Photos Latest Purchases Thread: v2.0

not sure why this would be an issue tbh. I'm a PC-er thru and thru, but Apple portables (particularly laptops) are the class of the field, been using a MacBook Pro since 2011, never had reason to switch.

As configured it's about $200-300 more than the equivalent MSI (the closest thing with matching specs I could find after a cursory google) and the MSI has a smaller, objectively worse screen. 10% is not an unreasonable price premium for a laptop at this end of the spectrum. The issue is when people compare base model laptops, where Apple does overcharge significantly compared to the (much wider) competition.

 

A new tattoo.

 

The XPS 15 w/ Win10Pro, with the i9-9980HK, 64GB RAM, 2TB NVMe, 1650 4GB and 4K display comes at 3300 dollars.
The equivalent Mac 16, same CPU, same RAM, same storage, 5500M 4GB and a 3072‑by‑1920px display comes at 4200 dollars.
This is all pre-tax.

I feel this is a fair apples to apples (pun intended) comparison.

 

For this spec it's around £1000 more than the equivalent XPS15, but it's not about the hardware. I have an XPS15 now and love the hardware.

MacOS is why, as for a specific work reason it allows me to trade out two windows laptops (an XPS15 and a Lenovo TPY 370) for one Mac, which is a huge boon. As icing on the cake, I've been doing more and more "real" things on my iPad Pro and a more seamless integration/transition between this and the real computer would be valued. And generally speaking, a lot of people who are technically inclined and that I trust have suggested for my uses, I'd get on better with a Mac after the initial learning curve.

 

I picked what I did because that's what @Mister_Tad bought. Incidentally I see the XPS at 3500 list price.

The MacBook still mugs it, and just about every other equivalently-specced winbook on battery life (>50% more than the XPS). It has a 16:10 vs 16:9 screen if that's what you prefer (I and many others do). So if I wanted these CPU+RAM+SSD+GPU specs but with a ~10hr battery life and 16:10, suddenly the MacBook isn't just worth the extra cash, it's the only game in town.

You are paying a premium for the brand to be sure, but it's rarely as egregious as people make it out to be. There's always some give and take across the many factors that go into a purchase like this...

 

$1000 for a monitor stand? $400 for wheels on a case? Sounds pretty egregious to me...

FWIW... Macbooks used to have great build quality and were pretty long-lived, in general. Until about 2015/2016 when it all started to go down the toilet in the quest for thinner, lighter, and quieter. Have you seen how much copper they use for heatsinks these days? The only way they can get away with that is by running the chips at 10-15W or less while letting them thermally throttle. Put even a mildly intensive workload on a Macbook and it'll stress the hell out of it.

 

I love how Mac laptops look.

I cannot, however, abide by the ways and means that Apple use to achieve that look. I don't want a kneecapped set of hardware for the sake of slim and light - But that is coming from someone with a nearly 3 kilo laptop as their daily driver. So maybe I'm just tweaked.

It's less of a problem since they switched to Intel, but I also hate how "Do it my way or not at all" Apple software is. I have an iPhone for work and I can't change the default browser because Apple says so. That said, I've had a few PPC based Macs in my time (Three, to be exact), and one Intel. The look and design is top notch, no doubt, but the crippled hardware and the exorbitant price is just too much for me to be willing to buy one anymore.

The Mac Pro being ~$50,000 to top out is hilarious. I can't imagine what they're putting in there for fifty thousand dollars. It better be gold plated hookers.

Eh. It's not like anyone is forcing me to use a Mac so I don't really give a **** anymore.

Although I am being forced to use this POS iPhone, which does not amuse me.

 

Jesus, what is it with the internet and reading comprehension? This exchange began with and was limited to a discussion of Apple laptops not being the overpriced evil they're usually described as. Now we're here at XDR displays which, again like the MacBooks, are the only game in town for a specific combination of features.

 

Is it kneecapped though? A top spec MBP 16 touts a 9980HK, 64GB RAM, an 8GB 5500M and a faintly ridiculous 8TB SSD - doubling the RAM and quadrupling the storage of a maxxed out XPS15. Granted you can get more grunt in a 2" thick "desktop replacement", but for laptops one may actually want on their lap, it's competitive in hardware (if not price)

IMO the $50k pricetag is being used by media outlets just for the sake of grabbing headlines.
What it really is, is a $6k machine that you can just so happen to spec to a stratospheric level. There's undoubtedly an Apple tax involved, but if you put 12x 128GB 2933MHz ECC DDR4 DIMMs in any machine you're going to add $20k+ to the cost.

EDIT: Also what @Gareth Halfacree said.

 

This is the bit that everyone fixates on -- except it's a low-effort, low-volume, high-margin part that few people are going to spring for, and the ones that do will pad out Apple's bottom line nicely.

Ditto the XDR Display -- 99% of pro users (you know, the type that need and can afford the screen in the first place) have their own multi-monitor setups and will pay the 5200 USD and move on with their lives.

 

The marketing for this was a train wreck though.
Sell it as a $6k monitor and offer a screen-only option to save $1k and goodbye internet furore.

 

That's why I used that handy little ~ and didn't also use the 52 number quoted by <insert news site>.

I'm not saying aspects of the cost aren't justified (Although, I must admit, holding ~6TB of RAM yesterday makes 1.5TB sound kind of paltry..), it's that the entire Apple range is, IMO, wildly more expensive than it deserves. There seems to be this mentality within Apple that they are innovators and only they can do X, Y, Z, when really that's just not the case. The Apple culture irks me, although I don't tend to kick around with Apple people so it's not really a concern for me these days.

I feel like that gif that floats around with "is it though?" whenever an Apple conversation is had..

Don't recall mentioning the screen, as it happens.

Also recall talking about the laptops first and foremost..

I'll be the first to admit that many of my gripes with Apple hardware can be leveled at just about any slim laptop made by any manufacturer these days - And that a lot of my distaste for Apple products comes from older days when Apple underclocked the **** out of everything in the name of design (Something that everyone does now that everyone is on the ultra slim bender).

I'll also be the first to admit that my use-case for a Zbook is somewhat irregular - Although I am sat at a table with 12-15 other blokes using basically the same laptop. It's really not that bad on the lap. Trackpad sucks dong, though.

 

I’m just jelly you guys have the spare cash to even consider these kinds of purchasing decision as normal.

My kid has had his Samsung Tab for five years and he’s still using it despite the fact he stood on the flipping screen two years ago and luckily only put one crack in it which the screen protector mostly stopped from spreading.

I wanted to get him something newer and I’m paying for another cracked screen device due to budget constraints!! In fairness, it’s an Air 2nd Gen, and the crack/chip is on the edge where you won’t notice it in a case, and in exchange for this I’m getting it at half the second hand value. But still!

Enjoy your gadgets peeps no matter how hipster and wrong objectively it may be

 

I genuinely don't believe that Apple are getting charged as much as they would have their customers believe for the parts they put in their kit. Whether it's this particular piece of hardware, or any hardware they sell. Their profit margins are exorbitant and I'm flabbergasted that people still defend their extremely high pricing schemes.

I don't give a **** about the wheels. I'm sure I've spent more on more frivolous addons to something. Nothing springs to mind right now, but I must have at some point in my life. I'd have more money if not.

I'd not class myself as being in the realm of considering any of these things for purchase

I buy my hardware second hand more often than not!

 

But your kid isn't using said tablet to make money (or maybe he is, in which case, good effort).

It's a different matter when you're talking about a tool vs a toy.

 

I don't recall saying no system builder makes a profit?

I don't even recall saying I could build a machine specced the same as the Mac Pro with all the trimmings for significantly less than submitting the rectum to Apple's cash remover.

But how many of them would make the same kind of profit Apple has (IE: How many of them would have ~$200bn in Panama) with the same user base that Apple has?

Arguably a lot of that bank-cash of Apple's is going to be down to the i-devices and their disturbing popularity in the last decade or two, but I sincerely doubt they'd keep making their desktop/laptop range at a loss or marginal profit when they, as a business, seem to be happy making decisions about how people will use their hardware (Removing the headphone jack and then having the balls to charge for an accessory to put it back in as a well known example).

Apple's business is impressive from an observational standpoint, but it doesn't make it unobjectionable. They charge a premium for a product that is objectively the same as any other on very little basis other than "Apple is cool" as far as I can tell. If they were guaranteed to work for longer, work better, or any other measurable number I could see the justification. But, in my experience of owning and supporting them, they are no less trouble prone than any other device. It seems like a roll of the dice whether you get a machine that lasts as long as you expect or a device that would be better used as a drinks coaster. Which, for the markup, is unacceptable IMO.

As for building a hackintosh/frankenmac, I think the entire scene is utterly stupid. Just buy a second hand Mac if you want a cheaper Mac.