7.9 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.14 billion, or $1.26 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 36.6 percent, up from 34.7 percent in the year-ago quarter.

Jobs also noted that the company has some “really great new products in the pipeline for 2010.” Tablet, anyone?

As always, the most interesting comments happen when they open the conference call to questions. When asked about competition for the iPhone in the holiday season (i.e. Android), Apple responded:

Almost 21 million for the fiscal year sold now in terms of iPhones, so we have momentum. Plus the App Store with 85,000 apps is so far beyond anyone else. We feel good about competing with anyone. I think people are still trying to catch up with the first iPhone, announced 2 years ago. We’ve moved beyond that.

You can listen to a rebroadcast of the call in QuickTime, it will be posted later as a podcast in iTunes.

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Topics

Financial, Apple Inc., Conference Call, Financial Result, Financial Accounting, Finance, Jason D. O'Grady

Jason O'Grady is a journalist and author specializing in mobile technology. He has published six books on Apple and mobile gadgets and his PowerPage blog has been publishing for over 15 years.

Disclosure

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady is the creator and editor of O'Grady's PowerPage, which has been publishing mobile technology news since 1995. He maintains an advertising relationship with the following legacy advertisers on the PowerPage:

  • Amazon Associates
  • Google Adsense
  • Tekserve

    • Advertising on the PowerPage is brokered by a third-party agency (BackBeat Media) and he recuses himself from these negotiations.

Biography

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady developed an affinity for Apple computers after using the original Lisa, and this affinity turned into a bona-fide obsession when he got the original 128 KB Macintosh in 1984.

He started writing one of the first Web sites about Apple (O'Grady's PowerPage) in 1995 and is considered to be one of the fathers of blogging. He has been a frequent speaker at the Macworld Expo conference and a member of the conference faculty. He also co-founded the first dedicated PowerBook User Group (PPUG) in the United States.

After winning a major legal battle with Apple in 2006, he set the precedent that independent journalists are entitled to the same protections under the First Amendment as members of the mainstream media.

O'Grady is the author of The Nexus One Pocket Guide, The Droid Pocket Guide, The Google Phone Pocket Guide, and The Garmin nuvi Pocket Guide (Peachpit Press), the author of Corporations That Changed the World: Apple Inc. (Greenwood Press), and a contributor to The Mac Bible (Peachpit Press). In addition, he has contributed to numerous Mac publications over the years, including MacWEEK, Macworld, and MacPower (Japan).

When he's not writing about Apple for ZDNet at The Apple Core, he enjoys spending time with his family in New Jersey.

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You are indeed correct...
Pete "athynz" Athens 7th Nov 2009
my most humble apologies.
View in thread
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Q4 early?
scott.pei 20th Oct 2009
Doesn't Q4 end Dec. 31st? Shouldn't these figures be for Q3??
0 Votes
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ya
Jimster480 20th Oct 2009
thats what i was thinking. How could they know
their earnings before the Quarter is even over?
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RE: Q4 early?
jose.ordaz@... 20th Oct 2009
It's fiscal year. Q4 ended September 26th.
0 Votes
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Thanks
scott.pei 20th Oct 2009
I googled "fiscal year for apple" and their annual report and the first hit was their 2008 first quarter: "fiscal 2008 first quarter ended December 29, 2007"
But it would have been such a simple thing to use the word "fiscal" in this story!
0 Votes
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Basic
Graham Ellison 20th Oct 2009
Come on people. This is basic stuff.

First of all, smacdonald@ could have Googled Apple's fiscal year, instead
of posting a fatuous post on here, and Jimster480 could have done the
same before empathising.

But even possessing the the ability to google "fiscal year for apple"
doesn't seem to exempt them from the urge to request that the author
stated the obvious.

Assuming we're all adults here, isn't it stark staringly obvious that a
company will be posting financial results in time with their financial or
fiscal year - not the calendar year?

And for those who aren't adults, don't know how to use Google, or are
simply too stupid to use lateral thinking, business trading, financial or
fiscal years usually begin on their date of incorporation.
0 Votes
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Insult anyone lately
use_what_works_4_U 20th Oct 2009
Or are you just getting your fix here?

Lighten up
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Eeeeeeeaaaasy.....
An Apple a Day 20th Oct 2009
.....college boy! "Stupid?" Kinda harsh, don't ya think?
0 Votes
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From the vacuum came forth...
Graham Ellison 20th Oct 2009
macadam, An Apple a Day, here's a question for you guys:

Why bother to learn anything? No, really. Why bother thinking
even? Why not just blunder on through life, ignorant of everything that's around you and everything that's possible.
That way you can be utterly average in an absolutely average
world, and have all the average examples of everything you
could not be bothered to want.

Or, you can be curious, enjoy the learning process and avoid
appearing dumb by defending and empathising with
stupidity.

The first road leads to a world of Windoze PeeCees,
stagnated development, ugly, unimaginative products and
unadventurous business models, basement prices, microscopic profits, flatlining stock prices, failing businesses
and redundancies.

The second gives you Apple and Google: models of innovation, beautiful, imaginative products and adventurous
business models, fantastic, market trend-defying margins
and meteoric market results on Wall Street and the High
Street.

It's your choice. But criticising someone who knows the
difference is really retarded.

And all I asked was that they recognise one simple, basic
detail about how businesses return quarterly results.
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Graham, if you want to be taken seriously...
Sleeper Service 20th Oct 2009
...then you might want to work on your sentence structure.

Just a thought.
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Huh?
Graham Ellison 20th Oct 2009
Sleeper Service, I'm sure you believe you're being smart, but I
write copy for a living.
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You miss my point
use_what_works_4_U 20th Oct 2009
Yes, we need to learn and understand our world. My point is about
the tone of your commentary which is condescending and mean
spirited. Rather than lifting up the prior posters by simply sharing
your knowledge, or suggesting sources of information you choose to
chastise them for not already knowing all the answers.

Yes, Google is a source which will tell you what dates Apple's fiscal
year is based upon. It is also true that every day people - actual
human beings - teach each other through discourse . Rather
than encourage the exchange of information by people you denigrate
others for daring to ask questions. Bear in mind that these could be
your peers, but they might just as easily be teenagers who may not
have taken Econ 101 yet. Do you really want to discourage someone
seeking knowledge from asking questions?

I am in fact very curious, and I do enjoy the learning process. If you
read through posts I leave here you will find quite a few eloquent
passages. You will also find quite a few where I don't know as much
as I think I do and I become educated through the discourse that
follows. You will also find some where I "merely" ask questions
hoping that someone will enlighten me. Are you saying that asking
questions is bad?

I am not criticizing you for knowing the difference between doing your
own research and asking questions of others. I am criticizing you for
the mean spirited way you reply. That mean-spiritedness has the
effect of making people not want to engage and learn from each other.
Discouragement of the inquisitive nature of human discourse is how
we end up with people "educating" themselves in a vacuum and
forming opinions based on half-truths. Google and Wikipedia are not
the fonts of all wisdom and the implication that one should seek their
knowledge there rather than from other people is short-sighted at the
least.

Inferring that I am mentally delayed because I call you out for putting
others down is hardly taking the "Intellectual High Road". In one of
your other posts you mention that you write copy for a living, I
believe. I can't see it as I type this but I think that was you. If that's
the case then you should be embarrassed. I mean, really, is "really
retarded" actually the best descriptive phrase you can come up with? I
expect that from my son and his peers, but they are in the first grade.
Once again you resort to taunts, insults, and name calling in a
pathetic attempt to appear superior. I could tell you that it sounds
moronic but I won't. That would sound too much like something from
the elementary school playground. Come to think of it, it sounds
much like something you would say.
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RE: Apple announces most profitable quarter ever: Q4 2009
zeeboid 20th Oct 2009
I find it intrestering how the typical apple user is the berkinstock wearing granola eating Profit hating hippy... but when Apple makes wickid profits, all is forgiven.

perhaps the US should investigate Apple.
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Thanks for Surveying Millions of Mac Users
JohnMayer 20th Oct 2009
You must have spent a great deal of time and analysis
surveying tens of millions of Mac users to discover what the
typical one is like. However, I fear there is some flaw in your
data. The only thing I know about Berkinstocks is that they are
some kind of footwear. Of course, I live in the mountains of
Tennessee and, as everyone knows, we don?t wear shoes.

And I don?t hate profits; I only hate greedy corporations that
rake in obscene amounts of money while contributing little to
society. Like, say, Microsoft which has avoided innovation,
except in marketing. The large software company I used to
work for spoke admiringly of ?The Microsoft Model,? letting
small, creative companies break new trails and take all the
risks, then going in and producing a knock-off product and
undercutting and outmarketing them.

I would not be so foolish as to try to characterize all Windows
users. Except, of course, that they are sheep-like conformists,
not comfortable with the new and the unfamiliar. And, too, in
general, a lower class of people, but entitled to compassion
and understanding.
http://news.cnet.com/2100-1040-943519.html
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Ummm.... What???
An Apple a Day 20th Oct 2009
"berkinstock wearing"
What the hell is Berkinstock?"
"granola eating"
Wrong - I love pizza and Macallan
"Profit hating"
Not me, gimmie money.
"hippy"
Wrong again - SUV driving, sports loving, nut scratchin', cursing madman here!
"all is forgiven"
Nope - Eye for an eye!

You couldn't be more wrong in your "typical user" statement! happy
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zeeboid are you a complete retard or just a troll?
Pete "athynz" Athens 20th Oct 2009
I find it intrestering how the typical apple user is the berkinstock wearing granola eating Profit hating hippy... but when Apple makes wickid profits, all is forgiven.

perhaps the US should investigate Apple.

The word is spelled interesting... this could be a very common keyboard slip but at the same time one could proofread prior to hitting the "submit" key. Okay so...

Birkenstocks... those are shoes, right? I wear steel toed boots at work and usually barefoot at home - I think my wife might have a pair.

Granola eating? Sure, I like granola - it's healthy. But I also eat pizza, thai food, hot dogs, baklava, and a lot of other things that are not good for me.

Profit hating? Not at all - I feel like some CEO profits and pay ratios to worker pay is really off but I have nothing against anyone who makes a buck.

Hippy? The music and free love was great from what I understand - it was a bit before my time.

Apple making WICKED (the work is spelled WICKED not wickid BTW) profits... see above for that. If or rather when they do something asinine such as charging the iPod touch users a fee to upgrade their OS, no that is screwed up. Since they made this profit it would not hurt them to stop charging the iPod users for that update.

Perhaps the US should investigate Apple. For what exactly? A "monopoly" with iTunes? One CAN always sync anything purchased or downloaded from iTunes with any other smartphone or MP3 player - they just can't use the iTunes software to do it. The fact they made a profit? Then the US better investigate EVERYONE who made a profit... I made a profit does that mean I need to be investigated? Bring it on.
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This isn't a zoo...
Graham Ellison 20th Oct 2009
So Stop feeding the troll!

zeeboid can't spell, indicating he has as much respect for others, and
for detail, as he does for Apple.

Who, but a fascist would dream of classifying people in such a
narrow-minded way? unless he was paid to do so?

Fast car driving, profit creating, red meat eating, Mac user since 1985,
who happens to know that the German shoe company is spelled BIRKENSTOCK, not "birkinstock.

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Perhaps your spellchecker isn't working either?
adornoe@... 20th Oct 2009
"thai" as in "thai food" should be spelled "Thai"...

... this could be a very common keyboard slip but at the same time one could proofread prior to hitting the "submit" key. Okay so...
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You are indeed correct...
Pete "athynz" Athens 7th Nov 2009
my most humble apologies.
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All Ready Happened
mlbslugger 20th Oct 2009
Why do you think they really freed up the music they sell on iTunes? Not everyone has/had the know how to burn to CD and then rip back as an mp3... even today I'm sure many average consumers have no clue you can convert a "purchased AAC" to an mp3.

Then again, they technically have an OS that is locked into systems that cost 3 times the amount they normally would to anyone else - again unless you are tech savvy and technically breaking the law.

There's always two sides of every arguement.
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Right wing apple users
dbrutus 20th Oct 2009
Right wing mac heads are out there, even though Apple doesn't use their
images much. Rush Limbaugh is a pretty famous mac user. Steve Jobs
has been asked about the ideological breakdown of mac users and he
says it's 50/50 left/right.

Do you really think that it should be on Apple to fix the fact that there
are rabid lefties that would boycott them if they plastered Rush
Limbaugh or the Vatican (who encourage mac use among the priests they
train there) on their advertisements?
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Can Start/End Whenever
mikefarinha 20th Oct 2009
I don't know anything about Apples schedule but a company's fiscal year can start and stop whenever they want... it just needs to remain consistent.
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Apple's profits on the backs of loyal customers
jscott418 20th Oct 2009
I think Microsoft should take a pause and learn from
Apple's marketing. Which as the numbers prove you can
make a profit in bad times. The ability of Apple to convince
its user base of frequent updates and hardware purchases
only supports the fact that Microsoft and its hardware
partner need to do more to convince its own user base to
upgrade more frequently and give more reason to buy
better hardware. Apple makes money because it has good
margins on its products. Everyone know's that but many
Apple user's claim its hardware is better. I doubt that if its
margins are that high. No Apple's hardware is not that
much better then any comparable PC. But what Apple does
well is convince you it is. This is probably one of the best
used marketing ploys. If you create a name that creates
the image of quality. Then you create a good profit. Dell
faced just the reverse. It did not provide a real good
product, and support. Plus it slashed prices so much all the
time that it will have a hard time reversing that. Hopefully
for all the Windows partners. Windows 7 will breath
interest in user's upgrading and buying new hardware.
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No New Hardware for Win7
MadWhiteHatter 20th Oct 2009
Win7 is such a good OS that users won't need to upgrade the hardware to use it. That could hurt the other manufacturers. The marketing teams really need to convince them that new hardware could do so much more for them. I have seen some Macs in the store that have really huge monitors with the CPU built in and an itty bitty keyboard. I guess that is what some people want. I can't imagine how well heat disipates from the thing or how anyone could work without a number pad, but that isn't the point. PC manufacturers need to remind everyone that you can customize the hell out of a PC. They need to highlight people who do PC mods. They need to show how much more powerful the PC+Win7 is. PCs rule when people know how to use them. Most Mac users would never care to know anything about backups, partitioning disks, bit locker, remote desktop, Mesh.com remoting, etc. We need side-by-side comparisons to show what the PC can do and what the Mac cannot, and it needs to look really cool.
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Really?
rluker 20th Oct 2009
"Most Mac users would never care to know anything about backups, partitioning disks, bit locker, remote desktop, Mesh.com remoting, etc. We need side-by-side comparisons to show what the PC can do and what the Mac cannot, and it needs to look really cool."

PC backups = Mac Time MAchine
PC remote desktop = Mac VNC or MS's RDP client
PC partitioning disks = Mac Disk Utility
PC bit locker = Mac FileVault
PC Mesh.com remoteing = MAC MobileMe Back2MyMac

Anything else you want to compare side 2 side?
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Yes. Really.
MadWhiteHatter 20th Oct 2009
Your average---not necessarilly berkenstock-wearing hippy---does not do these things. I doubt that those services are nearly as mature or robust as what Microsoft has. I'll admit, I don't use a mouse. The iMac I saw the other day looked pretty, but I hated it as soon as I grabbed the mouse. The damn thing still had only one button and no scroll wheel. Does the iMac read your thoughts and know when you want to scroll down? Can you instantly zoom in or out as well without the wheel? I have been using PCs and Windows long enough that I don't need to learn anything to do the keystroke shortcuts necessary to do damn near everything. Maybe one can with a Mac, but I haven't used one long enough to figure it out. Simply, I don't care for the look and feel. Our penetration testers had Macs because their management wanted to get them. They hate them. The USB ports for one lady in particular had broken on four different machines. She hated it, and it only had one button for the trackpad too. The best productivity programs do not exist for the Mac either. It has its place, but I cannot justify getting one because I know how to use a PC. If all I ever wanted to do was surf for porn, I might go for a 27" iMac; otherwise, I can't figure out what it can do better than my PC. Then again, I don't think I have ever seen a Mac with 2 quad-core Xeons and 32GB of memory either.
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Oh really?
use_what_works_4_U 20th Oct 2009
"Most" Windows users are no more likely than Mac users to do these tasks. The number of backup-less computers (as one example) is staggering regardless of platform.

Apple mice have had scrolling (via a ball) since at least 2005. Macs have had the ability to use any USB or Bluetooth mouse since the original iMac in 1998. The "stock" mouse is usually the first thing replaced on most computers. Recently there has been an Apple wireless mouse with no scroll wheel, but again if you don't like it you either choose the wired option or get a different mouse that even fits your hand. OEM mice generally suck.

There are many ways to zoom in and out with a mouse wheel and with the keyboard. Apple's Universal Access features are renowned.

Which productivity applications? I'm not being a wise ass here, I want to know.

Your most telling sentence is "Maybe one can with a Mac, but I haven't used one long enough to figure it out."
That's obvious. Snow Leopard has videos to instruct you on how to do most everything you are complaining about. One button on the trackpad? No worries - tap it with 2 fingers or tap while holding down the control key. It's not rocket science, it's just different. So is Linux, although less so if you have a good GUI.

You trash the platform because you don't know how to use it, thus implying that it's the Mac that is inferior. Then you admit that you haven't used the Mac long enough to know how to use it. Basically you tell us that it's cr@p but then again you tell us you don't know what you're talking about.

Thanks!
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I also said it had its place.
MadWhiteHatter 20th Oct 2009
My basic points are---

dollar for dollar, I can build a better system that could smoke any Mac on the market

I don't believe the Mac sucks. I just don't see the ROI. With the speed of advancement in technology, I could be generations ahead for the same cost of a Mac that I buy today in two years.

I know that Outlook isn't available on Mac. MS provides a different product for some reason. While everyone can hate it, I was able to use it to perform link analysis on terrorists in the Middle East when I was over there. I can make a very lengthy post on how this was done. I don't know how anyone would be able to get a Mac to do that for you.

I use Visio's database features often. I don't know what the Mac alternative is.

I know that firewire is no longer available on a Mac.

I know that PCs have had scroll wheels or three button mice since the mid-90s. Steve Jobs once stated that he thought a two-button mouse would confuse Mac users. I would find that offensive if I used a Mac.

$100-bet. My PC can smoke your Mac.
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Well to each his own
pgstocker 20th Oct 2009
Long live choice. Mac is a choice and thank God. Lots variety and competition
is good. About the bet: keep your money. This cowboy could care less.
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OK I'll accept your opinions
use_what_works_4_U Updated - 21st Oct 2009
Although I have different opinions. PGStocker has it right. I use Macs
and Windows daily with the occasional trip to Linux thrown in. Long
live choice indeed.

Dollar for dollar I don't want to build a PC. Those days are over for
me. When I go to Dell's site and spec out a machine equivalent to any
Mac I end up with a price that is almost identical and sometimes
more. Having said that, most people can do fine with a lower specced
Dell at a lower price point. DIY systems are (IMHO) a poor comparison
due to the lack of a corporation to stand behind them and to the labor
intensiveness of the product. Apples to Pears so to speak.

We disagree on the ROI and that's fine.

Right tool for the right job. I will never say that either PCs or Macs or
Linux boxes are a direct replacement for each other. I fail to see how
2 titles is equivalent to "most of the best productivity software"
though.

Firewire is available on every single Mac other than the white MacBook.
Sorry but you're just wrong on this one. I knew the answer but I did
spend the time to confirm it this morning. It took me 30 seconds.

Steve Jobs is just as short sighted about some things as anyone else.
If I let stupid statements like that prevent me from buying a good
product then I wouldn't own my Dell either. Macs have supported
secondary clicking features since System 7 which came out in 1991.

As for the bet - I'm happy enough with my Mac that I don't actually
care about using it to boost my Testosterone. Keep your money.

Final thought - Your original postings read like an attack piece and
they contain much that is misleading or false. If you write something
like that, then you can expect people to react strongly. Bet on that.
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I'll admit
MadWhiteHatter 20th Oct 2009
This looks cool, but I'd need to run it through a lot of testing, just like I do all of my 100s of PC options.

http://www.apple.com/magicmouse/
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Yes indeed - test it
use_what_works_4_U 21st Oct 2009
Its predecessor, the Mighty Mouse, also looked cool but in my opinion
was one of the least usable things Apple ever made. I hope this one
works better.
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MadWhiteHatter, you're making yourself look foolish...
pbromelkamp 20th Oct 2009
...sermonizing about something you admittedly know little about. Take a pill!
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Hey Mactard
MadWhiteHatter 20th Oct 2009
I wrote in a previous post, "It has its place, but I cannot justify getting one because I know how to use a PC." I wasn't sermonizing, and I don't believe I am the zealot here. I just think the Mac is over-rated for its cost. Instead of addressing the points, you call me foolish. At least I admitted to where I was ignorant. You are just too stupid to recognize my admissions or to rebut the points.
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Oo-o-oh, you're so smart, MadWhiteHatter...
pbromelkamp 21st Oct 2009
I didn't call you foolish. I said you make yourself look foolish.

I didn't resort to calling anyone names.

I've been using every major operating system since they were invented. I used to program using punch cards and paper tape. I learned Pascal programming on a CP/M machine. I used to set up ArcNet and Token Ring networks and configure OS/2 clients.

Does any of that sound like I'm a "Mactard?" Do you even recognize what any of the above means? I didn't think so.

Go away and come back when you actually have some knowledge and some maturity.
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@Pbromelkamp
MadWhiteHatter Updated - 21st Oct 2009
Yea, I know what punch cards are, and I have programmed in Pascal when I was a wee shining image in my parents' eyes. So you need to eat pudding only. What is your point? A Mactard is someone who believes that Mac is the only answer. I don't believe that a PC is the only answer to computing. I have only been on PCs and Commodores since I was five, for the last 26 years. I got to touch Apples in schools, and I started to dislike them when I only had a monochrome monitor because they couldn't be tinkered with as well. My experiences have only reinforced the dislike. I have seen the newer Macs, and I have heard the reviews. It is a decent platform for those who are not in my line of work. It is not, however, the be all end all of all computing. How in the hell is a moderate position on what the better operating system immature? With age comes Alzheimers, not necessarily wisdom.
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"a Mac with 2 quad-core Xeons"
pdq 20th Oct 2009
"Then again, I don't think I have ever seen a Mac with 2 quad-core Xeons
and 32GB of memory either."

To do so, I guess you'd have to look:

http://www.apple.com/macpro/specs.html
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Mac with 2 quad-core Xeons
MadWhiteHatter 20th Oct 2009
The base model was $3299 with only 6GB of memory. I couldn't tell if they were FB-DIMMS or what. Mine are. I built mine for almost $3000 including the memory, 1 x 28" monitor, 1 x 22" monitor, redundant power supplies at 1300 watts each, 32GB of memory, NVIDIA card with 2GB of memory, 2 x SCSI 300GB drives, and 4 x SATA 1.5GB drives.
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Not everyone's impressed, MadWhiteHatter...
pbromelkamp 21st Oct 2009
Part of your problem is that you think your "awesome" configuration is what computing's all about.

Someday, maybe you'll discover, as some of us have (including Apple), that it's not.
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Don't get out much?
frabjous Updated - 21st Oct 2009
The aptly-named MadWhiteHatter sez: "Then again, I don't
think I have ever seen a Mac with 2 quad-core Xeons and 32GB
of memory either." And, "I know that firewire is no longer
available on a Mac."

Go to any Apple store, or just check their website, since the
Mac Pro can have two Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5500 series
processors and 32 GB (1066MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM) of main
memory, and up to 4 TB internal hard drive capacity.

Mice? You are so out of touch. The so-called Super Mouse,
standard for a couple of years now, has two programmable
buttons and a scroll ball, to scroll up/down or left/right. The
new wireless Magic Mouse, standard on iMacs, etc., is "the
world?s first Multi-Touch mouse." From their webpage, "The
Multi-Touch area covers the top surface of Magic Mouse, and
the mouse itself is the button. Scroll in any direction with one
finger, swipe through web pages and photos with two, and
click and double-click anywhere." Think of it as an advanced
trackpad with gesture recognition--that is not built in to a
laptop. There is nothing in the PC world like it.

Firewire? Please stop advertising your complete ignorance when
you can so easily check the facts. Firewire is standard on the
MacPro, the iMac, the MacBook Pro, even the Mac Mini, for
Pete's sake!
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I can't believe I need to take you to a Steve Jobs quote, but oh well.
MadWhiteHatter 21st Oct 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2008/oct/17/apple

Firewire is dead. Next, wow, the mac can get up to 32GB of memory. I only have 32GB of memory because of costs, not capacity. My machine cost me about $3,000 including monitors, 4 1.5TB SATAs, and 2 300GB SCSI. What did the Mac quote reach ya? Thought so. Why in the hell would I want to pay more than twice that for the Mac?

Ok. So you have mouse that has shotty reviews. Get this poop. I wrote this entire post with a damn pen on a tablet. With the money I saved buying a PC, I was able to but a tablet for myself and a second laptop for the wife. Yea, PC users can have wives. Got one?

I am really getting tired of personal attacks. I said the damn Mac had its place. It just isn't for me. Either accept that or don't, but stop attacking me. Attack PCs or Linux boxes, not people.
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So what does Win7 do...
arminw 20th Oct 2009
That could already be done on a Mac released over a year ago? For
people who want to be productive and USE a computer, not futz around
with it all the time, games are not important. People who want to play
games could buy a console. That is much cheaper than even the
cheapest PC. So really, what can be done on a Windows PC, even with
Windows 7 that a Mac won't do? After all, if really needed Macs can also
run Windows. On the other hand, many PC users would give their eye
teeth, if their boxes would also run OS X.
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Try it out for yourself and see.
MadWhiteHatter 20th Oct 2009
I could list out stuff, but much of it might not apply to you. Get a trial copy and see how it does those things you do with a Mac.

Guess what, with VMWare, I have seen many make a Hackintosh on a PC, so mute point. The UI is much better, security is better, and don't forget that at the PWN2OWN contest in Germany last Spring, Safari and the OS X kernel were hacked in 15 seconds. The guy couldn't get into the Vista kernel or the Linux kernel. AppArmor was the only thing protecting the Linux box.
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More gibberish, MadWhiteHatter...
pbromelkamp 21st Oct 2009
I've been running Windows 7 all year. While it IS an improved version of Vista, it is clearly NOT superior to MacOS X.

By the way, Einstein, the phrase is "moot point," not "mute point." Go get some education.
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You just hate me, don't you?
MadWhiteHatter Updated - 21st Oct 2009
Ok, so I misspelled moot. Sorry.

You say Mac OS X is "clearly" superior. Can you point out specidifcally where? Don't battle me; defend your position. I am asking people to try it for themselves and figure out for themselves what would work best.

While I might have misspelled a word, it is not just cause to attack me with getting more education. On the contrary, a man who needs to resort to name calling or juvenile attacks tends to have deep-seeded insecurity issues. If you ever need a hug, let me know.
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MadWhiteHatter, if you wonder why people are attacking you...
pbromelkamp 22nd Oct 2009
...it's because of your know-it-all, disrespectful, childish, name-calling attitude.

There are a lot of people here who are more experienced than you, yet you insult them and try to "straighten them out."

It's just possible that your 31 years on the planet doesn't make you smarter than them. Try talking to people with respect instead of sarcasm, and maybe they'll stop attacking you.
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Mr. MadWhiteHatter...
pbromelkamp 22nd Oct 2009
What you say I wrote:

"You say Mac OS X is "clearly" superior."

What I actually wrote:

"I've been running Windows 7 all year. While it IS an improved version of Vista, it is clearly NOT superior to MacOS X."

Not the same thing.

Again, you thought it was urgently necessary to insult me with your sarcasm. You need to work on your people skills, bud.

I don't really feel the need to debate someone with your attitude. I've better things to do.

(Where you lost me is when you called me "Mactard" and when you said "So you need to eat pudding only." Both were totally uncalled for.)
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It's a pity...
Jkirk3279 28th Oct 2009
PC-Tards keep reciting the PWN2OWN results as if it's Holy Writ.


a) Safari didn't 'go down' in seconds. Charlie Miller spent weeks setting up the
hacked website.

b) He didn't TRY to attack one of the Windows or Linux boxes: the prize was 1) a
laptop and 2) cash.

He's a Mac user. He WANTED the Mac Laptop.

He was interviewed afterward and confidently said he could have pulled that exploit
with any browser BUT Chrome.

Chrome having some very nice built-in sandboxing, it would be hard to get around.

Mr. Miller is sufficiently skilled, I assure you, he could have taken ALL the laptops if
the rules allowed for multiple wins.

The Vista laptop went down the third day, when Flash was installed, for a prize of
$5,000 plus the laptop.

Got Flash? Worried?

To be safe, a Windows user should be running Chrome, WITHOUT Flash installed.

As for Mac users: Apple paid Mr. Miller for the exploit details, and patched it. They
really should put him on retainer.

After all, with $31 Billion in the bank, they can afford to appoint Mr. Miller as an
Apple Fellow and pay him $50,000 a year just to hammer away whether he finds
anything new or not.

BTW, FireFox AND Internet Explorer both "went down" also. Safari was first, only
because Mr. Miller won the first slot, just as he did LAST year.
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Neglected education meets naive wishful thinking
Graham Ellison 20th Oct 2009
"Everyone know's that"

"know's"??

Oh dear. Switch on the spell checker and sue your educator.

"Apple's hardware is not that much better then any
comparable PC."

No? Prove it. And while you're at it, explain why PC
manufacturers such as Dell are still shipping laptops with the
same spec as my January 2006 MacBook Pro.

Not only are they made a lot cheaper, their spec is well below
the average Mac. And show me one PC manufacturer that can
produce an all-in-one desktop as good as the iMac. HP?
Don't make me laugh. HP make decent printers. End of.

But you're absolutely correct about Dell. They're all but dead.

"Hopefully for all the Windows partners. [sic] Windows 7 will
breath interest in user's upgrading and buying new
hardware."

Will it? Why? What have you got invested in this outcome?
beyond naive wishful thinking...?

Let's watch this space and see if Windows 7 eats into Apple's
profits for the next four quarters. All the evidence is that it
won't.
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I really just don't care
Crestview 20th Oct 2009
After 15 years of Apple I despise them and will never buy one of their Chinese made junk piles again. Eat my shorts, Apple.
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RE: Apple announces most profitable quarter ever: Q4 2009
aldux 20th Oct 2009
Birkenstocks? Hippies? I have to tell you that I am a 62 year old man with my own business who spent 39 years in IT before changing my career. I have never worn Birkenstocks in my life! I have a Mac Mini, a Gateway PC running Vista, a Netbook running XP, and a Gateway Notebook running Ubuntu. Of them all, I like using the Mac most of all. It does everything I need, iWorks (for me) is just as good as MS Office, I LOVE the small Bluetooth Keyboard!

The only additional software I purchased was Photoshop CS3 which I see no need to upgrade. I backup using Time Machine to a USB drive, and I don't go near suspicious websites.

The more Apple users I meet, the less your stereotype seems to fit.

My only question is to ask why ZDNet feel the need to have three columnists all writing about Apple' financial results?

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