Comments on: Apple: The cheaper alternative?

Is Apple becoming the cheaper alternative to competitors? Don Reisinger thinks it's happening, and he couldn't be happier because of it.

[srthurow]

I don't want more people using Macs. More users means more reason for low-lifes to create malware. I want to keep my happy Mac so the rest of you lemmings keep thinking their hard to use and horribly over priced. Come on be a PC, leave my platform alone.

[SebGood]

The question is: With reduced prices, will we see reduced quality? If the iPhone 3G is any indication, the answer is YES. It's a terrible product, and even after their attempts at software patches, it is the worst cell I've ever used when it comes to dropping calls.

[shdwsclan]

A mac mini is unrepairable and so is an imac.

The baseline mac pro with single processor is $3000.
$1000 overpriced entry level, top of line machine.

A mac in the $1000-2000 range that is not fused to a screen or crammed in a tiny box would be perfect.


I would be nice if they actually sold mac parts stand alone for cheap, so you could build your own mac out of parts......

[illegallydead]

Good luck with this actually happening. There are two reasons Apple will never do this:
1) By allowing more parts to go into the computer, that means that you actually have to program OS X to play nice with more than what Apple "allows". Also, this introduces more likelihood's of cheap parts being put in and the whole "Mac experience" if you will goes out the door when these parts don't work reliably (note: this is more Apple marketing than fact, since many of their parts (nVidia Mobile GPUs...) have failed)
2) Allowing you to cheaply fix your own computer means that you won't come in to the Apple store and spend a fortune for them to fix it. It must be nice for Apple to be able to make products like that and people still willing buy them.
BTW, since I know how much emotion Apple articles tend to generate here, I will just put it out there that my only computer is a Macbook, so I am not some flamer/hater of good sir Steve J. (isn't it nuts that I feel like I have to put this disclaimer here? haha fanboys crack me up)

[illegallydead]

The authors point about the iPhone is nill. IT WAS SUBSIDIZED!!!! People claiming that the iPhone 3G is "cheaper" are ignorant of the facts, at the least. The subsidization results from Apple actually getting further into bed with AT&T, whereas the iPhone v.1 was more of an "exploration" of sorts into the cell phone industry on Apple's part.
BTW, sorry if someone else already posted this. 90-something posts is too much to go through to check ;)

[stevendrs]

All of you commenting that macs are presently equally priced as other brands are pretty ignorant. And don't throw in the "macs are configured better than these no-name brands." A macbook pro is at least $800 more than a dell XPS laptop with the EXACT configuration (same speed HD, processor, ram, graphics, etc). And you can't blame the cheaper price on the PC coming from a "cheap" company. Sorry, most people don't have $2000 to spend on laptops. The only affordable laptops are the garbage regular macbooks...2 usb ports? (printer, thumbdrive, mouse...how does this work out?). Again, macs offer style over substance at a hefty price.

[illegallydead]

The Macbook when I bought it was certainly competitively priced against Dell and HP. The Pro I cannot comment on with much accuracy though...

And while I certainly agree with your form-over-function analysis of the Macbook (and Apple in general), your point about 2 USB ports making the Macbook garbage is ridiculous. Have you heard of a USB hub? :) I have a 4-port one that was like $15 that has worked flawlessly for years and pumps out plenty of juice to charge things. The most you would ever plug into a laptop while traveling (and presumably without the hub) would be a mouse and a thumb drive.

[stevendrs]

illegallydead,

Competively priced? You can still get a Dell laptop with the EXACT same specs as a macbook for at least $300 less...there are ALWAYS deals and discounts that take $100-500 off Dell's website price.

The USB port issue was just one example. And a USB hub for a laptop somewhat defeats the purpose of a laptop. That's like saying just buy the smallest laptop hard drive because you can just get a 750 gb external one for less money. I use my Dell laptop at work and must carry it around to different buildings. 2 usb ports would not be enough (we have additional accessories at work that take up USB ports, so I would constantly have to be unplugging the chords or I would have to lug around a port).

Also, my wife's company just bought hundreds of new Macbooks...and cracked cases has been a HUGE problem (and they are NOT being tossed around or dropped). Again, just one example, not all of my gripes with the regular macbook. The Pros are much better, but at what price?

[jimmy_from_the_80s]

I agree with many of the comments above, in that if apple start selling cheaply, there is pretty much 1 reason why, the products build quality will be lower. Most things in a mac are done very well with excellent quality control, this will probably take a hit now. I see other normal laptops every day and they look more dull and awful every day, I would hate to own a brick.

[ferretboy88]

My macbook was a not so cheap computer than came with horrible built in graphics. Turtle slow.

[nicmart]

I never understand the point of speculation about the nature and effects of new products before they are announced. Aside from filling space, of course. First we have the speculative articles before products are introduced. Then we have the mountain of articles on the day of introduction. Later we have the analyses about those products. We could easily skip two of those and live happily.

[redunicorn2000]

I can't see what Don has to be happy about... paying a little less that an extortionate price for a mediocre product? well, hey, it's a new mac , gotta be "revolutionary" - hurrah - a bit like the first "revolutionary" iPhone...
$800 is indeed more than double what one should pay nowadays for entry level laptops - no doubt my macbook is nicer looking than HP or Dell equivalent, but so is my other laptop (a sony vaio), and for what I am getting, my vaio is much better value than my macbook - I truly felt ripped off with my mac - the only reason apple can continue to overcharge for its mediocre products is because of its evangelical following of suckers - it's a business, not a church - wake up!

[csharpner]

This is nothing new... not even in the least. Back in the '91-'93 when I used to work for Apple, they re-introduced the 7Mhz black and white mac and called it the "Mac Classic" for a price lower than their current crop. It was "cheap" by the day's standard, but was old and archaic technology too. I can guarantee you that the $800 Mac will be sub-par on performance compared to an $800 Dell or HP or home-buit machine. Apple will NEVER sell a machine that's got a similar price/performance ratio. Their price has been and always will be higher than the performance of what they're selling. Their price is based on image, not performance or power and this $800 machine will be no different. If you want to know what you'll get for $800, just look at what you can get from Dell or HP for $800, then cut it's speed and storage in half. That's what you'll get, but it'll be "pretty".

[kibeom]

Over-prised? a criterion of something is depends on it's circumstances. For instance, you can afford quite a bit of things you want with a karat diamond but you can't afford even one egg by negotiating with hen. Some think a Mac's price tag is reasonable and some don't. I have no doubt that's totally up to individual. Only the market can judge whether the price is appropriate or not. You know Apple is doing business and is doing smart enough.

[b_baggins]

Give me a break. Apple has always been competitively priced with comparable systems since OS X came out. What Apple has never done is enter the bargain basement market. This $800 macbook will be no different. It will still be $200 higher than the bargain basement laptops flooding the market and return product bins.

[summersfall]

I don't know that having a cheap computer will sway Windows users. I had an ibook for a few months but ended up selling it because it caused me so many problems (but I can count on one hand how many times Windows XP or Vista has failed on me). Apple tries to come across as cooler or more elite than Windows, and that is what their base is comprised of, not bargain shoppers.

<a href="http://getting-pregnant-tips.org/about.htm">Stacy</a>

[sachingorde]

It would be more relevant to check the usability aspect for the price. something like TCO. Sometime, Windows machines tend to waste lot of productivity time due to crash or similar conditions, rendering it be useless for few minutes to few hours (may be days). Not sure if that is the case with MAC as well since I don't own one. Also applications seems to be the deciding factor than just the price or GUI. MAC and Linux do not get the latest applications right away. Google Chrome can be a classic example but again who uses it?!? May be its application vendor fault. But again, it influence our decision.

But the point being, price is a factor only when all other usability criteria are met. There are many other factors than price. Its just my opinion.

[knute6]

Resale, Resale, Resale. I bought an Apple PowerBook G4 1.33 12" (Aluminum) Model (M9183LL/A*) for $1700 dollars 4 years ago. It had 1.33 mgz processor, 768 mb ram, superdrive (burns dvds) and dual monitor (spanning and mirroring) support. I just sold it for $1000 dollars. I am extremely happy with the Mac resale value - whippeee. My cost for using the Powerbook for each of the 4 years was only $175 per year. I qualify as a bonafide bandit. I am waiting for the new apple laptops to be announced on Oct 14, 2008 and then I will buy the most expensive one I can find - resale, resale, resale and resale.

[megustansalchichas]

Why not move into the $800 market? this is precisely what you do if you can develop a more 'luxurious' brand. it's called aspirational marketing. now the schleps who can't afford your thousand dollar computers and who would be better served by buying a $600 HP will be tempted to spend the extra 33% to get your product. classic marketing move. i love it and your stock will love it.

[scooter185]

the best cheaper alternative would be to build your own computer and install linux. However if Macs were to come down in price (atleast laptops, im stuck with a windows desktop), I would definatly give buying one a thought.

[mho101]

Apple is for hippies and liberal nuts. Beside web surfing, it doesn't do a squawk.

[buggermenot]

Easily eclipse the competition? This is the kind of natural reporting that makes CNET so great.

[Destroyeron]

Aside from the fact that you can get a new PC for even less than that? And if you build it about half that?