Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

OWC: Plug & Play Hardware RAID up to 8.0TB. High Performance, Data Redundant Solutions. FireWire 800, FireWire 400, USB2, or eSATA. Hot Swappable Bays, Data Rates over 200MB/s. Click here

Poker Mac Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

Stop the Noiz

Debunking the Apple Tax

Frank Fox - 2008.10.31 - Tip Jar

Popularity: LEMLEMLEMLEM

del.icio.us Bookmark in del.icio.us

"The Apple Tax" was a brief MIcrosoft campaign to paint Apple as too expensive. Since then, the discussion has made the rounds on various sites discussing the merits of this idea. Many are trying to show that for a comparable computer, the Mac isn't all that much more expensive.

What an original idea that is.

However, all this discussion is missing is the simple question: "So what if they are?"

What if Macs really do cost more? What are you going to do about it?

Bloggers tried with all their reports of an $800 laptop to predict that Apple would cut prices. Apple showed them what they thought of that idea. Apple's lowest cost notebook starts at $999. That is $199 away from what people claimed Apple should do.

Arrogance?

Is it arrogance or hubris for Apple to think that it can continue to sell high dollar computers?

Seeing Apple's Q4-08 report, it looks like Apple is fully capable of selling in this price range; neither arrogance or hubris is running the show. The facts are out there: Price alone is not the enemy of sales.

What mojo does Apple have that Dell and HP wish they had?

Apple is compared to other premium brands like BMW all the time, but I saw one that makes more sense. Apple is more like Toyota: Toyota isn't a luxury brand. Toyota cars are selling in large numbers and have a slightly higher price.

How does Toyota do it? It works on improving the value of their cars.

Value

Value is the perception of benefits relative to the price paid. The perception of value will drop if you don't maintain the quality of all the little details.

When I opened my Mac Pro to install RAM, I saw that it is just as refined on the inside as outside. That didn't increase the processor speed. It doesn't help protect against computer viruses. At most the clean design may help with airflow, but that attention to detail tells me that someone took more time designing my computer than a Dell workstation.

Unibody MacBookThe value of the new MacBook and MacBook Pro is not the amount of hard drive space or processor speed or installed RAM, it is the total attention to construction. I supervise a tooling shop with CNC machining. I know what is involved in machining the new cases for the MacBooks.

First off, that type of machining is accurate to within 0.001" or better. Why a laptop case would need that kind of precision is beyond me, but every bolt hole holding that case together will match perfectly every time.

Second, milling is much, much slower than injection molding. A molded plastic part is complete in under a minute, often much less. The same is true of stamped sheet metal parts. Milling everything out of one block of aluminum will take minutes to hours for completion. That case is probably one of the most expensive things included with the new MacBook - yet Apple made that kind of leap in quality with almost no change in price.

Take it from me: Be impressed.

Milling Aluminum Isn't Cheap

Are we going to see $400 laptops from Asus or Dell using the same unibody construction? Hell no! The case alone may cost $100-200 (that is a guesstimate on price), and there are still a lot more parts to add to the computer to finish it off. No one would pay a premium for a Dell made that way unless Dell sneaks it into a $3,000 gaming laptop.

I think Apple has answered the question about the Apple Tax with the latest MacBooks. The answer is that no one else is offering the quality of computer construction that Apple offers in the same price range.

When you walk into your favorite coffee shop with one of these under your arm, you won't have people snickering about how much more you paid. Instead, they will be craning their necks to get a look at how darn good it is.

You can value that any way you want in making your next computer purchase, but just like Toyota, the quality of the car is at least as important as the sticker price. LEM

Recent Stop the Noiz Columns

Links for the Day

Recent Content on Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2009 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
  Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
  Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.

Custom Search

Amazon.com

Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Video Cards
Email Lists

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ
Abandonware
   Petition
Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
B&H
MacMall
TechRestore
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link

Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser.