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And the 'Apple tax' thing is largely hyperbole.
I respect your opinion on the other points, although I disagree. However the Apple Tax is a fact with "most" of Apple's products.

The iPhone MUST be priced competitively as the market demands it and it's too easy to compare to other smartphones. Laptops on the other hand with their many configuration options are a different case.

I just bought two new, nearly identical laptops. A 15" MBP & 15" Lenovo. The Lenovo was $1,000 LESS than the Apple.

I say "nearly" because the ThinkPad has options that are not even available on the MBP like a full HD display, a true hi-res unit. 3G connectivity, a fingerprint reader and on and on. Therefore if anything, the Lenovo should have been more expensive, not less than the MBP

Apple misleads their customers by labeling their medium-res display: "hi-res".

Let's fact it, Apple is a graduate of the General Motors school of deceptive, greatly exaggerated advertising.

"It's Magical and Revolutionary"
 
1) I seriously doubt it will be that long.

You could very well be right. I don't really know enough about his current health to really know... but it seems quite possible.

2) His imprint on Apple is indelible, they will quite likely do even better on their own. Sometimes polarizing figure heads are not the best over the long term.

Couldn't have said it better myself. He was exactly what we needed to fix Scully's screw-ups, but he's far from vital now.
 
I just bought two new, nearly identical laptops. A 15" MBP & 15" Lenovo. The Lenovo was $1,000 LESS than the Apple.

Haha I know! I'm actually typing on a year-old or so Lenovo... 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo, Radeon 3600 etc. with 1680x1050 display (love the screen btw).

I say "nearly" because the ThinkPad has options that are not even available on the MBP like a full HD display, a true hi-res unit. 3G connectivity, a fingerprint reader and on and on. Therefore if anything, the Lenovo should have been more expensive, not less than the MBP

Apple actually does finally offer 1680x1050, but it's as an upgrade option for $100-150 depending on glossy vs. anti-glare. But yeah. It took them forever...


Honestly Apple's hardware used to be superior throughout most of the PowerPC era, but that's long gone. . .
 
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