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Apple is playing a very dangerous pricing game with the new core i5 laptops

A

aneftp

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jul 28, 2007
4,379
574
Look I am one of the biggest apple fans out there. iPhone, iPod, iMac, Apple TV, Macbook. You name it, I've owned it.

However, with today's new pricing strategy by Apple on their core i5's, Apple is really hoping to pull a fast one of the general public.

I'm not even going to discuss the core2 duo on the 13 inch macbooks.

The thing that Apple's executives should look at are the the sales of the 15 inch models. These are the ones with the new core i5s (well the core i5 isn't new; it's been around for 3 plus months).

People expect to pay an "apple tax" on their products. But $1800 for a starter core i5 (430m) model?

In my opinion, that's about $300 too much. I wonder how many 15 inch models they will sell at these prices.

You have windows 7 laptops with core i5 selling for less than $1000. I am so glad I got my Sony Vaio CW (bestbuy.com only) with the core i5 520M, Nvidia 330M and high res 1600x900 and blu ray 3 months ago. Sure I know the difference (unibody etc) Apple offers, but Apple's pricing is ridiculous with these new chips.

Only time will tell. The public will vote with their pocket books.

I purchased a 27 iMac core i7 and the Sony Vaio CW laptop in Jan 2010. Perfect combination for price and performance for my needs.
 
My guess is that the public will buy these very quickly because they have been wanting an Apple i5 or i7 for a some time and now that they have them they will buy them.
 
maybe, but it's not like apple was ever the cheapest alternative to laptops. i'm not defending them but i think the prices offered for the core 2 duo models yesterday was a bit more ridiculous than the price offered for the current models.
 
Can someone just confirm that none of the new i5 and i7 processors are quad cores in the MAcbook Pro line?
 
posted this on another thread but the more i read it (and laugh, its joke) the more i think its a bit true. From The Departed:

Mr. French: Well make more ****in' money. This is America. You don't make money, then you're a ****in' douchebag.
[pulls out gun]
Mr. French: Now what you ganna do?
[kicks him]
Bookie Harassed by French: I'll make more money!
Mr. French: That's the spirit!

Want apple? Gotta make mo money.
 
Raima said:
Can someone just confirm that none of the new i5 and i7 processors are quad cores in the MAcbook Pro line?
Click to expand...

There are not that are quad core. But that's not that big of a deal. the 6xxm is the I7 model and its faster than the 720
 
1. They've never been cheap; nothing changed. Can't deal? Don't buy Apple.
2. The price includes more than just the basic components; look closer. Don't need it or can't see it? Don't buy Apple.

It really is thát simple.
 
gadgetfreaky said:
There are not that are quad core. But that's not that big of a deal. the 6xxm is the I7 model and its faster than the 720
Click to expand...

Dual-Core vs. Quad-Core is a huge difference.
If you only browse the web, email and office quads don't matter - but if you do any kind of rendering, you will definitely see a difference.
 
Although I do agree, there weren't really any 2.66Ghz 15" laptops that started around $1699 ... This isn't anything new. I do feel that they should have bumped the CPU's a little bit, and certainly made the 13" at LEAST an i3 (though really i5 should have been the case).
 
Apple is going to run into a problem long term.

The "Apple Tax" as its called is becoming far more apparent and out of wack as the PC market gets cheaper. The Apple Tax is pushing 1,000-1,500 dollars now on 15"-17" laptops while not even being on par with the competition
 
For that price premium you'd also expect more than 90 days of phone support when the industry standard is 1 year. You have to go and buy Apple care to get more phone support whereas some companies are throwing 2/3 year warranties with their systems.

Nothing is cheap from Apple.
 
Boy, if I had a nickel for everybody who said,"Apple's products are too expensive; in this economy, nobody is going to pay their price premium. Mark my words, this is the beginning of the end for Apple", I would be a VERY, VERY wealthy man.

The perceived value of a Mac over any non-premium Windows PC is astronomical. When the economy tanked, people went for perceived value at the high end, and price alone at the low end. Apple only plays in the high end of the market, and they are not having any trouble moving units.

As someone else noted, while the new MBPs may not stack up well, spec for spec, with a cheapo Windows laptop, Apple isn't playing in that market, and the machines released today are a much better value than the machines that were selling just fine yesterday.
 
rnb2 said:
Boy, if I had a nickel for everybody who said,"Apple's products are too expensive; in this economy, nobody is going to pay their price premium. Mark my words, this is the beginning of the end for Apple", I would be a VERY, VERY wealthy man.

The perceived value of a Mac over any non-premium Windows PC is astronomical. When the economy tanked, people went for perceived value at the high end, and price alone at the low end. Apple only plays in the high end of the market, and they are not having any trouble moving units.

As someone else noted, while the new MBPs may not stack up well, spec for spec, with a cheapo Windows laptop, Apple isn't playing in that market, and the machines released today are a much better value than the machines that were selling just fine yesterday.
Click to expand...

Except those cheapo laptops as you call them are being rated as more reliable and better made than all of Apples laptop line now.

The cult of personality is what keeps Apple going strong. The fact is the Apple Tax is growing to an insane level. Nothing Apple does with their laptops justifies a 1500 dollar price difference now and they cater to a supposed high end line when the fact is they are more of a Mid line laptop priced High End.

If it wasnt for being required to use a Macbook pro I would jump ship again.
 
gadgetfreaky said:
There are not that are quad core. But that's not that big of a deal. the 6xxm is the I7 model and its faster than the 720
Click to expand...


i think the 720QM is a much better processor and slighty faster because it uses a faster memory bandwitch.

620 - DDR3-800/1066 -17.1 GB/s 720QM - DDR3-1066/1333 - 21 GB/s

the 620 have 2 cores and 4 threads , the 720QM 4 cores and 8 threads and 6mb L3 cache against 4mb L3 on the 620.

no doubst the 720QM is a better processor and its FASTER than the 620 :)
 
rnb2 said:
Boy, if I had a nickel for everybody who said,"Apple's products are too expensive; in this economy, nobody is going to pay their price premium. Mark my words, this is the beginning of the end for Apple", I would be a VERY, VERY wealthy man.

The perceived value of a Mac over any non-premium Windows PC is astronomical. When the economy tanked, people went for perceived value at the high end, and price alone at the low end. Apple only plays in the high end of the market, and they are not having any trouble moving units.

As someone else noted, while the new MBPs may not stack up well, spec for spec, with a cheapo Windows laptop, Apple isn't playing in that market, and the machines released today are a much better value than the machines that were selling just fine yesterday.
Click to expand...

Agreed. People don't get it. Apple doesn't play by the rules. They don't care what Dell, HP, Sony are doing. They've created this ecosystem and promoted the **** out of it and now everybody wants in - regardless of how pricey their offerings might be. The majority knows that Apple's prices are high and if they don't, those Microsoft ads should help. At the end of the day, Apple is going to do what Apple wants and people are going to come running.
 
iLog.Genius said:
Agreed. People don't get it. Apple doesn't play by the rules. They don't care what Dell, HP, Sony are doing. They've created this ecosystem and promoted the **** out of it and now everybody wants in - regardless of how pricey their offerings might be. The majority knows that Apple's prices are high and if they don't, those Microsoft ads should help. At the end of the day, Apple is going to do what Apple wants and people are going to come running.
Click to expand...

Yes, all that 10% or so of the world's computer users.
 
and i totally agree with the topic starter , but apple fans will buy tons of 15" inches at any price.. they just want an i5/i7 from apple thats it. I was like that until now :eek:

i was just waiting to this update to buy my new notebook , right now i have a core2duo 2.4ghz 15" macbook pro with nvidia 8600GT 256mb .

What i want on my next computer:

Quad-Core processor
1gb Video Card
HDMI
FULL HD 15" DISPLAY

none of it came on the update , no HDMI , no GOOD video card for games that are coming to MAC like starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 , THE BEST u can get is a 512mb video card ? terrible. no quad core processor and no full hd display on 15". I was looking a PC ( unfortunately) HP ENVY with a QUAD CORE i7
1gb RADEON 5870 (one of the best/fast cards on the market ) , HDMI, FULL HD 15" DISPLAY , 8GB of ram ( 16gb max ) on an aluminium thin body for ( obs: 640gb HD and blu-ray ! ) ==== 1899U$

how can i pay 2200U$ for no HDMI , NO FULL HD DISPLAY , FOR 512MB crap video card , NO QUAD CORE processor , no BLU-RAY ??

damn for the last 10 years i never looked any other computer than an apple, but at least for now time to get a PC and install MAC OS.

too expensive for what you get.. 9 hours battery are nice but i prefer to have 4 hours and a faster processor, faster video card , more memory..
 
What's the problem with the pricing?

They all went down between $100 and $400 here.

I think the prices are FANTASTIC!!
 
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