Funny, what comes to mind when I read that is Apple's advertising campaign from that era, promoting how easy it was to set up and use a Mac. I was delighted when I got my first Mac (a mini) in 2006 and the ads were true.
Plenty of users already use their iPhone for those things as their primary device.
It's true - setup was pretty straightforward when I moved (full time) from Windows to Mac, after the implementation of Win8 finally sent me over the edge.
Apple doesn't price-gouge. They sell their products at price points the market will bear. An example of price gouging is when a store jacks up the price of a case of bottled water the day before a hurricane hits. If you think Apple's prices are too high, buy from a different company. There are plenty of good alternatives (albeit without Mac OS or iOS).
Yes, they have relatively high pricing for RAM and storage upgrades but, again, the market pays these prices. I guarantee Apple does price sensitivity studies that determine the point at which lost sales would outweigh the increased profit at a particular price point. It is not price gouging.
A Raspberry Pi would manage that without breaking into a sweat. There are plenty of old Lenovo Tiny Thinkcentres that would do the same for less than $100.
I think an A18 with 16GB going for $300-$400 would sell very well. I would definitely buy one. It would be a great way to get someone into Apple's ecosystem.
