You beat me to it...especially regarding integrated speakers, bluetooth (and who uses this anyway? 0.000001% of consumers?), integrated camera (only value I see is on a laptop), and Thunderbolt (he was joking including this...right?).
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Nearly All Apple Hardware Costs More Than the Average PC
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You beat me to it...especially regarding integrated speakers, bluetooth (and who uses this anyway? 0.000001% of consumers?), integrated camera (only value I see is on a laptop), and Thunderbolt (he was joking including this...right?).
You are correct in that the article (or anyone) should really give much greater detail when comparing. However, let's be real...a $1300 Dell Wintel would smoke a $1300 iMac any day of the week on tech specs. A $1300 Wintel would come with a 20"+ just like the iMac. In addition, I can guarantee you that the Wintel:
1)Would be easier to upgrade (RAM, drives, etc) than an iMac
2)Would come with a much better/faster CPU
3)Would come with more RAM
4)Would likely come with more years of warranty
Dell example:
Intel® Core™ i7-2600 processor(8MB Cache, 3.4GHz)
Windows® 7 Professional, 64Bit
12GB3 Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz
Hard Drive 2000GB4 SATA hard drive (7200RPM)
Video Card Nvidia® Geforce® GT530
Monitor Dell ST2420L 24"W Full HD Monitor
Warranty 2 Year Basic Support
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$1199 (before any coupons or calling Dell and asking for a better price)
$1199 iMac: i5 chip at 2.5GHz, 4GB ram, 500GB drive, 21.5" monitor, 1 year warranty. I'm not a video card junkie but these 5 differences alone are huge.
Now, 1/2 the argument is tech specs...the other 1/2 is the prettiness/design/sexiness of the unit. For me...I like the iMac style, but I have no NEED for it. I am perfectly happy with a black box on the floor or behind my desk while having a nice LCD monitor on my desk. I (and billions of other computer users) stare at a MONITOR all day...not a computer. Of course for those who have extremely small spaces or simply love the design of the iMac, sure, go buy an iMac. To be fair, I do not like the Dell or HP all-in-one units...I think the iMac rules the planet for the all-in-one as for sexiness.
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and yet Windows costs more to own
Another detail left out of every comparison is cost of ownership. Easier to use means more productivity, no [need for] anti-virus software means less spent on software, but the clincher for me is the average mac user keeps their Mac between 50% and 80% longer than the average PC owner (never mind what happens to PC performance over time)! So, every dollar spent on a Mac is the equivalent of (at least) $1.50 spent on a PC. Chew on that.
Another detail left out of every comparison is cost of ownership. Easier to use means more productivity, no [need for] anti-virus software means less spent on software, but the clincher for me is the average mac user keeps their Mac between 50% and 80% longer than the average PC owner (never mind what happens to PC performance over time)! So, every dollar spent on a Mac is the equivalent of (at least) $1.50 spent on a PC. Chew on that.
I use MS Security Essentials, and Malwarebytes Antimalware. Neither one cost me a dime. MSE eats up about 5-15 meg of ram, and 1% of CPU usage. Hardly what I'd call bloated. I do a full virus scan with it and Antimalware about once every other month, usually before I go to bed. Haven't caught a bug in YEARS.
Yeah, it's true you don't have to do even this on a Mac. But, eh. Whatever. It isn't nearly as big of a deal as some people make it out to be.
Since I installed Win7, I haven't seen a single bit of evidence of Windows Rot. I still boot up just as fast, and is just as snappy on the desktop as it was when I did a fresh install about 2 years ago. General computer maintenance has been nil to none these last few, so my productivity (porn and angry birds) hasn't suffered a bit, either due to random Windows issues, or upkeep.
My woeful PC desktop existence has been smooth and trouble free.
Also, where the hell did you get your math from.
Yeah, it's true you don't have to do even this on a Mac. But, eh. Whatever. It isn't nearly as big of a deal as some people make it out to be.
Since I installed Win7, I haven't seen a single bit of evidence of Windows Rot. I still boot up just as fast, and is just as snappy on the desktop as it was when I did a fresh install about 2 years ago. General computer maintenance has been nil to none these last few, so my productivity (porn and angry birds) hasn't suffered a bit, either due to random Windows issues, or upkeep.
My woeful PC desktop existence has been smooth and trouble free.
Also, where the hell did you get your math from.
Yet somehow with the way those analogies keep cropping up, you'd think you wouldn't need to- surely the computers themselves are doing it!
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I did and I spat it out. Tastes like cardboard, completely devoid of any real substance.
KIAs and Hyundais do not run as well and fast as BMWs and MBs. PC do outperform Macs in all categories.
...and not even one post later...
...personally, I think I'm gonna wait for the new Macbook Airs with the V8 Tritons before I take the plunge. NO WAIT! WHAT AM I SAYING? THAT'S A FORD ENGINE!
MACS ARE NOT FORDS!
This must be one of the poorest MR Articles ever.
Yes, we know,
is pricey. Is it overpriced compared to the PC offerings? If you consider form factor (for example Mac Mini) and build quality as a spec as well, then I say: not at all.
But I assume the whole purpose of the article was, to get a bit of stirring going.
Yes, we know,
is pricey. Is it overpriced compared to the PC offerings? If you consider form factor (for example Mac Mini) and build quality as a spec as well, then I say: not at all. But I assume the whole purpose of the article was, to get a bit of stirring going.
I lol'd at this line. Bravo.
Jobs (like on many things) was right about that. I had a netbook and while it served its purpose and served it well, the keyboard was absolutely atrocious. Overall, things were okay though this was not a substitute for a real computer. The Mini I just bought is a beautiful machine and just needs more RAM and an SSD to make it perfect. I'm fine with the integrated graphics because I'm not a PC gamer. If I was, I wouldn't use the Mac for games.
If you're talking about an off the shelf PC, it's already included in the price. For a home built one, just pay $99 for the Home Premium upgrade. Just about everyone has a copy of Windows already, and I can't think of a single reason why anyone outside of a corporate environment would want to buy Ultimate.
Yep... people seem to grossly underestimate the cost of IPS displays/panels and all the other things in a Mac.
Plus, this article compares the cost of an iPhone with the average cost of a PC... what does that achieve? That is like saying Mac's are significantly less expensive than super computers... look at this shiny graph we've made... it proves it
I have a Mac Pro build 2010. And I LOVE it.
Why are people complaining about the costs? I mean apple has the top line hardware componments in their computers. Look at the laptops. 10 hours of baterry.. well i have a crappy medion laptop I should have never buyed..
Before I went into Mac's i had an PC.. Its just all crap.. If I already look at a PC I can feel it is gonna crash soon.
If we compare for example my Mac Pro with an PC. with the same spec's.
Than Apple is more expensive because 1: I have an Xeon processor. where windows computers have i7 based Intel CPU's, defference between them is that the xeon is more expensive and better.
2: The video card's are made for specially for apple due the difference of handling the cache and the RAM of the video cards. for example a windows based video card uses 64bit collors when starting up, Mac OS X card's 128 Bit
3: The screen's are more expensive because Apple does not use 1920x 1080 screens with the same size in "inc" but with Much More Pixels with a much better collor rate.
4: It is much more power saving.
5: It looks awsome with the aluminium and all of that
Why are people complaining about the costs? I mean apple has the top line hardware componments in their computers. Look at the laptops. 10 hours of baterry.. well i have a crappy medion laptop I should have never buyed..
Before I went into Mac's i had an PC.. Its just all crap.. If I already look at a PC I can feel it is gonna crash soon.
If we compare for example my Mac Pro with an PC. with the same spec's.
Than Apple is more expensive because 1: I have an Xeon processor. where windows computers have i7 based Intel CPU's, defference between them is that the xeon is more expensive and better.
2: The video card's are made for specially for apple due the difference of handling the cache and the RAM of the video cards. for example a windows based video card uses 64bit collors when starting up, Mac OS X card's 128 Bit
3: The screen's are more expensive because Apple does not use 1920x 1080 screens with the same size in "inc" but with Much More Pixels with a much better collor rate.
4: It is much more power saving.
5: It looks awsome with the aluminium and all of that
Hey, what's this? Oh! It's my brain leaking out of my head.
Please please please please please tell me the above post is a troll. I can accept that. I....I...can accept....that.
Please please please please please tell me the above post is a troll. I can accept that. I....I...can accept....that.
Another interesting point to add to this is that the company that comes off best in this graph, Asus, has a two year warranty on their laptops, while Apple only has one year.
So, Apple fanboys likes to tout how their computers last forever but Apple themselves obviously aren't confident enough in their hardware's longevity to guarantee that it even lasts more than one year, and on the software side they don't care about legacy support (to the point of completely ignoring even the most previous generation in some cases) either.
I thought it was common knowledge by now that Macs include the same components with the same quality as the average PC, Apple just choose to have higher margins
I admit all assembled computers are expensive but most of the people here still argue Mac's price is not expensive. A 15" laptop costs $2000 and according to these people its not expensive
I believe ASUS even covers accidents for a year. I seriously can't blame Apple though its the people who buy the products. I got my MBP 13 for 1000 which I felt was still 100 too high but close enough. Imagine if Apple was held to the same standards the other PC makers were? Current lineup did not sell at all, and their market research would show them: Warranties, Price, specs etc.. were not as good as other makers, then all of a sudden talk about getting a really killer product.
It's very good already with the integration being very tight, I just want to see things get better. They need to be dragged into the pit. Windows box makers as well need to be better at drivers and QC though. Lenovo I believe was/is very good at that. Sony used to be, not sure nowadays.
I admit all assembled computers are expensive but most of the people here still argue Mac's price is not expensive. A 15" laptop costs $2000 and according to these people its not expensive
True story. That 15' is no more than 1299 at best. For 1799 I want SS memory, better cooling, its designed well but poorly at the same time. 6490m is lame for that price as well.
This was a strange and largely useless comparison... I don't even see the point.
I'll say this though: the iPad should certainly count as a computer. It does all the basic things that MOST normal people need a computer to do. And I know lots of people who buy them for that exact purpose.
It may not run Logic or Final Cut or Photoshop or Xcode... but most people don't use those programs. They want internet, email, photos, webcams, and all the stuff that the iPad does.
I still wish the iPad had an accessible file system though. Really.
I'll say this though: the iPad should certainly count as a computer. It does all the basic things that MOST normal people need a computer to do. And I know lots of people who buy them for that exact purpose.
It may not run Logic or Final Cut or Photoshop or Xcode... but most people don't use those programs. They want internet, email, photos, webcams, and all the stuff that the iPad does.
I still wish the iPad had an accessible file system though. Really.
My generic Lenovo has about three times as many ports and interface options as my Macbook Pro at roughly half the cost. I use both Apple and Windows laptops on a daily basis so I actually have a clue about where the truth lies. I enjoy using my Mac, but there is no way in hell I'd ever claim it had every feature under the sun when it can't even keep up with the features of hardware sold at half the cost.
if you do a PC comparisson, then once you add in things like MIMO wifi, bluetooth, backlit keyboard, windows 7 ultimate, the adobe pack with elements and premier and other features it's about the same price depending on when you buy in the cycle