Ghost31
macrumors 68040
Unless i'm missing something? It was the same price last year wasnt it?
What's your theory as to why MacBooks now cost so much?
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lobo1978
macrumors 6502
Define what is MUCH:
'Microsoft Surface Book vs MacBook Pro: Price
However, because of those powerful GPU options, the top Surface Book, with Core i7, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD and an Nvidia GPU will cost you $3,299. The top MacBook Pro, with Core i7, 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD will cost you $2,899."
Source: http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/139...-apple-macbook-pro-2016-what-s-the-difference
'Microsoft Surface Book vs MacBook Pro: Price
- Surface Book: $1,699 (256GB)
- MacBook Pro: $1,799 (256GB)
However, because of those powerful GPU options, the top Surface Book, with Core i7, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD and an Nvidia GPU will cost you $3,299. The top MacBook Pro, with Core i7, 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD will cost you $2,899."
Source: http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/139...-apple-macbook-pro-2016-what-s-the-difference
No need of that knowledge. Just look beneath dell's, Asus, Lenovo laptop and Apple's laptop.
Also R&D for touch bar and years of development now are the part of the price.
Also People buy less laptops now than before, so the price is higher now than before.
ascender
macrumors 603
I think its a few different things, some of which are to be expected when a brand new, from the ground-up product is released and some of which are just part and parcel of the global economy.
- Exchange rate
- New technology components - capital cost and dev costs
- New manufacturing processes
Yes, the layout and color look nice. But that doesn't tell the whole story... I want to know the quality of the resistors, metal quality, soldering quality, such and such..
Wahlstrm
macrumors 6502a
The 2011 models where probably the unicorns of MacBooks, it was the last year that the computer industry still focused on performance before shifting to the more popular concept of "thin, light and running forever on a single charge".
The jump in multicore CPU performance between the 2010 and the 2011 is probably still on par with the jump from 2011 to 2016.. And it was the first machine to support 16GB RAM, and it has not moved since..
The Early 2011 13" i7 was quite affordable to get my hands on, 14500SEK. Today Apple wants 26000SEK for the 2016 13" i7 16GB 256GB with the Emojibar™. I did spend about 5000SEK during ownership to upgrade RAM, SSD and a 7200rpm as a 2nd drive. So in total it´s more like 19500SEK vs 26000SEK, a 33% increase in price.
But the difference between walking in to an Apple Store and spend 14500SEK vs spending 26000SEK is more like an 80% increase in cost of getting the machine in the first place..
I think the biggest mind**** here is that spec-numbers have basically not moved in half a decade when it come to Macs.. When you have a computer from 2011 with ≈3Ghz i7, 16GB, 256GB SSD and think "this is getting a bit old now" and Apple present you with -the exact same specs- in 2016 but now you get to pay 80% more upfront and upgrades are non existent, it´s not exactly impossible to think "Haha, great joke, where is the camera?"..
this is actually inaccurate and propagated more by conservative media than anything else. Wages have certainly increased since 2008 and 2012 and CERTAINLY in the tech sector. the issue has been that wage increases have only slightly outpaced inflation (actually this has been one of the highest/longest periods of outpacing, just marginally, on record. ) The balance of wage increases ABOVE inflation is an above zero, below zero type of sum. We've been above zero now for four years and nearly close to 1 which is rare.
[doublepost=1477952101][/doublepost]I guess I'm one who doesn't find the pricing (not price) mostly reasonable.
nearly 4.5 years ago, 2012 the original rMBP I purchased was 2.6 i7 16GB ram, 256GB SSD with retina screen was 2279$..
With just CPI inflation of nearly 5.2% that price today would be 2400$. And, not coincidentally that is EXACTLY what the price of the NEW 15" touch bar rMPB is, with a 2.6 ghz processor and 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD.
Now, I know that everyone likes to think that the price of technology and electronics goes DOWN overtime, which it does relative to PERFORMANCE but for the most part the RETAIL price of technology does NOT go down. Companies are very loath to ever have the retail price of ANYTHING go down as it makes their overall revenue and profit picture looks WORSE year to year and that's bad for stock performance and optics. So, we get NEW and better and FASTER and lighter technology and we get new and better R&D in the shape of form factors and materials and battery life and features, etc. But we won't necessarily get lower prices product to product.
But, what we don't really get is LOWER prices and for the most part, with generations of system upgrades or major new product models, we should get a pass through of inflation and some R&D cost applied. Over the lifetime of a generation of mac models, we'll get performance upgrades and usually over 2-5 years we'll actually get price DECREASES, but we don't usually see a price INCREASE DURING a generation product as manufacturers don't like to try and push inflation adjustments onto the consumer so optically. They wait for a generational STEP to make the STEP UP in adjusted pricing for inflation. I'm fine with that.
So, while noone likes to pay MORE for something that what they used to - with the neglect of any calculation to the value of the new products features or performance - its just the way of the world. True with technology, computer equipment, cell phones, medical devices and equipment, AUTOMOBILES, air conditioners, pretty much anything that doesn't have a major commodity component that could be canabalized or optimized.
In the past 4.5 years, we've had DOMESTICALLY 5.2% inflation. Internationally, especially in China we've had MUCH HIGHER inflation and that WAGE inflation for manufacture is certainly a component of the necessary cost increases. New devices require new manufacturing techniques and processes. Lines must be changed, workers must be skilled up, these workers in china are up nearly 20% in the past five years, for wages. Inflation in China is up TWICE the USA domestic inflation amount. Many of these input costs for computer parts are sourced in Asia/China, and they have had more inflation that we domestically have had.
The changes to pricing for foreign markets is yet another factor, and in the case of the UK it is a necessary shift due to what is most certainly going to be a PROLONGED drop in the value of the british pound and a currency adjustment is warranted and necessary. This is due to brexit, no way around it. We had the same thing a few years back as the russian rouble was cratering and all pricing had to be adjusted - IN REAL TIME and during the year - no product cycle adjustments to try and hide it.
So, we may not like having to pay slightly more for the products we love and use DAILY, but for the most part I don't see this is "price gouging" and "trying to squeeze their loyal customers for every cent", but rather a necessary and JUSTIFIABLE price increase based solely on the cost of doing business and the rising price of EVERYTHING in a fortunately growing economy.
fxbeta
macrumors member
They typically do use high quality components, but so do most other well-known vendors. Other vendors do have cheaper options using crappy components, but at this price range they usually have better specs across the board than Macs (even more so during the off-years when Apple doesn't update their hardware but everyone else does).
The biggest difference in component quality is not in the electronics but in the case design and materials. Apple laptops typically feel strong and solid, where competitors often feel cheap and flimsy, and that's not an accident. With Apple you are paying for design more than engineering.