The App Store Chronicle

Why Macs are NOT Overpriced

Michael Sitver

Many PC enthusiasts claim that Macbooks are way overpriced, but I have proof that they’re wrong, and I’ll show it to you here. Macs are expensive for the market, but they’re not robbing you blind.

For today’s example we’ll be looking at Apple’s regular top of the line non-retina 15 inch macbook pro versus comparable PCs. Why no retina Mac? The incredible resolution means that there is currently nothing incredibly comparable. I will take a look at that for a bit later on though on the site.

So where does the issue lie that leads to these inaccuracies?

It stems from how PC lovers make the comparison. They go component by component (I.e cost of graphics card is a separate figure from cost of processor). The fact is, when you look at the market of regularly stocked consumer and business laptops, the price difference isn’t that vast. Note: Many of the add-ons needed to make similar are not included in list (i.e Bluetooth and Backlit keyboards both cost extra for HP, but were both included in price because they are in Macbook Pro.

Macbook Pro- Price: $2,349

Stats:
  •  Processor:2.6GHz Quad-core ivy bridge Intel Core i7
  •  RAM: 8 GB
  • Screen: 15.4 inch 1680 by 1050 screen,
  •  Hard Drive: 750 GB Serial ATA 7200 RPM
  • Weight: 5.6 Pounds
  • 720 P Facetime Webcam
  • Great Technical Support and included applications- no junk ware
  • Made of strong aluminum

HP Dv6Tqe Series Price: $1,563.99 ($785 Difference)

  •  3rd generation Intel Core i7 ivy bridge Processor (2.6 GHz) (Same as Mac)
  •  NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GT 630M Graphics with 1GB GDDR3 memory (Better than Mac)
  •  8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm) (Same as Mac)
  •  750GB 7200 rpm Hybrid Hard Drive (Same as Mac)
  •  System Recovery DVD with Genuine Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
  •  Two 9-Cell Lithium-Ion Batteries
  •  15.6-inch diagonal HD BrightView LED-backlit Display (1366×768) (Worse than Mac)
  •  HP TrueVision HD Webcam (Same as Mac)
  • Made of several little thin pieces of plastic (Worse than the mac)
  • Poor Customer Service (Worse than Mac)
  • Filled with junk ware… little useful included software (Worse than a mac)


    • Dell XPS 15 Price: $169999 ($650) Difference

    • 2.1 GHz Intel Core i7 ivy bridge processor (Worse than mac)
    • 15.6 in. 1920 by 1080 pixel screen resolution (Better than this Mac)
    • 8 GB DDR 3 Ram (Same as Mac)
    • 7200 RPM 750 GB hard drive (About the same as Mac)
    • Nvidia Geforce GT  640 M (better than Mac)
    • 5.79 Pounds (Worse than Mac)
    • Junkware (Worse than Mac)

    Conclusion

    So the real gap for comparable computers between Macs and PCs is about $700 on average. But what about software? Take into account the value of ilife’s software, and other factors (customer service maybe?) and that gap closes to around $500. It’s not cheap to own a mac, but it’s not thievery.

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