The Fading Myth of the Overpriced Mac

I’ve lived happily between the realms of OS X and windows for the passed two or so years now. I use my iMac for everyday computing, but I still hold on to my 50 pound HP Pavilion behemoth for things such as backing up DVDs and limited mobile computing (let’s face it, a laptop the size of a dictionary with the battery life of about 10 minutes isn’t quite mobile). So with an imminent trip to Japan and the inability to carry a 20” iMac onto a plane, I’ve been forced to make a decision. I could either live with a computer whose video card was last supported in 2005, or venture out into the new laptop world. Of course, this was the easy choice; the more difficult choice came in the form of Mac vs. PC. Sure, I could plop down a cool $300 and grab an Acer netbook (I might be sued for using that term), $700 for a moderately powerful HP notebook, or $1300 for a less than spectacular base model aluminum MacBook (which was outperformed by its cheaper plastic counterpart at the time). Of course I wanted the Mac, regardless of what my wallet was telling me: my iMac works so well, and I was less than willing to abandon ship in the name of a cheaper deal.

Macs have always been notorious (rather undeservingly) for being overpriced. PC users interested in OS X have been clamoring for a netbook from Apple for some time, but let’s face it, the iPhone is the closest thing to a netbook that we’ll see from Apple, at least in the near future. So there I sit, reading the WWDC overview, beside myself to find that my desired 13” MacBook is now a MacBook Pro and has dropped $100 in price. On top of this, the 13” now has a backlit keyboard and built in battery, sporting 7 hours of life. Seeing as the 13” is now considered a MacBook Pro, my college discount is now $100 instead of $50.

It’s time to take the plunge. I head to the nearest Apple Store, eager to get my hands on the tasty new MacBook Pro. I figured that it would be helpful if I broke down my costs for the day. I’ve approximated the resale value of the free iPod Touch to be around $150 and the free printer to be around $75.

MacBook Pro: $1199
Student Discount: ($100)
Free iPod Touch: ($150)
Free Printer: ($ 75)
Total: $879

So for around $879 I pick up a new MacBook Pro. Apple provides a rebate for a free iPod Touch and a $100 rebate for a new printer (with $100 models available in store) and $30 off of Mobile Me and iWork. Students also receive a hefty discount ($60 or so) off of the Applecare Protection Plan.

Some of you may be saying that $879 is still a hefty price for a 13” laptop, but let’s consider the laptop. The new MacBook Pro is made with the same unibody aluminum enclosure, making for a sturdier laptop than any of its plastic competitors. The 13” MacBook Pro comes with DDR3 Ram, while most laptops are still equipped with DDR2. The built in battery for the 13” MacBook Pro lasts for 1000 full charges, unlike its competitors which only last for a third of that. The battery itself lasts for 7 hours, which is exponentially better than most competing laptops. On top of this, the new MacBook Pro comes with a fully backlit keyboard, updated screen, and a track pad that supports four fingered gestures, which is surprisingly handy. From my own personal experience, Applecare makes computer repair incredibly easy and painless. Unlike most computers, Apple computers can often be repaired in store on the same day as drop off. This top notch support is also something to take into consideration when purchasing a laptop, considering that, for many, shipping your laptop off to India for three weeks to be repaired is not a viable solution, especially if it is your primary computer.

So there you have it. Do Apple laptops cost more than the average laptop, yes, but the support and functionality that comes with them outmatches most other laptops in a similar price range, and definitely pwns cheaper alternatives.

Now, with new laptop in tow, I’m ready to leave Windows XP and the country behind.

Tags: techandramen

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Comment by slacker|| on June 21, 2009 at 1:22pm: @kitty - he did get a MacBook Pro...

no one really goes with refurbs do they? minus getting a brand new system, ipod and printer, you can get a macbook pro 13" for $950, with free shipping. thats the route im prolly going to go. thats how i got my iMac, saved me about 150$. I'd suggest taking a look the next time you are planning on getting apple hardware.

Comment by Charley on June 21, 2009 at 1:11pm: "Some of you may be saying that $879 is still a hefty price for a 13” laptop, but let’s consider the laptop."

No, there's no point in considering it. Say you only have $600. You can't say, "Oh, it's $279 more expensive, but wait! It's better!" No duh it's better, it costs more. >.> Most college students don't have the moola to get an above-average notebook.

Comment by Justin on June 19, 2009 at 7:19pm: I don't think that this is necessarily true. I remember when I bought my Acer Travelmate 4720 and at the time it easily made meat paste of the current mac offering close to its price range and when I called them for support requiring recovery disks because I installed a larger hard drive while forgetting to make my own copies they sent me two sets via fedex air. The nearest Mac store for me is nearly 50 miles from me and I wouldn't be caught dead using geek squad so I would rather deal with RMS than waste 30 dollars in gas just to find out I need to waste another 30$ in gas when the problem I do have takes more than a day to fix.

Comment by James Luong on June 19, 2009 at 1:01pm: The best part of a Mac is it's operating system. For the average person, Macs are the simplest to use. But one thing is true though. Macs focus on beauty and the technology isn't as great as a PC. BUT, Macs are much more efficient than PCs. PCs always use memory... in a way that they require high specs to run at a smooth pace. Macs, on the other hand, utilize all the possible speed it can squeeze out of it's hardware. Overall, its just a matter of what you want and prefer. Both can do lots of work quickly and will probably meet your everyday needs. Personally, I use Mac and Windows. Each have their pros and cons but if u use both, you eliminate many problems.

Comment by Johannes S. on June 19, 2009 at 11:42am: Matthew, I simply said that they are trying to look for problems the Mac has (that aren't there, or even if they are, don't make much difference, I was referring to Jon's post before) just to say that they are worse than PCs. That is fanboyism.

And you also don't have to be a fanboy to like Macs over Windows PCs.

I enjoy the Mac experience. I don't enjoy using Windows, but I am not trying to find fault in Windows or in different PC brands' products.

I don't think that Macs are better than Windows PCs, you know, it's all about what you need.

Comment by george on June 19, 2009 at 11:18am: i would think that if you want a mac, you'd be willing to pay more for something that comes with ilife, which i have found to be able to do sound and video editing. it also has no need for antivirus software so you dont have to buy that and that keeps your computer running faster with fewer annoying notices from the software which can be as bad as a virus its self. and one of the amazing things is you have choice! i hear so manny users who bought a new laptop and want to go back to XP and cant becuase the drivers are stuck in vista, while with mac's that come with the driver cd as well as the operating system, somthing that alot of pc's are cutting costs with now, you can install any 32 bit and above system, so that means i can run vista, xp, 10.4, 10.5 or even soon the 10.6 which when it comes out will only be $30 to upgrade, which will make any intel mac faster, that sounds pretty good to me, oh and they meant that apples were easier to fix with apple care because you just take it in, they fix it and you get it back no problems. oh and i forgot the free ipods always nice too.

Comment by Matthew Johnson on June 19, 2009 at 10:05am: Techandramen - I wouldn't call it a fading myth. A myth suggests it was never true, that Macs were never overpriced. But then again I do suppose one could take that as more of a perceptual thing. Macs also did use more expensive hardware in their systems so to many this was the reason for the cost. And the services you get are indeed fairly nice, sometimes. So it's not like the price is totally unwarranted. But once in a while the model is also a little more expensive than you'd expect, and than can be reasoned next to its non-Mac counterparts. So sometimes they are overpriced by comparison to what they could be. However I would say that it's a fading truth, that as Macs become more popular and technology cheaper that the price is beginning to come down. We may see little difference someday, who is to say for sure.

Johanne S. You're funny. But sadly you don't have to be a fanboy/girl to like PCs and to like them over Macs. There are life-time Mac users who actual grew to love Windows over Mac. Shocking I know, but it's about individual expreriences. Not everyone enjoys Mac computers like you do. Oh well, to each his own.

Comment by Johannes S. on June 19, 2009 at 9:38am: Oh, you PC fanboys just can't give up the argument, trying to find tiny problems or mistakes on the Mac side.

You just can't let it go, can you.

Comment by Jon L on June 19, 2009 at 9:22am: I work in IT, and I can tell you that repairing a MAC is not any easier or harder than repairing a PC. Most PC repair jobs are simple (usually user related) and can be fixed in a matter of minutes, the same is true for MAC problems. For the money that your putting in that Mac your actually getting less of a computer. Ever wonder why PC companies have not switched to DDR3 yet? It cost more and is less efficient than DDR2. There is this thing call CAS latency, and for the most part it is higher in DDR3 memory than in DDR2, so regardless of how much memory you have, the DDR3 is actually going to run slower than DDR2, and it cost more. So, there is no reason to put it in a machine yet. Also, from what I have seen, the actual hardware inside you beloved Mac is actually old technology. What Mac's using old technology? How can that be? Well, sorry but it is true, at least in the way it is implemented. For example, take a look at a Mac tower computer's motherboard and compare it to a PC's. The Mac has the RAM on the opposite corner of the Mobo from the CPU and on a riser card! That is the last place you want to put that, on a PC it is on the board, and within less than an inch from the CPU. The speed that you can send data to and from memory on any computer is directly related to how physically far away that memory is from the CPU. In that case, Mac is doing it all wrong, just to make it look pretty. So, for all that money that you put into your Mac, you got less. That much put into a low end Dell would have gotten you a computer capable of a lot more than what that Macbook Pro can do.

Comment by Kitty on June 19, 2009 at 8:37am: Well, first off, your math is wrong. The ipod and the printer can't be factored out of the cost, because they're part of the package deal (see: free as in beer).

Secondly, if video hardware is actually your concern, you can get a better laptop for the money from both Sager (clevo) and System 76. Even alienware offers better, the macbook video is terrible overall, much like all apple video offerings.

You'd have to move up to a macbook pro before you begin to touch the offerings from one of the manufacturers I've listend.