Apple products are priced too high?

[Gabe84]

Before I went back to Linux I had given many thoughts to Apple.

 

Currently I'm using an old (2006) Acer desktop running Linux, I have never had any problems with Windows, but my XP got completely corrupted after more than 7 years, I reinstalled it in 2007 and the OS broke down a few months ago - curiously, a few weeks after I installed iTunes -; not that I'm used to Linux and considering what I do with my machine I realize I don't need neither Windows nor Apple.

 

That little story was to illustrate my point, it really depends on what you do with your machine and then how much you're willing to spend.

 

To answer your question I think that now, after they raised prices in the EU, they're extremely overpriced, before they weren't that overpriced, yes, you didn't get a dedicated GPU in basic models but you got better screens and faster SSDs, I've always thought that iDevices, Airs and Mini were overpriced, but their iMacs, MBP and Mac Pro were priced in line with other high end machines.

 

But my consideration is strictly connected to my country, and in part to my personal experience with computers, here Apple is exploiting a loophole in the warranty regulations and they offer only 1 year warranty instead of 2, and whereas anybody can fix your PC, with a Mac you need to find, and pay awesomely, someone who knows how to fix them, even if you're a knowledgeable user it's extremely hard to upgrade your system, what I see in Apple machines is planned obsolescence; so, when I take into consideration all the factors: initial investment (computer+other devices that need to be Mac compatible, e.g. external HDDs), difficulty in fixing and upgrading, an OS that doesn't work well with other systems, I find them too costly for what I'd get.

[adrynalyne]

Oh you mean importing an MP3 to your phone? Yeah sucks you gotta use iTunes for that although it isn't totally awful anymore. It is better than WMP which hasn't had any real attention in the past 5 years and lacks so many features I have lost count.

Not just importing, but downloading too.

 

I ran into this with a client last week. We made his site mobile responsive only to realize iOS users couldn't consume the multimedia content after purchased because there was no way to play or stream it (his eCommerce system doesn't support streaming). Mind you, we worked around it, but it is a little disappointing.

Yes. Admire them from a business standpoint, you must.

 

Regarding iTunes, thats not quite the same. I can download an mp3 outside of Windows Store on a Windows Phone. Try that with an iPhone or iPad that isn't jailbroken.

I'd be taking a hammer to the phone (or head) of a co-worker that let their phone ring for 30 seconds, much less longer.

 

Just sayin.

[kozukumi]

Not just importing, but downloading too.

 

I ran into this with a client last week. We made his site mobile responsive only to realize iOS users couldn't consume the multimedia content after purchased because there was no way to play or stream it (his eCommerce system doesn't support streaming). Mind you, we worked around it, but it is a little disappointing.

 

Interesting. Can't say I have ever had the need to do it but I just opened a link to an MP3 and it played on my phone just fine but yeah it isn't added to the Music app which is lame

[patseguin Global Moderator]

It's the stylish thing to say that Apple's products are over-priced. The fact is that they offer the best products and they are worth every penny.

[adrynalyne]

It's the stylish thing to say that Apple's products are over-priced. The fact is that they offer the best products and they are worth every penny.

Worth it to you.

 

It is stylish to say Apple's products are worth every penny too.

[pack34]

overpriced, a bit, yes. But I think we've also gotten spoiled with the "race to the bottom" pricing on the Windows side. Companies stripping out as much as possible and using poor components and materials to keep the price down. The reality is that well made electronics are expensive. Especially when your looking at cutting edge hardware.

 

I do, however, think that their upgrades are over the top.

[Brian M. Veteran]

You are comparing a wedge design to a flat one. Of course there will be different alignments.

 

Here's the MacBook Air. A "Wedge" design, with everything vertically aligned perfectly.

 

 

Again, little details, but it's these little considerations that all add up.

[Depicus]

Overpriced - yes, any company that is holding on to over $140 billion is clearly charging a bit much but then who doesn't. Let's have a look at a few things I looked at this week.

 

1. GoPro Black

[SteveMackinnon]

The prices are hard to swallow from the outset, but once you have Apple products it becomes easier to buy more.

 

Take me for example

At the start of 2011 I bought a MacBook Pro 15" for around

[-T- Member]

Yes because Apple users will pay anything apple tell them to, under the pretence that they're getting better products. It's like Chivas Regal, awful,whisky but because it's expensive, people think it's better.

Having used and owned multiple Apple products and typing this on an iPad. I find them no better than anything else

[Borix]

The price is driven by demand and Apple only offers products in the high price segments. The rest is perception.

[epk]

Well, maybe I'm the odd one here but, having been looking at laptops recently, I don't think Apple is overpriced at all. Windows laptops are cheap when they're big, bulky and slow. Move onto the ultrabooks and you're at the same price level as Apple. I mean, even the Surface Pro 3 is in that range! And I don't mean just Air, lots overlap the cheapest MBP as well. With Windows OEMs you also have to add the lack of proper customer support. I've experienced that first hand, Apple is miles away in this area. 

That's not all, I think Windows PCs and Macs get obsolete at about the same pace but Macs age and hold their value way better if you're looking to upgrade.

 

I feel the same about the mobile space. Flagship Galaxys and Lumias are all around the iPhone price range. Well, I don't know about the Lumias nowadays since they're overdue for a refresh, but it was that was 1-2 years ago. 

 

The only time I would say buying a Mac is a waste is on the desktop space. But then again, buying any branded computer is a bad deal if you have a chance to build your own (something you can't really do with laptops, tablets or phones).

[technord]

Not sure why people keep saying Apple computers are more expensive.  When I bought my late 2013 mackbook pro, it was cheaper than the dell, and about the same as the sony

[Chicane-UK Veteran]

I'm getting increasingly annoyed with the comments that suggest people who buy Apple products simply don't know any better.. or that they buy them because Apple 'tell' them they're the best things on the market, and that the customers are too lazy / ignorant to do research into finding better alternatives.

 

There's an element of truth in so much as people will just continue to buy Apple products without considering alternatives. But the reasons for this are simple:

 

* Good products

* Ecosystem / product interoperability

* A guaranteed minimum level of quality / engineering / refinement 

* Good customer service

 

When you find products from a company you like, it's not uncommon to stick with them. I've always preferred to buy the best too for the job so don't tend to be too loyal to any one company, but I wouldn't criticise people who do because they probably have good reasons for doing so. 

 

I've worked in a technical job now for... well... at least 16 years? I've been a tech 'enthusiast' for considerably longer than that. I bought Apple products after evaluating and owning competing products - I didn't buy them because I'm some kind of mindless sheep. If I didn't think the product was worth it, or there were better products out there, I would vote accordingly with my wallet.

 

Seriously - get a grip. Stop assuming that because people are loyal to Apple it's because they're stupid. People buy their products because they LIKE THEM. 

[adrynalyne]

Its probably as equally annoying as Apple users telling everybody else that Apple products are not overpriced. Apple users take very large liberties with telling non-Apple users that they do not know what they are talking about.

Art is a subjective subject; some find worth and some do not. I find value in raw power, others like the prettiness of Apple hardware. i do not find value in what a chassis looks like.

[tsupersonic]

There are certain Apple products that are competitively priced - ex: Macbook Pro. Then you have products that exist for exclusivity - ex: Apple Watch. 

 

I currently use a few Apple products: iPad Air, Macbook Pro, and Mac Mini. The Mac Mini offered decent value for a HTPC form factor. The MBP also is a very competitive ultrabook - there is nothing on the Windows side that offers everything in a nice package, not to mention education discount helped  

 

There are definitely pros/cons to a complete Apple ecosystem. There is no other company that offers end to end integration like Apple does, and they also offer excellent support. As a power user, I'm not a big fan of the limitations Apple poses within their ecosystem, mostly in iOS, or within their hardware: Macbook's one port.

[adrynalyne]

Here's the MacBook Air. A "Wedge" design, with everything vertically aligned perfectly.

 

 

Again, little details, but it's these little considerations that all add up.

That is a much better comparison, however I don't see a problem.

 

Everything is center aligned. Were you wanting for them arbitrarily resize chassis holes just to mak things blend better? Honestly if you take away the card reader, it looks pretty uniform.

 

I can respect you find value in this, but I don't spend any time admiring the port layouts on my machines and do not.

[tsupersonic]

That is a much better comparison, however I don't see a problem.

 

Everything is center aligned. Were you wanting for them arbitrarily resize chassis holes just to mak things blend better? Honestly if you take away the card reader, it looks pretty uniform.

 

I can respect you find value in this, but I don't spend any time admiring the port layouts on my machines and do not.

Oh some people take port alignment too seriously, like Rene Ritchie... I have both the iPhone 6 and GS6. I cover them both in cases, which takes their "beauty" away, and at the end of the day, I don't care if the ports are misaligned. I care about the overall experience. 

[Brian M. Veteran]

I can respect you find value in this, but I don't spend any time admiring the port layouts on my machines and do not.

 

I don't think anybody does, but what I'm referring to is the attention to minor detail, which other manufacturers often miss or don't care about. It's all those that inevitably results in a better product.

 

The article tsupersonic linked to, whilst I find it a little ridiculous, has one good paragraph which sums it up:

 

"Is it worth the effort? For me, as a customer, knowing that Apple had the consideration and took the time and effort to align their hardware speaks to the overall quality of their work. It reassures me that the same consideration and effort were likely spent making sure not a millimeter nor milliamp of battery space was wasted, not a nanometer of die, not a gap left around the screen, or a dead zone in the capacitive sensor."

E.g. if a company is slapstick with the stuff you see, they're probably slapstick with the stuff you can't see, too.

[greenwizard88]

 

but what I'm referring to is the attention to minor detail, which other manufacturers often miss or don't care about.

I could make that same argument against Apple though. A few years ago, you used to have a mic port, a battery status indicator, and useful ports on your computer. You might say they lost the attention to detail that made their computers better than the competitor. Maybe they did it in the name of "thin", but they still lost it. No more battery status indicator, no more mic port, the MBP keyboard doesn't have as much travel as it did a few years ago. Apple's lost the attention to detail, too, but they hide it behind being "thin".

[chrisj1968]

Personally, Apple products are way higher priced.

 

my Qosmio, 17" laptop mobile quad core 4700MQ intel CPU (which gives me 8 logical processors)

Nvidia Geforce 700M 3GB GPU discrete card

16GB ram

1TB HDD

both intel wifi and Atheros qualcomm wired network nic

and other minor stuff

 

$1,400-$1,499

 

Here's what you get for a 13" display and 15" display (INSANE!) all you get are DUAL core i5 CPU's on the 13" and a quad core if you buy a 15" no thank you

[Yazoo]

http://www.engadget.com/gallery/the-14-best-laptops-you-can-buy-today-0/

 

ooh Apple not so expensive as first thought

[ATLien_0]

It all depends on how you look at it. If you are strictly looking at hardware then yes its pretty high. However if you are looking at the entire package you are getting a great deal. From quality design, quality customer support, products that last and the rest of the apple software/hardware eco system.

 

What people don't always realize is that every type of product out there has premium brands and crap brands. As someone who worked in the outdoor gear retail industry, I can say for sure there are plenty of brands that can be considered the Apple of the clothing industry. 

[adrynalyne]

http://www.engadget.com/gallery/the-14-best-laptops-you-can-buy-today-0/

 

ooh Apple not so expensive as first thought

Apple is competitive in the ultrabook category. Once you leave that, the disparity between price and hardware features quickly grows.

[tsupersonic]

Personally, Apple products are way higher priced.

 

my Qosmio, 17" laptop mobile quad core 4700MQ intel CPU (which gives me 8 logical processors)

Nvidia Geforce 700M 3GB GPU discrete card

16GB ram

1TB HDD

both intel wifi and Atheros qualcomm wired network nic

and other minor stuff

 

$1,400-$1,499

 

Here's what you get for a 13" display and 15" display (INSANE!) all you get are DUAL core i5 CPU's on the 13" and a quad core if you buy a 15" no thank you

 

This is a pathetic comparison. You are lugging around a desktop replacement that weighs 7.6 lbs, not to mention it's Toshiba. I've had the worst luck with Toshiba laptops, their customer support is an absolute joke. You need to learn how to compare apples to apples (no pun intended) - Windows ultrabook to the MBP.