News "Growing disparity" in Mac vs PC pricing

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/08/07/growing-disparity-in-mac-vs-pc-prigin/1

EWeek's Joe Wilcox has spotted a major disparity in the price/performance ratio of Apple Mac systems compared to Wintel equivalents, and says the gap is rapidly growing.

 

Apple are crap, they put a 200% markup on all there hardware....

I got a OpenComputer, which is a third party mac from here: http://www.psystar.com/psystar_openmac_osx86_reinventing_the_wheel.html

the damn thing is cheater, faster and more flexible that apples kit and it works..... thank good for this as my system would of cost over £2000 in the shops, but only £750 from here.

remember, just because its a expensive and pretty doesn't make it better

 

yup, mac's are overpriced, especially since they use the exact same hardware as normal pc's.

 

No real suprises. Same with the ipod, over priced and under functioned compared to other players of equal or lower value out there but its a status symbol to brandish one.
Granted they are a stylish brand, but personally I'll go for function over corporate branding.

To each their own. It would be a boring world If we all bought the same things!

 

hahaha this is the first thing i read after http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/apple-mac-leopard-windows-vista,review-31192.html which admittedly was massively biased towards mac. funny nonetheless

 

I can't remember where I have this quote from but I love it

Apart from that no real surprises in the difference in prices

 

Apple also doesnt update its H/W often enough. Some of its range hasnt been updated in over 360 days.. yet the prices have barely budged.

Its also impossible to buy a mid range PC equivalent unless you opt for an imac with a built in screen that you may not want, nor is it upgradable (GPU/CPU etc). The MacPro's are now priced to outrageous levels and are only really suitable for Business or Science people to buy unless you have money to burn.

The only area they are doing well on is their laptop line. Their macpro is still the daddy of pro laptops in my opinion.

I think Apple has lost their way with the desktop computer options. Its like they have been too focussed on the Jesus phone, apple TV's and ipods.... whilst neglecting their core desktop line because their analysts told them that portable sales would rocket and desktop sales would plummet.

As for the price differences... I think in part it can be justified by the software (iLife) that you get with your mac. The imovie/idvd stuff really adds value to the mac line if thats your thing, and nothing that ships with vista compares to the ilife suite.

 

As ever, it's the brand you're paying for, not the product. Most everyone I know with a Mac seems only too happy with it and what they paid ergo it must be reasonably priced.

Someone like Alienware also charge a premium for their stuff too, and yet you don't see articles like this on them, and they ship the same Wintel config that Apple are being compared to here. I suppose the reason is that Apple still see themselves as something of a boutique company and price accordingly, whereas articles like this are assuming them to be fairly mainstream company, which is not too unfair either of course as they are fairly common these days...

 

Same reason as not everyone wears an £8 Casio watch, even though it's easy to read and keeps good time. Lots of people try to boost their image and buy a fashion watch. And the market is prepared to charge them a high premium.

 

What odd wording

 

Americans

 

Its down to being a prestige brand. I doubt very much Apple wants a big chunk of the market due to the problems involved. Rather sit in the sweet spot they are in raking in the cash and producing kewl hardware and software. Being small gives them alot more room to maneuver compared to the hulking brute that is Microsoft and Dell. If everyone could afford and owned an Astan Martin I wouldn't want one.

The future money is going to be in digital distribution, content and services. With iTunes moving forward as it is and now the mobileme platform Apple are carving out a very lucrative Business.

Never owned a Mac but will purchase one and an iPhone after release of next MacOSX.

 

the reason is because apple update its systems every 6 months or so, while the others do that all the time.
and you can't compare an imac with a normal case. it uses hardware specifically projected not bulk atx motherboard and standard components.
and OSX is great.

 

ofc you can, it does exactly the same thing
apple decided to go for a non-standard layout which costs them more but thats their problem not ours

anyway, i dunno if its changed but the price difference between apple/dell used to be a lot bigger in the UK than in the US too (apple markup over the dollar price way more than dell do)

 

Mac users are not gamers, so it makes sense for apple to let the desktop side slide. I wouldn't have a PC if I didn't game, laptops are much easier for the average person who just web browses etc.

 

Come on guys, Mac V. PC? No compotition there! It's obvious, PC rules every time.

 

i love macs and their laptops are fairly competatively priced BUT there is NO low end, i had £400-£450 to spend on a laptop.. the cheapest mac book £699....

 

Never been a huge fan of Apple products, tbh. Too much style over substance.

 

Yep, that is what I think! I would never buy an iMac, but the small MacBook is a notebook, I would buy. But currently I'm waiting for the iPhone. The T-Mobile shop here in Germany where I booked one only got one (single, uno, 1) white iPhone! And on the 22nd August Apple wants to sell the iPhone in 70 Countries? I hope I get my iPhone this year....

 

Apple is always slow to drop their pricing or update their hardware, but so long as people continue to pay I can't blame them. Of course I just picked up a Mac Pro (which are still a pretty good price for their thoroughly over-the-top spec, so long as you're not insane enough to buy RAM or HDD upgrades through Apple) but everything else you're paying for the seamlessness.

Of course it's clear that nobody in this thread is a business person that knows how to do a proper cost-benefit analysis, either. I won't bother going into it, as it tends to be wasted on people (myself from three years ago included) that only look at performance per dollar.