Why are Macs so expensive?

Question

Apple Macintosh is a pretty big company, but why are their computers and laptops so expensive?

Answer 1

Supposedly, Macs aren't more expensive relative to PCs. They just don't offer much lower end hardware.

Answer 2

for the answer to anonymous,

is your net income 24,000,000,000

is your operating margin 4.16 billion

is your net income 3.50 billion

see its people like that who drive me insane

don't comment on another company until you can say you have more than they do when you have 24 billion dollars you can bang apple as much as you want

Answer 3

Simply said, you get what you pay for. In actuality, Macs are a bargain compared with similarly equipped PCs.

They all have built in cameras, built in video editing and photo software - the list goes on.

They are also better built with components that are precisely what the operating system runs best with.

Read this article:

http://mac360.com/index.php/mac360/comme...

Answer 4

they are the only ones who make macs and due to supply and demand they are naturally highly priced. apple clams this is for quality assurance but what that means is they want to horde the cash for themselves there are company's trying to challenge steavy the stag with open computing have a look.

http://www.psystar.com/psystar_openmac_o...

Guy above me what do you mean there is almost nothing for macs......Macs where really good i used to own both mac and PC but after mac switched to Intel chips everything went to 7734 the mac have a BSOD now and the leopard fiasco practically killed my support for them i went and got a big 8 core G5 keep getting BSOD when i launched safari took it back and haven't been in the store since. Also PCs are much cheaper compared to macs if you have a look the reason why people get the though that macs are the same price is because PC hardware and windows don't have training weals attached to them so you normally see PC with more powerful components.

lets compare shall we

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/sh...

TO

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...

as you can see not only is the 15 inch PC notebook the same screen size but it has more HDD space and twice as much ram i tired to keep it fair with the same processor but the Graphic card on the PC far exceeds that of the mac too at 500 USD less....there is no compitition, a PC is much cheaper and has more powerful hardware than a Mac.

Answer 5

They're not really.

Set up a PC with the exact same hardware, and comparable software, and it will be more expensive.

Too bad comparable software really isn't available for PC's.

Our shop switched to Macs, and our downtime disappeared.

Note to Anonymous:  Give your brain a chance.  Macs and the graphic user interface were out about three years before the first release of Windows (which was a disaster).  Ex-MS employees have said that when the first versions of Windows was produced, Bill Gates shouted, "That's not like Mac!  It needs to be more like Mac!"

Note to Simian:  You, like all other PC types only know to point out hardware specs.  That's all PC users can do, because they all use Windows.  You almost have to have faster this or bigger that to get that bloated blob of an OS working.  Apple accomplishes a lot more with OSX with hardware optimized for it.  Lean and clean.

Answer 6

Hi there

That's a good question.

I am not sure I agree with the basic premise, though. The size of the company doesn't have anything to do with the price of the product. For example, the biggest car companies don't price their vehicles higher than the smallest.

The last article I read that compared Macs to PCs was in PCMagazine ... yup PCMagazine. They compared comparable machines with equal (or near equal) hardware. It went up and down, but the bottom line was that Macs cost the same, or less, than their PC counterparts.

The difference is in the details.

Lets look at the operating system. (And I'm just going to compare Windows to Mac OS X ... sorry Linux users). Instead of multiple choices of performance and function with VISTA, all Macs get the same full-blown OS. High end or low, everybody gets the same chance to do the most for only $129 for Leopard as opposed to Windows Vista Ultimate for $319.95. You get it all for less than half the price. That's not "so" expensive, is it?

Lets look at (out of the box) bundled software. And I'm not talking the 90 day trial versions, either. Apple starts you off with free photo storing, editing, and organizing software. Free movie and DVD authoring software. Free website creation software. Free music player/burner. Free music creation software. Its called iLife. And this was all written to just work with all Macs. Nothing to install. No drivers that need signing to work. And this doesn't even cover the calender, mail, address book and more that everybody gets standard.

Suppose you want to write a letter, create a spread sheet, or a presentation. For only $90 more you can buy iWork. Besides being easy to use, they open/save MSWord, Excel and PowerPoint dcuments. How many hundreds of dollars would a copy of Office cost you?

And don't get me started on Mac OS superiority on security. The last Mac virus was the 'AutoStart' last century!

Lastly, what is your time worth to you. I see thousands of PC questions in this Yahoo forum that aren't an issue with the Mac. How many hours have Windoze users spent researching their issue just to get back to doing something (anything) on their computers.

Mac Users have never experienced the "blue screen of death." Or had to deal with the frustration of P-n-P meaning PLUG AND PRAY. How much time do PCers spend just trying to get the box to DWIW (do what I want), instead of DWID (do what it does)?

The learning curve to get on and get going for a Mac is steeper. You do it sooner, and I think, better on a Mac.

Although I can go on, I want to observe that Mac haters hate Macs. I think the reason is that they've spent so much time working to learn how to get their PCs to work for them that they resent smug Mac-acholics (like me?) trying to get them to, at least, try moving over to the other side of the street.

After all their hard work to learn about MSConfig settings, or setting jumpers, or IRQ conflicts, or virus and hacking protection, or hardware and software compatibility issues ... oh the list goes on ...  they don't want to believe that a computer can work as well as a Mac.

Try to get it. Macs just work.

If you add it all up - hardware, software, quality of life - I'm not just sold... I'm convinced. I prefer Apple and the Mac OS. Although I am thankful that they don't cost more than PCs, Apple's Macintosh would still be a bargain at twice the price.

Hope this helps.

Gary

PS - If you want more info, check out your local Apple User Group.

Answer 7

they aren't a big company who told u that?? y are they expensive because there stupid customers will pay a large amount for a silly rip off of Windows that's y

Answer 8

Because Apple chooses to price their products that way and people still pay for it. Kind of like BMW and Mercedes.  Most cars liek Acura, Infity, and lexus are as good as if not better than BMW and Mercedes, yet they are $10k to $20k more expensive. Why? Because people will pay for the name.

Answer 9

same reason Nike and Jaguar are so expensive... for the most part you are paying for a brand name, not the technology... the way I see Macs is "half the technology for twice the price"...

yes Dave... what's your amazing software called... iBloatware? Windows comes with MovieMaker too... what's your point? ugh Mac fanboys... you all use that same lie they feed you... I remember Jobs introducing the iPhone as a 12in1 device that's a phone, a calendar, a notebook, a clock, a calculator... hahaha what a joke!

Answer 10

Numerous studies have shown that students are more creative and more productive

Essentially every independent survey ever done has shown that teachers prefer working with Macs over PCs.

Apple is the technology leader in the computer business and provides features (like the Spotlight search engine, Bluetooth technology, a built-in camera, etc., etc.)

All current Macs can natively run Windows (all versions, including Vista) and its software, for FREE.

When factoring in ALL aspects of ownership (including purchase price, technical support, setup time, maintenance, training time, network management, years of useful service, cost of electricity to operate, etc.) Macs have consistently been shown to be LESS EXPENSIVE than any Windows/PC alternative — typically by over $400 per year per computer.

Answer 11

I agree with Dave.  You get what you pay for, and I was very willing to pay for the simplicity of a mac!  I will never go back to PC.  The reason it is so simple is because of all the extra things put in it.  When your PC messes up, you have to work hard on getting it fixed.  My mac has never really messed up and I am able to find out any other issues going on rather quickly.  My life is busy as it is, and Macs are simple and fun.  Get a pc, and go get all the stuff for it that macs already have, you'll spend about the same if not more on it than you would on a mac!