ARMacs prices?

[robertosh]

what do you think about ARMacs future prices? I assume that should be cheaper to produce as I expect everything to be integrated, non user replaceable memory nor disk. And they could reuse a lot of its current infrastructure for the mobile devices. The other thing is if Apple wants to reflect this on final prices...

 

[UltimateSyn]

I bet the 13-14" MBP gets a $100 price drop down to $1,199 to start. I'm not expecting anything too dramatic, but $100 or so price drops across the board wouldn't surprise me.

 

[g35]

Aren’t new designs for Apple computers really expensive to start? Original MacBook Air, retina MacBook Pro, MacBook 12”. Possibly others. Thats how I remember it. I’m guessing a hypothetical 14” ARM MacBook Pro is around $2000

 

[lJoSquaredl]

I would think they'd keep it competitive with the intel models if not drop it a bit. They can take the hit I assume since they're in house now, as well as a way to motivate people to adapt faster or at all. If you hit the really high end models or Mac Pro I assume it'll be expensive, but baselines should be a pretty decent price or I hope they are anyways.

 

[ssgbryan]

If it doesn't have a 40% profit margin, Timmy dumps it.

The prices will either stay the same or go up.

 

[dandeco]

I suspect the prices won't change very much. In the PowerPC days, Macs were also just as expensive. The 12" iBook G4 laptop started at $999, which is the same price as Apple's current lowest-priced laptop, the entry-level 13" Retina MacBook Air.

 

[Icaras]

Aren’t new designs for Apple computers really expensive to start? Original MacBook Air, retina MacBook Pro, MacBook 12”. Possibly others. Thats how I remember it. I’m guessing a hypothetical 14” ARM MacBook Pro is around $2000

They were indeed high, but they were still using Intel chips, SSD was extremely new, and they had just devised a new manufacturing process to create the all new unibody design.

But in 2020, its an entirely different ball game in my opinion. Unibody manufacturing has matured, SSD prices are affordable, and Apple Silicon is now all in-house.

 

[dogslobber]

They'll be more expensive than the x86 versions.

 

[tranceking26]

Hopefully the same, but who knows. Maybe they'll surprise us!

 

[cpnotebook80]

They would have to target their bottom lines and cover the cost for R&D for new chips coming down the pipelines. I assume they will be manufacturing the chips in the US or out of country like China?

 

[glindon]

Economies of scale would dictate that the price of Apple Cpus will be much cheaper than Intel. For instance you get the latest iPhone cpu in the cheapest iPhone SE. The cpu BOM is probably around $40 (including the 3gb of ram). The "cheap" Intel cpus in Macs are closer to $300 in price. The 16" i9 8 core is $550 and doesn't include the chipset so you're probably close to the $600 range for intel and Apple could slap 2 A14s in a single package for under $100. Of course Apple being a business might decide to just pocket the $500 savings from buying Intel.

 

[ipponrg]

For what it’s worth, the last few years has not been consumer friendly pricing in the Mac world.

 

[Spungoflex]

For what it’s worth, the last few years has not been consumer friendly pricing in the Mac world.

The MacBook Air is ridiculously cheap.

 

[sevoneone]

I think it depends... If Apple seriously wants back into the education market, they need a laptop that can compete on price with Chromebooks and cheap Windows 10 laptops. Not necessarily the Uber cheap bottom of the barrel Chromebooks, but at the very least a $300-$400 unit that checks all the essential productivity boxes. iPads are getting better, but it still isn’t the solution educators necessarily want. I don’t know if Apple would do this as it would no doubt erode iPad sales.

Similarly, they could probably sell a lot of Macs in the SMB space if they had a similarly priced desktop, but I don’t think that is a space Apple is interested in anymore outside of creatives. On the other hand, they did just rebrand FileMaker back to Claris though...

 

[ssgbryan]

Economies of scale would dictate that the price of Apple Cpus will be much cheaper than Intel. For instance you get the latest iPhone cpu in the cheapest iPhone SE. The cpu BOM is probably around $40 (including the 3gb of ram). The "cheap" Intel cpus in Macs are closer to $300 in price. The 16" i9 8 core is $550 and doesn't include the chipset so you're probably close to the $600 range for intel and Apple could slap 2 A14s in a single package for under $100. Of course Apple being a business might decide to just pocket the $500 savings from buying Intel.

OEMs don't pay Intel anywhere near that price.

 

[DanTSX]

The MacBook Air is ridiculously cheap.

Not if you spec with reasonable SSD and ram.

 

[Nozuka]

Intel CPUs are very expensive. I think they can lower the price a bit and still increase their profit margin a lot. And thanks to that, they will also sell more.

 

[G4DPII]

Intel CPUs are very expensive. I think they can lower the price a bit and still increase their profit margin a lot. And thanks to that, they will also sell more.

What you pay off the shelf is at least 60% more than what an OEM pay. Probably significantly less that that for the larger companies.

Prices won't go down. Apple will need to maintain the cash stock pile for when they undoubtably balls it up, like thay have done on the previous occasions when they try and get involved in thier own CPU's.

 

[Nozuka]

What you pay off the shelf is at least 60% more than what an OEM pay. Probably significantly less that that for the larger companies.

The cost of the A13 is estimated to be around $64 . There is no way they are getting the newest Intel CPUs even close to that price. They can even put it in an iPhone SE2 for $399 and still make good money.

 

[robbieduncan]

The cost of the A13 is estimated to be around $64 . There is no way they are getting the newest Intel CPUs even close to that price. They can even put it in an iPhone SE2 for $399 and still make good money.

Is that the price to manufacture or the total cost with R&D and design amortised over the number of CPUs produced?

 

[PBG4 Dude]

Is that the price to manufacture or the total cost with R&D and design amortised over the number of CPUs produced?

Didn’t expect to run into another cost accountant here, LOL. Don’t forget about Corp OH allocations. Have to pay for Timmy and pals living up there on mahogany row somehow.

 

[maflynn]

what do you think about ARMacs future prices? I

The same, pure and simple. Apple's mantra is premium products and pricing, they recently doubled the price of ram on the 13" MBP, and they have a thunderbolt cable priced at 129. This is not a company that prices its products under what they perceive as premium or as I put it exorbitant

 

[PBG4 Dude]

The same, pure and simple. Apple's mantra is premium products and pricing, they recently doubled the price of ram on the 13" MBP, and they have a thunderbolt cable priced at 129. This is not a company that prices its products under what they perceive as premium or as I put it exorbitant

Yeah I gotta say that $129 2m TB3 cable’s pricing shocked me. It must entail more than a length of wire and two connectors though, right? Right?!? There better be some kind of silicon embedded in that wire.

 

[Pressure]

They would have to target their bottom lines and cover the cost for R&D for new chips coming down the pipelines. I assume they will be manufacturing the chips in the US or out of country like China?

They will be made by TSMC like the current SoCs used in iDevices.

 

[arch1t3cton]

I expect all first gen ARM macs to be at least 25% cheaper than equivalent intel macs. It is crucial the transition goes quickly. Second gen ARM macs will come at a premium because of "features"...