Comments on: Apple needs to bring Mac prices down

Apple prices its Macs too high, according to Don Reisinger. But if it wants to truly gain market share, it should drop them as soon as possible.

[naurnah]

Great post. I definitely agree, though from a business standpoint I think Apple knows what they're doing. People who want the Mac experience are definitely willing to pay the extra $.

[IowaNinersFan]

This article just reiterates my point that I've been trying to get across to people for years: Apple products are simply overhyped, overpriced and overrated.

So tell me Apple fanboys, how much is your boy Jobs paying you to advertise his products or are the products that good that you're willing to give publicity at no charge?

[posershadow]

I can?t sit on the sidelines while the Apple fanboys continue to roll in spitting out their gibberish instilled in them by the Genius Bar. There are flaws in both the Macs and PCs. To me, the flaws in the Macs are much greater which is why I choose to run a PC.

I don?t have the time to sit here and go over every computer Apple makes so I will just go with one example. Take this Dell (Link) and match it with a 24? HP LCD monitor (Link) and you have a price of $1250. Now look at the 24? iMac 3.06GHz (Link) and you?ll see that Apple wants $2200 for theirs, and yet the PC is more powerful. Once again, iMac is stylish, but if you are looking for price and performance, the Dell wipes the walls. Don?t give me the ?quality? nonsense either. Dell?s are built with the same hardware that Mac?s are. You can?t sit here and tell me your Intel processors are more reliable than my Intel processors. Apple makes their products appealing to the eye which makes you believe they are quality. I think the decision you have is, if you are looking for something that is stylish, buy the Mac, but if you are looking for performance and price, buy the PC. Now think about it, do you buy a computer for appearance, or do you buy it for fast performance on the internet, games, checking e-mails, typing letters, etc? If you want to buy something stylish, then go spend your money on clothes or a nice car, at least something that everybody else will see and get you compliments. But your desktop computer sits on your desk inside your office, so really you could buy the ugliest computer in the world and nobody would ever know. Leopard is not a significant upgrade over Vista so there really isn?t much of an advantage for Macs. At first Vista was terrible, but Microsoft has fixed the mess and I power use Vista 64bit everyday and I have absolutely no issues with it whatsoever. I don?t even think I could switch back to XP. I guess you just have to look at it and say, do I want a pretty machine or should I save $950 and buy a machine with double the power. Plus the Dell is expandable whereas the iMac is basically locked down in the communistic Apple society where Jobs makes the decisions for you. I really don?t care what you choose, it?s your choice. I think it?s just a bit short sighted or complacent for some of these Apple fanboys to come on here and continuously bad talk PC?s while never admitting that Apple has any issues. More then the company I really disagree with the majority of it's customers that have this "you use a pc? your soooo a sheep of the government"-type of attitude. To me apple is a company that takes a concept, makes it somewhat idiot proof (I've seen my fair share of broken iPods) and calls it revolutionary. Afterwards we have the army of zombies claiming individuality left and right with the strong need to buy what everyone else is buying..... yes my friend your truly one of a kind.

[posershadow]

Links to my post above since hyperlinks failed:

Dell: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8878805&type=product&id=1210379087772

HP 24" LCD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824176090

iMac: http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/imac?mco=MTE3MDM

[make_or_break]

Lower prices are indeed a nice thought. If Apple is serious about market share they SHOULD lessen Mac prices. Snob appeal only goes so far, and despite the hefty sales numbers the actual market share of Macs to PC is still relatively meager. The relative goodness of OS X is still shrouded with the reality that Apple has had their own fair share of security and stability patches over recent times, enough so that even the most jaded Windows abusers have to snicker at.

However, one irony is that if Apple where to actually GAIN significant market share, how long would they be able to keep total control of that economy? As urely as you can count on Redmond being sued, the EU--among others keen on protecting their own interests and industries--would demand that Apple open up their OS to outside vendors, and Cupertino's insular little eco-system would be busted wide open.

[solitare_pax]

What you're forgetting is their CAPACITY. Giants like HP and DELL have huge factories that churn out everything from low-end boxes of crap to high-end gaming machines. Can Apple match that sort of output? Probably not. So they keep the prices higher, letting people complain about high prices, rather than a chronic shortage of Mac computers - which is what is going on with the newest iPhones I understand. It's like Honda - they're poised to make a killing in autos - but they don't have the capacity to churn them out like the big three automakers churn out gas guzzling SUVs and trucks. So Honda can charge a premium, even though the tech is pretty much the same - just like it is the same between a Mac and a PC.

[AppleSuxLeo]

Relax...you are just paying for Mr Whipple`s Lear jet. He wont be around much longer , then maybe prices will slip a little ?

[David Turner]

It would seem Tom's Hardware would disagree with your view on Apple's being more expensive

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/apple-mac-leopard-windows-vista,1985.html

I have to say I found this rather surprising as I felt the Mac Pros were more expensive.

[aztec92154]

This is an excellent article! (the Tom's Hardware one) :-)

[mrpiddly12]

what bothers me about this article is how it is completly incorrect when comparing the mac and pc's systems specs compared to their cost. For the average person who just glances at the two computer's specs and their prices, they would come to the conclusion macs cost a lot more. However, the average person probably thinks that all ram is the same and that any two core two duo processors are the same as well. This article compares the computers using the average person's beliefs. The mac pro is more expensive because it uses better components.

(however, never buy ram from apple)


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[cyclelogicpress.com]

Lower prices will be good for everyone. :)

[dillybar1999]

[d9930380]

I moved over to Mac when I bought a Mac Book Pro recently (5 months) and while I love certain parts of it, I'm not completely happy. I did this because I needed it to develop for iPhone.

Wifi didn't work for a couple of weeks, a keyboard key broke and the screen had a worrying cloud in the middle. I also bought a cinema HD to go along with it, I know I was stupid but why did they make this digital only. That said it's a lovely screen however it's not the best one and I think it's probably the dearest. However I hate to admit it that I bought it because to suited the laptop. Apple's stuff seems to look gorgeous but be badly made. I had a Toshiba and Dell laptop recently and they seemed bullet proof. It's also only 5 months old. With these problems I'm really worried that it will break after it's warranty and then I'm screwed, like my iPod did. Due to these issues I wouldn't buy Apple again. That said my iPhone just feels well made and seems to have no issues however again it hasn't passed the magic year yet.

I love OS X but even that Windows is easier to use and I've had a host of issues and sometimes you really need to understand Unix shell to get what you need done and these are tasks that would still be menu driven in Windows. Sure if you only want to use the basic features for home, web, photos, music then Apple does that well but once you go outside that then your screwed.

And the bugs, well the OS seems to be rock solid but Apple Mail is a joke and in the real world you will need to run Office for mac and that's a beta release at best. However you can't blame Apple for that.

What you can blame Apple for is the sync software to mobile devices. This just doesn't work and that's especially highlighted by all the 3rd Part Apps that do this.

I'm also worried about the next release. Windows still support XP. Do Apple even support an old OS once the new one has been released? Are they mad. For a couple of features no one really needs and a slightly new look they expect us to upgrade.

All in all. I liked the change but people are best sticking with Windows. Apple's OS isn't significantly better (if at all, all though I do thing the kernel is), the other manufacturers are now really improving their design and price performance isn't worth it my opinion unless you buy an iMac.