Speculation is mounting that Apple plans to enter the £500 laptop fray with a MacBook sporting a 13in screen. Gene Munster, an analyst at investment bank Piper Jaffray, told Apple Insider that the move is part of an overall strategy to cut gross margin to 31.5 per cent for the current quarter and down to 30 per cent for 2009."We believe there is an 80 per cent chance Apple will introduce redesigned MacBooks and possibly new MacBook Pros at lower price points," he said. "Specifically, Apple may re-enter the $999 price point (currently $1,099) with the MacBook, or test the $1,799 price point with the MacBook Pro (currently $1,999)." The arrival of a £500 MacBook would bring further big name competition to the burgeoning netbook market.
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The price drop however is decent.
Last edited by Beastage on 25 Jul 2008 - 19:01
So your evaluation is that the Dell laptop is a better deal than an unannounced apple laptop with an unknown spec because of price alone....
Great work there, maybe you should consider a career in IT journalism?
Correction: Component (singular) :p
-Rich-
Not at all.
I can't believe so many people missed the point of my post. I compared the lowest price laptop available from two manufacturers - Apple and Dell. The Apple one will likely be released at £550-600, whereas the Dell laptop sells for £370. That is making no comment on the components. My point about the screen - and I apologise for the confusion - was simply that not all aspects of the Dell laptop are inferior, as the Dell features a larger screen.
So a $1000 laptop is no innovation in terms of the market but only in terms of their product line.
Not at all.
I can't believe so many people missed the point of my post. I compared the lowest price laptop available from two manufacturers - Apple and Dell. The Apple one will likely be released at £550-600, whereas the Dell laptop sells for £370. That is making no comment on the components. My point about the screen - and I apologise for the confusion - was simply that not all aspects of the Dell laptop are inferior, as the Dell features a larger screen.
So a $1000 laptop is no innovation in terms of the market but only in terms of their product line.
You are stating that a 15" screen is superior, and that premise is false much like your price comment earlier. I understand the point you are trying to make, but that does not make it a good one.
It's great that Apple are offering cheaper products but it's like Bang & Olufsen offering a £200 stereo... it might be their cheapest offering but it's still more expensive than the competition.
So you base all your purchases purely on the specifications of the hardware - not the quality of the overall package. People purchase Mac's for the overall package, not one particular aspect. MacOS X makes the package different from the rest. One Windows machine is pretty much the same as the next Windows machine - Mac's are a top to bottom complete experience where it isn't a mish-mash of crapware and shonky drivers with the odd 'blaming Microsoft for poor reliability' sprinkled ontop.
So you base all your purchases purely on the specifications of the hardware - not the quality of the overall package. People purchase Mac's for the overall package, not one particular aspect. MacOS X makes the package different from the rest. One Windows machine is pretty much the same as the next Windows machine - Mac's are a top to bottom complete experience where it isn't a mish-mash of crapware and shonky drivers with the odd 'blaming Microsoft for poor reliability' sprinkled ontop.
I think you have that backwards. All iMacs are the same, mini's, Mac Pro's etc. My quad core is different that my friends quad core, but yet you think they're the same. So by complete experience do you mean the mini comes with a monitor to help "complete" that experience?
Like the politicians would actually listen to their voting public. Pfft!
imagine that, whats a cross between a macbook and a cheap laptop? a cheap macbook!
The only unique innovation Apple has is that their customers happily want their wallets raped.
When the internal hardware is the same its kinda a flawed comparision... thats like saying my Ford is a BMW but BMW can sell it higher because they are BMW.... then we got the whole "OSX is on there argument" which its just an OS and even Apple basically says they dont sell it for anything with the hardware... so really you are paying for the same thing... so compariing hardware prices on both sides the price should be the same... then you got that whole your paying for the design argument, i dont even want to get into that... lets just stick at the hardware end
When the internal hardware is the same its kinda a flawed comparision... thats like saying my Ford is a BMW but BMW can sell it higher because they are BMW.... then we got the whole "OSX is on there argument" which its just an OS and even Apple basically says they dont sell it for anything with the hardware... so really you are paying for the same thing... so compariing hardware prices on both sides the price should be the same... then you got that whole your paying for the design argument, i dont even want to get into that... lets just stick at the hardware end
VW vs SEAT ??
When the internal hardware is the same its kinda a flawed comparision... thats like saying my Ford is a BMW but BMW can sell it higher because they are BMW.... then we got the whole "OSX is on there argument" which its just an OS and even Apple basically says they dont sell it for anything with the hardware... so really you are paying for the same thing... so compariing hardware prices on both sides the price should be the same... then you got that whole your paying for the design argument, i dont even want to get into that... lets just stick at the hardware end
The poster did not compare internals, he compared brands...
Their computers aren't state of the art either, yeah my Mini with it's 667 FSB, T5600 C2D, GMA 950, and 802.11g is so cutting edge. Ditto with the ATI cards in the iMacs and 8600m in the MBP.
If Macs never broke down, or had part failures like other PCs, then they would be state of the art, but in the end, they're just another PC assembled in China, and will experience their share of malfuntions.
No, the components are still sourced from other companies. The difference is that Apple decides which components are used, whereas Microsoft operates on an open basis - that doesn't mean Apple products are free from issue when it comes to drivers / hardware, as that is far from the case.
+1 Who wants to carry around a 15 or 17" laptop these days, I have a Macbook Pro 15" and yeah its great but I'm going to get a 13" macbook as well just for portability.
On another note, I really need a MacBook, so bring down the prices, make it on par with the USD in Canada, upgrade the specs and the case to something aluminum, add a black Apple on the back (damn I love those) and I'm buying it.
Do nothing and I'll have to buy it no matter what though, so I'm a little screwed
My MacBook is NZ$2099 incl GST - I consider that cheap compared to the hell that is Wintel laptops these days. A fervent race to the bottom with the mounting crapware, spyware and generally speaking - turning MY computer into a damn advertising platform because the margins have become so thin (and interesting enough, Microsofts margins become plump each quarter).
Sorry, you can take your $50 capware laden PC and locate it somewhere far from me.
My MacBook is NZ$2099 incl GST - I consider that cheap compared to the hell that is Wintel laptops these days. A fervent race to the bottom with the mounting crapware, spyware and generally speaking - turning MY computer into a damn advertising platform because the margins have become so thin (and interesting enough, Microsofts margins become plump each quarter).
Sorry, you can take your $50 capware laden PC and locate it somewhere far from me.
...or install Linux on that crapware PC
My MacBook is NZ$2099 incl GST - I consider that cheap compared to the hell that is Wintel laptops these days. A fervent race to the bottom with the mounting crapware, spyware and generally speaking - turning MY computer into a damn advertising platform because the margins have become so thin (and interesting enough, Microsofts margins become plump each quarter).
Sorry, you can take your $50 capware laden PC and locate it somewhere far from me.
Thats a common mistake, don't make me slap you on chat.
PC laptops dont always come with crap like they used to, Lenovo has none, Dell has none, HP still does it on some of their cheaper models.... and besides how hard is it to format and reinstall vista? well I guess I understand your statement there about the average mac user
My MacBook is NZ$2099 incl GST - I consider that cheap compared to the hell that is Wintel laptops these days. A fervent race to the bottom with the mounting crapware, spyware and generally speaking - turning MY computer into a damn advertising platform because the margins have become so thin (and interesting enough, Microsofts margins become plump each quarter).
Sorry, you can take your $50 capware laden PC and locate it somewhere far from me.
Thats a common mistake, don't make me slap you on chat.
PC laptops dont always come with crap like they used to, Lenovo has none, Dell has none, HP still does it on some of their cheaper models.... and besides how hard is it to format and reinstall vista? well I guess I understand your statement there about the average mac user
I have owned close to top of the range HP, Lenovo and Toshiba; all of them laden with crapware. For me, I consider crapware anything that is installed on the computer that isn't the operating system or driver. So if they include dinky wireless widgets, updaters, tweakers, boosters, massages, manipulators or any other crap - that is crapware in my book. Give me a vanilla Windows Vista installation and sod off.
Oh, and there is no way to avoid crapware, because the restoration cds one makes when one gets their machines is included on them. You can't do a clean install.
My MacBook is NZ$2099 incl GST - I consider that cheap compared to the hell that is Wintel laptops these days. A fervent race to the bottom with the mounting crapware, spyware and generally speaking - turning MY computer into a damn advertising platform because the margins have become so thin (and interesting enough, Microsofts margins become plump each quarter).
Sorry, you can take your $50 capware laden PC and locate it somewhere far from me.
Thats a common mistake, don't make me slap you on chat.
PC laptops dont always come with crap like they used to, Lenovo has none, Dell has none, HP still does it on some of their cheaper models.... and besides how hard is it to format and reinstall vista? well I guess I understand your statement there about the average mac user
I have owned close to top of the range HP, Lenovo and Toshiba; all of them laden with crapware. For me, I consider crapware anything that is installed on the computer that isn't the operating system or driver. So if they include dinky wireless widgets, updaters, tweakers, boosters, massages, manipulators or any other crap - that is crapware in my book. Give me a vanilla Windows Vista installation and sod off.
Oh, and there is no way to avoid crapware, because the restoration cds one makes when one gets their machines is included on them. You can't do a clean install.
Every Dell comes with a regular vista CD with nothing else on it
My MacBook is NZ$2099 incl GST - I consider that cheap compared to the hell that is Wintel laptops these days. A fervent race to the bottom with the mounting crapware, spyware and generally speaking - turning MY computer into a damn advertising platform because the margins have become so thin (and interesting enough, Microsofts margins become plump each quarter).
Sorry, you can take your $50 capware laden PC and locate it somewhere far from me.
Thats a common mistake, don't make me slap you on chat.
PC laptops dont always come with crap like they used to, Lenovo has none, Dell has none, HP still does it on some of their cheaper models.... and besides how hard is it to format and reinstall vista? well I guess I understand your statement there about the average mac user
I have owned close to top of the range HP, Lenovo and Toshiba; all of them laden with crapware. For me, I consider crapware anything that is installed on the computer that isn't the operating system or driver. So if they include dinky wireless widgets, updaters, tweakers, boosters, massages, manipulators or any other crap - that is crapware in my book. Give me a vanilla Windows Vista installation and sod off.
Oh, and there is no way to avoid crapware, because the restoration cds one makes when one gets their machines is included on them. You can't do a clean install.
Every Dell comes with a regular vista CD with nothing else on it
Dell being the exception rather than the rule.
Last edited by Typhon on 26 Jul 2008 - 06:25
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