Don't you think paying an apple notebook + apple care is not enough to entitle you to have free updates + upgrades during three years?
But you do get updates for free. Only the point releases are extra.
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So why does Apple charge so much for OS X updates?
- Thread starter tymaster50
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But you do get updates for free. Only the point releases are extra.
This premium OS is also based on the hard work of the open source community: Darwin...
Don't you think paying an apple notebook + apple care is not enough to entitle you to have free updates + upgrades during three years?
Nope.
*Has bought every version of OS X ever released*
I always felt that Apple giving away iOS updates for free was very reasonable, mainly because they never were very different between versions. However, 7 looks like they should be charging for it with all that we are getting, but they will give it away for free yes? I also have felt that the last several Mac OS updates were far too cheap for what we get. If I were ever to get another Windows computer, I don't think I would ever update the OS with how much they charge. I've been spoiled.
This premium OS is also based on the hard work of the open source community: Darwin...
Don't you think paying an apple notebook + apple care is not enough to entitle you to have free updates + upgrades during three years?
Personally I don't mind paying the small upgrade fee as well. There is a cost to ongoing development and why shouldn't I contribute to that? Sadly there is a group of people who think paying for software is an option. Personally all the content on my computers and devices are paid for. When new upgrades become available you can chose to pay for them and upgrade or not. I know what I'll be doing in September.
I personally believe that the OS X upgrade pricing is very reasonable. $29-30 is nothing for what you get.
IMO, the whole thing about free OS upgrades is made amazingly confusing by the US financial reporting requirements that publicly traded companies like Apple and Microsoft are legally forced to follow.
All iPhone iOS updates have been free. I think you might be thinking of having to have paid for an iPod touch update, because not all of those have been free.
Awhile ago, in order to give free OS upgrades, a company had to take the money you gave them to buy the product, and spread it out over the life of the product.
When you bought an iPhone for $649 (well, you paid $200, and your carrier paid the rest, but Apple essentially got $649), Apple couldn't take the $649 and book it as sales. Instead, they had to set your $649 to the side, and could only count $27/month towards sales, over the next 24 months.
Same with the AppleTV. But for whatever reason, they didn't use the same type of accounting with the iPod touch, which is why they couldn't initially provide the iPod touch upgrades for free.
According to this BusinessInsider article, tech companies lobbied and got that accounting rule somewhat changed. Companies can now split the price of a product between its hardware and software, and they only have to set the price of the software to the side, and move that $$ monthly into their "sales" column over a certain number of months. That's when the iPod touch updates became free.
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How does that logic work? There are many Windows notebooks that cost more that Macs, but yet Windows upgrade still cost 5x more.This premium OS is also based on the hard work of the open source community: Darwin...
Don't you think paying an apple notebook + apple care is not enough to entitle you to have free updates + upgrades during three years?
And you're kidding about Darwin, right?
Sigh, this old chestnut. Apple's hardware is NOT "premium price". Try putting together a similar piece of hardware from Dell or any other manufacturer, or even from parts yourself.
You won't find Apple more than a couple of hundred dollars more. Now factor in the quality of the unibody form, little things like the MagLock power lead, the display; yes, even the design of the object -- and then stick OS X on top.
Apple sell a product: hardware and software together. If it has value for you, then you have to be prepared to pay what they charge for it, or go elsewhere. You can "vote with your wallet" by not paying them, if you think it's too much, and maybe they'll lower their prices if enough people feel the same way.
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For the amount of work they put into OS X for every version and every patch, $30 is dirt cheap. Especially considering that they used to charge around $130 for a new version just a few years ago. Additionally, you can spend $30 on it and put it on up to 5 Mac's.
Now that they've gone to digital downloads for the OS they've eliminated a lot of overhead in printing disc's, packaging, and shipping which likely allowed them to reduce the cost as well.
Then, as others have already said, the competitor to OS X being Microsoft Windows is far worse. To buy Windows is far more expensive depending on which version you go with.
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Oh, I know that. I have a feeling that I've been running various Unix distributions for longer than you've been out of grade school. I just thought you trying to use that as a point to try and justify that Apple shouldn't charge for OS X updates was pretty weak.
This ^^^^
I always thought that the OS X upgrades were about the least expensive things Apple offered.
$20 - $30 barely buys you an Apple box!
I couldn't agree more. IMO, anyone complaining about a mere $30 for an OS upgrade is only using their computer for web surfing. Anyone using their Mac for productivity, work, editing and such won't bark at $30 because their Mac is their tool of necessity.
The OP doesn't even have a Mac and he's trippin' about a $30 upgrade. He shouldn't bother buying Apple products if that's such a major problem. I've been on Mac since OS 8 so I'm used to the $129 upgrade prices.
Give someone something free and they'll still say you're charging too much.
Haha, now you are just guessing...
Quizz: I have been working the last 7 years for the company that made solaris...
I couldn't agree more. IMO, anyone complaining about a mere $30 for an OS upgrade is only using their computer for web surfing. Anyone using their Mac for productivity, work, editing and such won't bark at $30 because their Mac is their tool of necessity.
The OP doesn't even have a Mac and he's trippin' about a $30 upgrade. He shouldn't bother buying Apple products if that's such a major problem. I've been on Mac since OS 8 so I'm used to the $129 upgrade prices.
Give someone something free and they'll still say you're charging too much.
Couldn't agree more! The $2700 15" retina is very cheap, they should charge us more! Not to mention the built-in accessories we used to have: $29 is very cheap for a TB to ethernet adapter, who cares for another $29 for firewire adapter, it is still very cheap!. $79 for the usb SuperDrive, maaan, this is one of the cheapest must have accessories...
Apple is expert in giving the right dosis at the right time... We are all tripping out with this thread... It's time to desintoxicate...
1) It isn't funny so drop the haha part.
2) It is an upgrade not an update.
3) Updates are free of charge.
4) $30 allows you to install it on up to 5 computers - come back and tell me when Microsoft is charging a similar price for the same number of computers at their regular retail prices (non-discounted price).
I'm a Windows / Cisco systems engineer & I can attest to the fact that Mac OSX is about the cheapest operating system in the market. And while my bread & butter is supporting MS/Cisco, I think Apple really does do their computing community a great service in how they do OS upgrades & even out-right purchases.
Apple used to charge a large amount for their proprietary OS's. Anyone here who remembers OS 7.6-OS 9.2 (the versions I used in my early days) knows that the upgrades cost well over $130 and could only be used on 1 Mac. I think Apple became very altruistic in regards to their OS when they crossed over into OS X. The initial development cost to get the Linux kernel right on their hardware came at a price & they continued the $100+ pricing scheme. Once they entered a somewhat stable development process & were able to incorporate more open-source components into the OS, they started reducing the price. And, as another poster commented, once they went with digital downloads & got rid of traditional packaging & distribution methods, they passed on even more savings to their user base. This has given me great respect for Apple in this area.
So, in short, I have absolutely no problem paying for major OS updates, especially at the rates they're charging. If you want to see expensive, just look into what upgrading a Cisco device from one version to the next minor version costs (say IOS 12.3.55 E3 to 12.3.55 E5). Once you pick your jaw up off the floor, head back over to the App Store & happily pay the paltry $20 for the latest OS X.
Apple used to charge a large amount for their proprietary OS's. Anyone here who remembers OS 7.6-OS 9.2 (the versions I used in my early days) knows that the upgrades cost well over $130 and could only be used on 1 Mac. I think Apple became very altruistic in regards to their OS when they crossed over into OS X. The initial development cost to get the Linux kernel right on their hardware came at a price & they continued the $100+ pricing scheme. Once they entered a somewhat stable development process & were able to incorporate more open-source components into the OS, they started reducing the price. And, as another poster commented, once they went with digital downloads & got rid of traditional packaging & distribution methods, they passed on even more savings to their user base. This has given me great respect for Apple in this area.
So, in short, I have absolutely no problem paying for major OS updates, especially at the rates they're charging. If you want to see expensive, just look into what upgrading a Cisco device from one version to the next minor version costs (say IOS 12.3.55 E3 to 12.3.55 E5). Once you pick your jaw up off the floor, head back over to the App Store & happily pay the paltry $20 for the latest OS X.
Surely if overpriced hardware and paying for software upgrades are challenges to your ethos, you haven't been drawing a paycheck from the company that practically wrote the book on those subjects?Haha, now you are just guessing...
Quizz: I have been working the last 7 years for the company that made solaris...
So to your point that expensive pieces of hardware should come with free OS upgrades for three years, any thoughts on Microsoft charging people who bought $2699 14" Alienware laptops (or $2599 Dell XPS All-In-One desktop) 6x-10x more $$ to upgrade their OS than Apple charges?
Surely if overpriced hardware and paying for software upgrades are challenges to your ethos, you haven't been drawing a paycheck from the company that practically wrote the book on those subjects?
So to your point that expensive pieces of hardware should come with free OS upgrades for three years, any thoughts on Microsoft charging people who bought $2699 14" Alienware laptops (or $2599 Dell XPS All-In-One desktop) 6x-10x more $$ to upgrade their OS than Apple charges?
Think about it: How many major upgrades does apple in 3 years? 2 at most? Provided I purchase a 3 years applecare, and knowing I probably won't use it, then a $40 discount for purchasing AC would be more than welcomed!
I paid all my OS X upgrades and as a personal "free" opinion, I can tell you that Lion was a waste of money...
Nobody cares about Microsoft, because nobody likes their products...
I care about Microsoft in general and I do like some of their products. For example their Office Suite and Windows 7 are great examples of some fine work by Microsoft.
I'm willing to pay for the upgrades if I can look at the updates and see that they are worth it.
To me it seems like Mavericks is worth it. They are slowly doing away with the unnecessary animations and focusing more on efficiency and battery power. And hopefully Maps will turn out to be as great as it seems.
To me it seems like Mavericks is worth it. They are slowly doing away with the unnecessary animations and focusing more on efficiency and battery power. And hopefully Maps will turn out to be as great as it seems.
It's odd to me to hear someone who brought up the law of attraction in a post a few days ago consistently speak from the vantage point of 'shortage' in this thread.
On the subject of this thread ("So why does Apple charge so much for OS X updates?"), objectively compared to price that 99.99% of the folks w/o Apple's pay to upgrade the OS of their consumer PC market, Apple doesn't overcharge. Apple charges 6x-10x less.
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I already paid a premium when I bought hardware from Apple. I expect this premium to include any future software updates for as long as this machine is being used. For me that is about 5 years. I think its wrong to force people to buy a lifetime subscription of $30/year just to get any future performance improvements and security updates.
I can basically get all the new features now with 3rd party apps and I find OS X bloated and too iOS-ified since SL. I don't want to pay for that just to have Apple support my hardware which I have just owned for 1 year or that has about 80% of its life left.
Most linux distributions are free and offer more cutting edge technology. I didn't even pay a premium for it.
I can basically get all the new features now with 3rd party apps and I find OS X bloated and too iOS-ified since SL. I don't want to pay for that just to have Apple support my hardware which I have just owned for 1 year or that has about 80% of its life left.
Most linux distributions are free and offer more cutting edge technology. I didn't even pay a premium for it.
You do get OS X updates for free, you just don't get upgrades.
As for the $200 subsidized phone, you're paying more than the retail price over the course of the contract for the phone. It's subsidized by your monthly contract fee.
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