# godDAMN, Macs are EXPENSIVE!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 20, 2007, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goddamn-macs-are-expensive/393009 "2007-02-20T19:40:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goddamn-macs-are-expensive/393009/21 "2007-02-21T01:00:28Z")
[QUOTE=black rabbit] Are you sure you didn’t get a Core Duo, not a Core 2? Maybe you had a coupon or something. [/QUOTE] Ah, you’re right, I did use a coupon I found online. But that’s hardly a secret - Dell even applies a 20% coupon automatically on many products, and finding others is as easy as typing “dell coupon codes” on Google. And it’s definitely a Core 2 Duo, 1.83GHz (T5600). Also including an upgrade to the WXGA+ UltraSharp™ display (same as **black rabbit** ’s, I think) and a Bluetooth module. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goddamn-macs-are-expensive/393009/22 "2007-02-21T01:42:04Z")
[QUOTE=VCO3] After a ton of compromising and settling for their crappier “for dummies” Imac system, I was able to get it down to around $2,500. This is just insane. [/QUOTE] You know, it’s a lot easier to swallow computer prices if you’re old like me. When you can remember buying a 128K black and white 9" Mac with a single floppy drive in 1984 and an Imagewriter for $2500.00, then the “crappy for dummies” iMac 24" LCD screen 2.16GHz processor 1GB memory 250GB hard drive 8x DL SuperDrive NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT graphics for $1999.00 sounds pretty darned good. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goddamn-macs-are-expensive/393009/23 "2007-02-21T01:53:45Z")
And worth every penny. My Macbook is reliable, virus free, easy to use and easy to figure out. I don’t recall how much I paid for it, but I did get a student discount (grad school counts! AND I got a free printer and Ipod nano with the deal–sweet). ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goddamn-macs-are-expensive/393009/24 "2007-02-21T01:56:13Z")
[QUOTE=Finagle] You know, it’s a lot easier to swallow computer prices if you’re old like me. When you can remember buying a 128K black and white 9" Mac with a single floppy drive in 1984 and an Imagewriter for $2500.00 [/QUOTE] Sure, that was steep, but I got $1500 back for my Apple III trade-in. No one seems to do trade-ins anymore. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Norder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4af34b/32.png) [@Dan\_Norder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Norder)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goddamn-macs-are-expensive/393009/25 "2007-02-21T01:56:59Z")
[QUOTE=VCO3] GOD-DAMN, THEY’RE EXPENSIVE! [/QUOTE] Quite simply, you are on crack. Or the cheap, buggy and prone-to-complete-shutdown Windows-based crack, because even crack wouldn’t be an excuse for the nonsense you are claiming. All that fucking with the food orders of customers you didn’t like must have addled what few remaining brain cells you had. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goddamn-macs-are-expensive/393009/26 "2007-02-21T02:29:31Z")
True, Macs can be more expensive. The configuration of my MacBook: 1.83 GHz Core 2 Duo processor 1 gig RAM (DDR2 SDRAM 667 MHz 2 sticks) 13.3" widescreen LCD 80-gig SATA hard drive (5400 RPM) DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive Intel GMA 950 graphics processor with 64MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory Bluetooth AirPort Extreme wireless networking No modem Ethernet card A comparable Dell: 2.00 GHz Core 2 Duo (they only have 1.66 and 2.00) 14.1" widescreen LCD 1 gig of RAM (DDR2 SDRAM, 533 MHz, two sticks total) 80 gig SATA hard drive DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 (video card) Bluetooth Dell wireless networking Modem Ethernet card No extra software either way (no office software, no antivirus, etc.) Price of the MacBook: $1,268 Price of the Dell: $1,069 It’s not an entirely fair comparison either way (I added a DVI to VGA cable, for instance when I got my MacBook and let’s not forget the built-in camera and microphone in the MacBook, for instance.) But still, the premium? Only about $200. Plus, the MacBook is lighter and thinner than the comparable Dell. Not by much: 5.2 pounds for the MacBook vs. 5.3 pounds for the Dell, and 1.08" thick for the MacBook vs. 1.52" for the Dell. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goddamn-macs-are-expensive/393009/27 "2007-02-21T03:00:48Z")
[QUOTE=AHunter3] Here’s what y’all oughta do: buy a copy of MacWorld or MacAddict magazine, thumb to the back where all the 800 and 888 ads are, and go price-shopping for the cheapest Mac of one-version-ago. [/QUOTE] An argument I’ve seen many times. A just obsolete or refurb mac, based on street pricing goes for just sightly more or less than MSRP of a near bleeding edge wintel machine, and the macophiles proclaim price parity. If your going to jump through hoops to get a good price on a mac, then you need to consider how a similar amount of hoop jumping will impact the price of a wintel box. If you honestly compare apples to non-apples then you need to look at and consider street pricing on the previous generation of wintel machine, and apple isn’t the only one offering factory refurbs. We did that with Kevbabe’s new notebook. Not quite state of the art, but more than meets her needs…$427 out of pocket, for what was a $1400+ MSRP machine a year ago. OSX equipped macs are fine hardware/OS, but if you believe that they don’t cost at least double a comparable wintel setup then you are practicing self deception. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goddamn-macs-are-expensive/393009/28 "2007-02-21T03:03:12Z")
I really like my new MacBook Pro – I bought it two weeks ago. I haven’t used a Mac since '94 when my work machine was one. I needed a new laptop for home and on a whim I simply took the plunge and dropped 2K on a MacBook Pro (more like 3K after the dust settled). The icing on the cake is Parallels, software that lets you run a Windows or Linux VM side by side with the Mac OS without any appreciable degrade in speed (thanks to some Intel VM magic on the hardware side). That way I can use software I only have on Windows (Mindjet Mind Manager was one of the big ones for me). I have been told that one really can’t do any graphics-intensive stuff in a Parallels VM, so one would have to step back and use Boot Camp to boot to another OS. Not a concern I have. It’s worth every penny I paid. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goddamn-macs-are-expensive/393009/29 "2007-02-21T03:22:36Z")
[I want a Mac.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=407145) ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goddamn-macs-are-expensive/393009/30 "2007-02-21T03:34:44Z")
I wish **VCO3** would return and explain what the hell he/she is doing to make a Mac cost $7000. Yep, Macs cost a little more. Wintel machines have competition, so one would expect them to be cheaper. The price differential is much lower nowadays. My first Mac, a Centris 610, cost $2300. You could probably buy a comparable PC for $600-$700 less back in 1993. I always advise Mac buyers to get the best processor and video card they can afford. Everything else you need is infinitely cheaper from a third party. Seriously, if you have any technical skill whatsoever (in other words, if you can sharpen a pencil), buy third-party memory and install it yourself. And all of the iMacs come with a monitor built in, of course… The MacBooks are great. You essentially get two computers for the price of one, and not much more than a comparably equipped laptop PC. I have a MacBook Pro 17", and it is quite simply a dream machine. (A bit too large for everyday laptop use, but it is a beauty. My old PowerBook 15" does the job when I’m out of the office… like now.) ---
**Author:** ![Z.R.Test](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a5b964/32.png) [@Z.R.Test](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Z.R.Test)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goddamn-macs-are-expensive/393009/31 "2007-02-21T04:15:43Z")
Ok, Macs, on the surface, are more expensive. The old saw “you get what you pay for” truly applies. I’ve owned a whole bunch of Macs and quite a number of PCs, so I kinda think I have a bit of an idea how they compare. And, for the record, my first introduction to a Mac was from a neurophysician. Sure, there are horror stories for Macs. They ain’t perfect. And sure, you don’t want to buy a Mac II vx. But what was a comparable PC at the time, an IBM PS/2? (as an aside, that would be 1992. I had a Mac II ci prior to that and it _kicked ass_. I LOVED that computer!). It does cost good money to buy a Mac (I’m sorry bec, I’m doin’ what I can!). Now for the good news: once you have one, you can get a decent return when you resell it to upgrade. So I’m thinking the guy who can get a PC for $1,000 that is comparable to a $7,000 Mac is actually buying a box of rocks out of some con artist’s trunk. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goddamn-macs-are-expensive/393009/32 "2007-02-21T05:27:42Z")
[QUOTE=Kevbo] An argument I’ve seen many times. A just obsolete or refurb mac, based on street pricing goes for just sightly more or less than MSRP of a near bleeding edge wintel machine, and the macophiles proclaim price parity [/quote] I wasn’t proclaiming price parity, I was saying “If you like Macs but wince at the price, here’s a way to get a cheaper Mac that will still serve you well for the next four years”. Or the next eight (my WallStreet was my newest and best from '98 to '06) > [@](#): > > OSX equipped macs are fine hardware/OS, but if you believe that they don’t cost at least double a comparable wintel setup then you are practicing self deception. Double? You’re kidding. You’re going to pay 85% of what I’d pay for a Mac in order to get a comparable PC. Not that I wouldn’t pay double if I had to. I’d rather not, of course, but I’m going to buy the computer that I want. Just like good audio equipment or good food. Every consideration other than “I want what I like” pales. Well, OK, if a Mac cost $135,000 or something, then you’d have a point. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goddamn-macs-are-expensive/393009/33 "2007-02-21T05:29:01Z")
[QUOTE=Stranger On A Train] OS X will only run on Mac hardware, so I can’t just buy the OS and run it on a nominally compatible non-Apple machine. [/QUOTE] What do you mean by this? We got OS X running on a PC machine, just for fun. I have a real MacBook Pro, but was curious whether OS X would run on a PC and, sure enough, it does. Tutorials are out there how to do it. Runs pretty well, although I haven’t tested out compatibility with peripherals or anything like that. Anyhow, anybody considering buying a Mac should check out [http://www.macconnection.com](http://www.macconnection.com). They’re an authorized Apple dealer, and they constantly have specials. My MacBook Pro was cheaper through them than if I got my SO to buy it from Apple with her student discount. I’ve seen them discount items by as much as $500 compared to the same product at the Apple Store. For example, the base MacPro desktop is going for $1999 (after $100 rebate) at MacConnection, while the same model with the same specs is at $2,420 from the Apple store. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goddamn-macs-are-expensive/393009/34 "2007-02-21T05:33:53Z")
[QUOTE=Kevbo] OSX equipped macs are fine hardware/OS, but if you believe that they don’t cost at least double a comparable wintel setup then you are practicing self deception. [/QUOTE] Double? Unless you can cite some specific figures, I think you’re the one practicing the self deception. The prevailing figure in this thread seems to be a $200 premium for Macs over PCs with equivalent hardware, which matches my own experience. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goddamn-macs-are-expensive/393009/35 "2007-02-21T05:46:07Z")
[QUOTE=Absolute] Double? Unless you can cite some specific figures, I think you’re the one practicing the self deception. The prevailing figure in this thread seems to be a $200 premium for Macs over PCs with equivalent hardware, which matches my own experience. [/QUOTE] I agree. I’m actually a (mostly) life-long PC user, and I just bought my first Mac this year. Looking at PCs and Macs with comparable specs, I’ve found the above to pretty much match my experience. There is a slight premium on Macs, but nowhere near double, and certainly a figure of sevenfold, as in the OP, must be drug-induced. I seem to recall a time when Macs really were much, much more expensive than comparable PCs, but they no longer are. [Sometimes, they’re even cheaper.](http://www.systemshootouts.org/shootouts/desktop/2006/0809_dt3200.html) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goddamn-macs-are-expensive/393009/36 "2007-02-21T08:33:55Z")
I went shopping at Frys, and I found around a $500 difference (that’s around 30% or so), with extra memory being almost 3X the cost. So, with a super-comp with scads of upgrades, I’d believe a $1000+ difference. ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goddamn-macs-are-expensive/393009/37 "2007-02-21T12:59:53Z")
[QUOTE=Absolute] Double? Unless you can cite some specific figures, I think you’re the one practicing the self deception. The prevailing figure in this thread seems to be a $200 premium for Macs over PCs with equivalent hardware, which matches my own experience. [/QUOTE] Look at my first post in this thread. $800 _shipped_ for my Dell. IIRC, the closest MacBook at the time for my purposes was the upper-end white one. Depending on what tradeoffs you make, it’s even possible that the Blackbook was closer. $1300 (+ whatever for shipping) - $800 = $500. I just configured an e1405 to be identical to the $1499 Black book and it was $971. Dell’s got a supply chain that’s just insane. Last I read (like three years ago), they did something like 120 turns a year. That’s crazy. There’s no way in hell that a niche player like Apple is going to compete at that price point. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goddamn-macs-are-expensive/393009/38 "2007-02-21T13:30:10Z")
[QUOTE=Absolute] Double? Unless you can cite some specific figures, I think you’re the one practicing the self deception. The prevailing figure in this thread seems to be a $200 premium for Macs over PCs with equivalent hardware, which matches my own experience. [/QUOTE] Maybe it’s because it’s Canada, but I did a survey of qupted prices at Future Shop and Best Buy, and the premium for a Mac is certainly greater than that; across the range of low to high end solutions the Macs were generally 30 to 60 percent more expensive. The biggest price differences, however, seemed to come at the bottom end; you can buy a perfectly serviceable, brand new PC for $599, whereas they didn’t sell a Mac desktop for less than $999. At the top end, it’s theoretically possible to pay Apple about $17,000 for a Mac with every possible option maxed out; the limit on a PC is probably about $10,000 for roughly equivalent options, though it depends who you ask. For most users, Macs are unquestionably more expensive, and while it’s not seven times the price it’s not a trifling difference, either; $700 versus $1000 is a big deal to me, and to most people; given a choice between two computers of roughly equivalent juice I’d save my money and buy a PC, though I’d be happy with a Mac from a technical perspective. But I don’t see how you could spend $7000 on a Mac without buying absurd amounts of memory. I don’t know why Apple tries to rip their customers off on memory. But choosing the most powerful options I managed to get the price of a MAc up to just short of $18,000. ---
**Author:** ![kimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f0a364/32.png) [@kimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kimera)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goddamn-macs-are-expensive/393009/39 "2007-02-21T16:12:26Z")
> [@](#): > > A basic Mac system comparable to the PC one that **I’d build** for $1,000 was close to $7,000. [bolding mine] Since he is building the computer, he would be spending a lot less for parts than it would cost to buy one pre-built from Dell or other manufacturers. He could easily build a kickass PC for $1k that he would have to drop $7k to come close to with a mac, especially if he was like me and had a lot of left over parts from other PCs laying around. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goddamn-macs-are-expensive/393009/40 "2007-02-21T16:58:01Z")
[QUOTE=kimera] Since he is building the computer, he would be spending a lot less for parts than it would cost to buy one pre-built from Dell or other manufacturers. He could easily build a kickass PC for $1k that he would have to drop $7k to come close to with a mac, especially if he was like me and had a lot of left over parts from other PCs laying around. [/QUOTE] Yeah, if he had about $6,000 in other parts laying around, sure. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goddamn-macs-are-expensive/393009.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goddamn-macs-are-expensive/393009.md?page=3)