AAPL Apple Inc

By Robert McMillan 

Apple Inc. introduced new versions of its Macintosh personal computers Thursday, betting that smaller, thinner models and a touch screen on the keyboard will reverse declining sales.

At an event at its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters, Apple unveiled new versions of its MacBook Pro laptops. The new models include Apple's TouchID fingerprint reader, which has been included on its iPhones since 2013. The new models also replaced the so-called function keys at the top of the keyboard with a new screen called Touch Bar that will offer different functions as different software is used.

The new machines marked the first major upgrades of some Mac computers in several years. As the product line aged, Mac sales have fallen. In Apple's recently completed fiscal year, Mac sales totaled $22.8 billion, down 10.4% from a year earlier.

Ahead of the Mac presentation, Apple unveiled a new video app that allows users to access and watch shows and movies from multiple apps on Apple TV, iPhone and iPad.

The app, called TV, helps users keep track of what programs they are watching and find the next show in that series. In addition, Apple showed off a feature that allows users to use its voice-controlled assistant Siri to find live news and sporting events across their apps.

The TV app will be available in December as free software updates for Apple TV, iPhone and iPad customers in the U.S. Live tune-in with Siri is available today, Apple said.

Meanwhile, Macs have been losing ground to other personal computers. Market researcher Gartner Inc. said Mac unit shipments declined 11.3% in the second quarter, compared with a 5.1% decline for the rest of the market. The decline in Mac sales accelerated in the third quarter, falling 17%, Apple said Tuesday.

Analysts said Apple needed to give consumers reasons to upgrade their machines. "Apple's available market is pretty much saturated," said Gartner analyst Mikako Kitagawa. She noted that Macs generally cost more than other PCs. "Apple is not for everybody."

Introduced in 1984, the Macintosh was the defining product of the company that Apple founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak built. Over the past nine years, however, it has been eclipsed by the iPhone, which now accounts for 63% of the company's revenue. In 2007, the former Apple Computer Inc. dropped the word "computer" from its name.

The Macintosh made up just 12% of Apple's revenue during its most recent quarter. Still, if it were a separate company, it would rank 124th on the Fortune 500 list, bigger than such stalwarts as Starbucks Corp. Southwest Airlines Co. or Eli Lilly & Co.

--George Stahl contributed to this article.

Write to Robert McMillan at Robert.Mcmillan@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 27, 2016 14:28 ET (18:28 GMT)

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